Dollhouse Headstone

[CheckMouse]

Someone posted this link on the NAME Facebook group and I thought I would share it here. A work of love, and therapeutic, I'm sure . . .

The sad monument was built by John Keating, a local stonemason, sometime between 1868 and 1878 as a way to memorialize the untimely deaths of his two children and a niece. At one point, the intricately-created dollhouse even had small pieces of stone-carved furniture inside, but were eventually lost to vandals.

For the rest of the story:

https://roadtrippers.com/blog/guy-discovers-saddest-memorial-ever-a-dollhouse-turned-tombstone

[Selkie]

Interesting that it was left open to passers-by. Wonder if that was the original plan or part of the breaking down of the monument?

Must have loved those sweet little gals he built it for - that took a lot of work to create.

[CraftyMtnMom]

Sad and beautiful at the same time.

[chapchap73]

I saw an article about this dollhouse a few years back. How horrible is it that someone would steal things from a cemetery?

[CraftyMtnMom]

It is a terrible thing when people do that, but they do. I think that is part of why some cemeteries no longer allow anything except a headstone. It is a real shame.

[WyckedWood]

How interesting. And melancholy and sweet. Thanks for sharing.

[L Swearengin]

I shared that with my niece and nephew. My sister was Mary Agnes. Kind of haunting for this family.

[rackey]

I agree with Sarah, as my first thought was how sad it is that some people would steal from such a touching tribute to innocent children. In some ways that is even sadder than the fact these babies died so young. However, on the other side of the human spectrum was the person who attempted to fix up the grave site. That tends to restore my faith in humanity.

In a nearby town, a short drive from my home, there used to be a similar monument to a little girl who died young. I don't remember if the tombstone was shaped like a dollhouse or a castle, or even if it was the child's actual grave marker, as I don't think it was part of a cemetary. What I remember most was that inside the structure, behind a glass pane was the doll the little girl used to play with. When I was a child I liked to stop there to look inside, but as an adult, I could never find it. Then one day I read about it in Weird NJ magazine, and I believe that too fell away to vandalism.

[CheckMouse]

I think, in the era when this was built, there was a lot more respect for graveyards. The vandalism has come with the druggie era, where people will steal anything to get even a small amount of money. I was surprised that he left the windows open so someone could reach inside. But maybe it originally had glass windows, that have disappeared through the years.

We always talk about how therapeutic it is for us to work on miniatures, and how many people have been helped by the hobby. I'm sure this dear man, grieving for three precious children, shed many tears as he worked alone on this labor of love. And as Maureen mentioned, it's wonderful to see that someone came along and fixed the original project.

Anybody have a tissue?

[Selkie]

In a nearby town, a short drive from my home, there used to be a similar monument to a little girl who died young. I don't remember if the tombstone was shaped like a dollhouse or a castle, or even if it was the child's actual grave marker, as I don't think it was part of a cemetary. What I remember most was that inside the structure, behind a glass pane was the doll the little girl used to play with. When I was a child I liked to stop there to look inside, but as an adult, I could never find it. Then one day I read about it in Weird NJ magazine, and I believe that too fell away to vandalism.

Is this the place you were remembering Maureen?

[havanaholly]

I like to think he left the windows open so that passing children could stop and play with the house briefly, visiting with his little angels.