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A 40's or 50's Rehab


dorn27

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I got my Grandmother's dollhouse today. It's amazing how people change their minds about things. I was told, repeatedly that I could have this house, to do whatever I wanted with it. Went to get it today, and I first my uncle was really emotional about giving it to me. He was very concerned I would "sell it on ebay". I would never do that!

We had a short visit and we were ready to leave when he decided I could have it. But I had to help it, not really change it. My own father did some restorations on it for her years ago. The bathroom has been wall papered and he reinforced and shingled the roof (it was apparently sagging very badly). But it's pretty much intact. Some orginal furniture, some from the 50's and 80's I'd assume with each generation.

So, at this point, I don't know what to do with it. New carpets and paper I think.

They all seem to think the orginal paint job makes it very special (I think it's a bit ugly personally). The porch is awesome, the hanging light very special. It looks very similar to one of her childhood homes, probably why my Great Grandpa picked it out.

There are some very weird sockets. I can not find anything attached to them, or leading to anything. Personally I'd like to knock out these two walls and replace them if no one else has an ideas, but again, met with resistance there.

The walls (with the sockets) also seem too short and don't go flush to the back.

The windosws seem too big, the door is very short (4 1/2 inches I'd say as a guess). But they are orginal and windows are metal. The door might be too, but I can't recall right now.

Ideas, help, suggestions on what I've actually got.... all appreicated.

My photos are always too big to upload here, so here is a link right to the album

http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/index.php?app=gallery&album=5420

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Kristi, this looks very much like an English dollhouse. I worked restoring houses for Pat Arnell's Mini Time Machine for a few years. I am not sure if any American shops imported them, but Triang, an English company made similar houses. The short door was typical and also the metal windows. I worked on a couple of English houses that were early kit houses and they both had short, about 4", doors but the rest of the houses were regular one inch scale.

It looks to me like the sockets for lights were added later and if you want to take them out, I would suggest that you tell your uncle that the wiring is not safe. I worked on an English house from 1775 that some crazy person had added lighting to, by installing can lights in large holes in the sides of the house. The first thing that we did on that one was pull out the can lights and plug the holes. They were never meant to be there in the first place. That would probably be a good idea in this case too.

I have mixed feelings about the outside of the house. The painting looks original and worth saving if you are into historical details. The inside had been revamped so many ways that I don't think that you really need to save it. Maybe you could compromise and just do the inside for now. Then later, after they see what you have done to make the house better on the inside, they will let you do the outside....Good luck!

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Those weird sockets almost look like they fit the old style christmas light bulbs. You know, the fat ones we had back in the 70's.

I had that same thought about Christmas tree bulbs. Are they connected to wires that can be plugged in?

I agree with Casey that you ought to be able to remove them, since they appear to be after thoughts.

You have a challenge here to use as much of the furnishings as possible, even though some of them are of questionable scale and a wide variety of styles. (Love that sink, by the way!) When you start cleaning them up and moving them around inside the newly refurbished interior, I'll bet you'll find some very nice arrangements.

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Actually the 4.5" door suggests 1:16 scale to me, which is a valid scale for Triang. I had a Keystone house with a single bulb that hung over the entry and had a nightlight- or appliance-type frosted lightbulb, the socket was similar to the ones in your picture and really detracts from the appearance of the house, IMO. There are better ways to wire it these days and I like Casey's idea of removing them and plugging the holes. Also, the 1:12 furniture that's in there appears too large for the height of the rooms. The divider walls definitely appear to have been added. I'm sure your family has great sentimental attachment to the house, but making careful repairs and adjustments to scale will turn it into a real treasure.

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It's of course possible that this house is older than I thought. My Nana was born in the very beginning of 1931. I know she was a little older when she got it, my uncle said its at least 70 years old. She was also very protective of it with her kids and us grandkids. My sister remembers 'not being old enough' to play with it, but wanting too for quite a while before she was allowed.

I know some of the furniture was gifted to her by my parents when they made did some of the sprucing up (2 new carpets and wall paper). That's probably the 1/12 bathroom and some of the living room furniture. I think a lot of it is just odds and ends that have been gathered by 3 generations of kids and parents.

What scale would I seek and make things more appropriate for it? The sides of them house have painted on windows and shrubs. I can take more photos if that helps anyone ID it or what I should do with it.

I think the walls are orginal, but have been removed and recut while wiring. They seem to be made with the same weird press board texture as the rest of the home.

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It's of course possible that this house is older than I thought. My Nana was born in the very beginning of 1931. I know she was a little older when she got it, my uncle said its at least 70 years old. She was also very protective of it with her kids and us grandkids. My sister remembers 'not being old enough' to play with it, but wanting too for quite a while before she was allowed.

I know some of the furniture was gifted to her by my parents when they made did some of the sprucing up (2 new carpets and wall paper). That's probably the 1/12 bathroom and some of the living room furniture. I think a lot of it is just odds and ends that have been gathered by 3 generations of kids and parents.

What scale would I seek and make things more appropriate for it? The sides of them house have painted on windows and shrubs. I can take more photos if that helps anyone ID it or what I should do with it.

I think the walls are orginal, but have been removed and recut while wiring. They seem to be made with the same weird press board texture as the rest of the home.

I would guess early forties, from the looks of the outside. You didn't say how high the ceilings were. The ones that I worked on were definitely one inch scale with the exception of the doors. Anything around 8" high, wall wise is considered one inch. Scale, back then was not really a consideration. The dolls that came with one of the houses were more like half scale dolls....Bought seperately, perhaps to fit through the doors. A lot of the furniture back then was of mixed sizes too....they really weren't interested is scale for children's houses.

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The New Dolls' House Do-It-Yourself Book by Venus & Martin Dodge has patterns for furniture in both 1:12 and 1:16 scale. My suggestion would be to see if your library has a copy and photocopy one or more pieces and make them up in cardboard or posterboard and see which size looks better with your house. A lot of the Tootsietoy and Marx furniture from the 40s & early 50s was 1:16 or 1:18, so should work just fine, or you can check out the Dodges book and invest in some basswood and make your furniture.

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I haven't checked in here the last few weeks, so I'm not up on what people are going through, but if your grandmother died just recently, I'd suggest that you don't mention what you plan to do with the house to your relatives. Remove the weird wiring and if anybody notices, say what Casey said--that it's not safe.

When someone dies, the feelings of loss are so raw, people who loved her don't want things changed at all. I've had a death in the family recently, and it's really hard for me to see any changes made. Over time, the idea of mending Grandma's house and making it beautiful again, as Grandma would have loved to see it, will sound okay, whereas right now, things just hurt too much.

At least, I think so. If she died ten years ago and this is still coming up, then that may not be the case!

*hugs*

I like the idea of making cardboard furniture to check for size, too. People on this site are so intelligent! I like hanging around here for that very reason!

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I think it was more necessity than intelligence; after a while I got tired of making up kits, etc, to have them not fit; it was just easier to cobble a sample in cheaper materials (as in FREE) and see if I liked it or not. A side benefit of making up samples to try out ideas is that I learned some new techniques and lost a lot of that crippling fear of failure, as the earth did not come to an end when I royally botched something.

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I like both ideas. I will head down to the library this week (after I check for it online) and see if I can make copies.

She did die recently, on the 11th. However she had bad alzhemiers and dementia for years and had to be placed in assisted living in May due to the fact she was no longer able to stay at home even with family member care. We cleaned out her house (and my uncle moved in) back in May. They were all more than willing to part with things then, but now it was like pulling teeth. I'm going to let it sit and talk to me for a while as I finish up my Orchid. I want the colors and such to be a nice blend of what she likes, what I like and what will look wonderful.

I won't mention the walls again, though I discussed it with my Mom and aunt while visiting them the day I picked it up. I pointed out I didn't think it was safe, and they turned around and pointed out that if it wasn't plugged in, how could it be dangerous. Kinda frustrating.

I know Nana would have appreicate this, so loved her house and loved things to be nice. I think the carpet and wall updates would thrill her. I also think she'd be happy to see the outlets go personally, since the parts needed to run them (my mom remembers a box of some kind) are long gone and they take away from the lovely condition this little house is in.

The top ceiling is very high, though not noticed because of the way the back roof opening comes down. I agree that 1/12 bathroom looks off. So a little playing around with cardboard and library rented plans should do the trick.

Edited by dorn27
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She did die recently, on the 11th. However she had bad alzhemiers and dementia for years and had to be placed in assisted living in May due to the fact she was no longer able to stay at home even with family member care. We cleaned out her house (and my uncle moved in) back in May. They were all more than willing to part with things then, but now it was like pulling teeth. I'm going to let it sit and talk to me for a while as I finish up my Orchid. I want the colors and such to be a nice blend of what she likes, what I like and what will look wonderful.

...I pointed out I didn't think it was safe, and they turned around and pointed out that if it wasn't plugged in, how could it be dangerous. Kinda frustrating.

I know Nana would have appreicate this, so loved her house and loved things to be nice. I think the carpet and wall updates would thrill her. I also think she'd be happy to see the outlets go personally, since the parts needed to run them (my mom remembers a box of some kind) are long gone and they take away from the lovely condition this little house is in.

Ah. Yes. Things are still very raw. You can think you're ready for a family member to die, but when they do, you come to realize how much of yourself is attached to that person. Waiting to do major things is good.

As for the safety about the lighting... obviously your Nana must have wanted lights in it, because she had them in. They're not safe, because they're not up to "code." So eventually, gently removing the "not to code" lighting and replacing it with something newer and safer would make your Nana very happy, were she to get to look down from heaven and see it. So, in time, I think you can safely do that.

And she'd be happy to see you update it to a little house that both you and her like.

*hugs*

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