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What style dollhouses would you like?


mesp2k

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What style dollhouses would you like to have that are not currently available?

I thought about the 4 square style, but how would it open? Every side is 2 rooms deep. Split open??

A one story house could have a removable roof.

The narrow brownstone could have an open side... :hmm:

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Didn't we have this topic once before? A couple of more contemporary house designs, a castle/ keep, a Tudor-era town house with shop, a duplex, an apartment building come to mind. I have drafted plans I modified for a Stickley Craftsman Bungalow, four-square two-level with opening front and back walls (if I ever get it built). Roof-opening ranch-type. Is it possible to bash all those Spring Fling kits together into a single house?

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KathieB: What house would you like?

Shannon: I'm talk'n 'bout any kit you could imagine :) Any particular style you like?

Holly: Yeah we did have this topic before, but I couldn't find it :waycon: dang it! What's the difference between RGTs bungalow & a Stickley?

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I'm going to go outside the box and say I'd like Pop Culture replicas.

Brady Bunch house (I'd put my Lundby furniture in it)

Bewitched (Samantha and Darren's house at 1164 Morning Glory Circle - I'd do it in 60s/70s colors)

Amityville Horror dutch colonial

Addams Family (Beacon hill is close, but not quite)

Jane Austen or Bronte Parsonage replica house

Leave it to Beaver

Andy and Opie's house (with Aunt Bea's room!)

I'd also love replica kits of famous dollhouses - like the old FAO Schwartz houses:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-swhuCckhxTo/TcC4j9gQ9iI/AAAAAAAADYw/L88Le8EvpTA/s640/meehan+027.JPG

And something akin to Tasha Tudor's dollhouse:

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2774/4068703296_9b66dbc877_o.jpg

That house looks simple, but the paneling and details would need to be included.

All my favorite houses have formal entry ways (something missing from a lot of kits now), and proper hallways...no stairs into the bedroom, no bathrooms in the middle of everything!

I really like replicas I guess.

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Also - re: 4 Square

I have a custom built 4 square and it has two sides open, plus a door on the third side.

The back is open (with plexiglass) allowing access to 4 rooms (kitchen, diningroom, bedroom and upper bathroom). From all of these rooms, you can see into the other side (which is a lovely effect).

The side has a plexiglass covered opening allowing access to the upper 2nd bedroom and lower livingroom.

With just these two open sides, you have access to every room except the stairway and entry hall.

So - the builder included a small hinged wall (half the side) on the other side allowing access to the upper and lower foyers.

Amazing.

Big houses are really fun.

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...What's the difference between RGTs bungalow & a Stickley?

The one I twiddled with is the "seven room cement house no. 85" in the Stickley catalog. The third floor is one big open-air sleeping porch and there is a side porch.

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All my favorite houses have ...... proper hallways...no stairs into the bedroom, no bathrooms in the middle of everything! ......

That is a "thing" for me too - most of the kits have the bathrooms only accessible through other rooms and even though my RL house has one of those, it bugs the heck out of me. I guess I like it to look realistic with the stairs and halls making sense.

The other big desire for me is a castle complex - maybe one that could be added to in parts to help with the overall expenses.

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KathieB: What house would you like?

I'm hard put to choose a design. My approach is to follow the lead of the house and develop it into whatever design seems to suit, even if it is way off of its intended design. 1" scale 2-room houseboat to 1/2" scale 11-room 1/2" scale houseboat with 2-story ballroom. -- 1" Orchid to 1/2" elf house. -- Travel trailer to Mardi Gras float.

Whatever design I might choose would probably morph into something else before it was finished.

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Elsbeth: Have you seen these sites > Click & click
I wish you had photos of the 4 sqr. Sounds unique.
I think I like replicas too. Altho if I did a replica of the house we're renting now, the stairs do go into the bedroom.
The stairs have narrow treads that slant slightly downward & make you feel like you're mountain climbing & then there's the cellar stairs ladder. Its like Little House on the Prairie.
The living room is so small you can't fit a full size sofa. Well at least I will know how to furnish a small dollhouse :)
Holly: I found your Stickley house in Google Books, p44: Click
You would use Mission style furniture?
Selkie: Castles are very modular with repetitive motifs, so it would make sense that they could be done in a add on fashion.
I saw one where the floor plan looked like a picture frame with a courtyard in the center. All four sides could be opened. (I can't find it now!)
Dalesq: I don't think I could go smaller than 1/12. My fingers are too big, lol...
Blondie: The cathedral would be a similar build to a castle. If you look close at the Deborah59 cathedral you can see patterns repeating over & over again.
Shannon: When we were back in RI I had a chance to do a replica of a carpenter gothic in our neighborhood, but never around to it. :mad:
What is a french house? I'm think'n old world, cottage, European??
KathieB: That's interesting - morph it. :hmm: Okay, maybe I should have asked, is there a certain time in history that you like...a certain location?
GirlPiper: I was think'n the same thing - there are a lot kits that could be bashed into whatever you wanted. What would you start with for a ranch or a cape? :)
Interesting thoughts...thanks for all the input!!
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Something Italianate, something Arabesque, something Moorish, something Indian, something Chinese/Japanese, something very Gothic, a fairy tale castle/keep, and a submarine with all the rooms/levels (hey, a girl can dream, right?)

Yes Taj Mahal-ish or Oriental are not represented very well.

By submarine - do mean a naval sub or underwater house? Either would be wild!

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Yes Taj Mahal-ish or Oriental are not represented very well.

By submarine - do mean a naval sub or underwater house? Either would be wild!

There are so many varieties of architecture that would make gorgeous dollhouses.

I love the various designs from India, like the Agra Fort (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wOB233ONQzc/ThwQVzLDzRI/AAAAAAAABYg/3_a5Bncv-Gc/s1600/agra2big.jpg) or

Arabic styles are more like the adobe style houses with plain plaster work and wooden airconditioning towers (http://arabiczeal.com/tag/bastakiya-quarter/).

I found this amazing house (perfect for a modern mini): http://www.besthomever.com/play-some-white-items-to-create-unique-architecture-in-dune-house/

I actually wanted to build a mermaid's underwater cave/home when I was a teenager, but lacked the carpentry skills to create it. It would be a number of different underwater cave rooms with no stairs of course.

I would LOVE an underwater city! Atlantis was one of my favourite stories as a child, and Captain Nemo also inspired me.

So maybe a steampunk overhauled medieval underwater city with a matching submarine! Now, THAT would be a sight to behold!!!

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...Holly: I found your Stickley house in Google Books, p44: Click
You would use Mission style furniture?...

Some of it, and some late Victorian, like the RL Craftsman Bungalows when people were building and living in them. I also have the furniture catalogs and a book for building the built-ins, as in the diningroom; all I need is to divide all the measurements by 12, a pile of basswood boards in different thicknesses and several tins of stain.

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KathieB: That's interesting - morph it. :hmm: Okay, maybe I should have asked, is there a certain time in history that you like...a certain location?

Mike, if you ask the new question, you'll get as many answers as there are respondents. One of the fun things about this forum is that we all have an interest in miniatures, but what we do with them is so very different.

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...maybe I should have asked, is there a certain time in history that you like...a certain location?...

Basically I wind up in the past century, mostly because there are so mini different styles! I don't feel particularly attracted to mid-Victorian or earlier, and except for the Magnolia, no particular location except generic US.

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