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My first house: The Beacon Hill


marknyc

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We built a Beacon Hill as well. And just like Wendy ours is Blue (two shades) and white. I noticed lookng at hers we chose a lot of similar color schemes as well. Purple in the bath.. LOL! And ALSO like hers, ours is never finished. Wonder if it ever will be. In fact, is ANY of our houses ever truly finished?

I keep thinking of making other modifications to it, but have so many other projects going on and so little time. I have an unfinished lighthouse, and unfinished church, (Dremel is off to the company to get repaired. It's been a trusty tool for many years and I'm gonna keep it.) Brookwood is still in the box and I have 18 1/4" scale buildings to do too. Tons of House of Miniature and other funiture kids, as well as the set of greenleaf furniture. Oh yeah. I think Mel ordered the trailer from Ernie too. I'll never be done! Lucky me!

In fact, I modified the bathtub in the greenleaf furniture kit and that's what I turned into a Porcelin looking built in tub in the Beacon Hill. The built in cabinet next to it was made with scraps from the window punchouts. (we used other window and door punchouts to make the casket in the parlor.) The sliding glass shower door was a plastic three ring report cover we found at the dollar store.

Currently I'm "supervising" mels building of the Haunted House. She's going to park the finished thing next to the greenhouse full of poisonous plants she made for one of Ernies contests. That got her work posted and an honorable mention. But I'm sure you'll enjoy building your Beacon Hill. I wish there were more houses with that style of Victorian elegance.

Darrell (on one of my rare visits)

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Darrell and Melissa, I just had to take a look at your BH. This was the first time I'd seen it and loved it. The coffin in the livingroom was a nice touch, actually brought back memories of my grandfather in his coffin in the livingroom of their home. The kitchen is perfect. You both did a great job on it.

Wendy

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Hello Darrell!! Nice to hear from you!

Melissa is doing a Fantastic job on the haunted house! I love it and the ideas she has for it. This was an easy house to build (I did not read the instructions cause they looked harder than jumping in and just doing it :) ) I think it was the format of the instructions. I like the layout of the other greenleaf instructions and the corona ones are nice too.

This one was like the other houses I got like the Tiffany, The Teresa and the Country house oh and Charleston. I tossed those instructions too (It's a shame too cause I have 2 Teresa's with no instructions) Any way, I can't wait to see her finished project and the Beacon Hill is one of my favorites too. Eventually, we'll build that here too ;)

Yeap, talent runs in your family!

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I've seen Darrell and Melissa's Beacon Hill on an earlier visit and it's very nice! I really like the kitchen and bathroom! ;) The way the kitchen is done it looks so much bigger than mine!!

Tracy, what does 'The Teresa' look like? My interest is peaked!! :)

Mark, that's the other tool you should definitely have at some point . . . a Dremel!! My husband bought me one and I can't tell you how great it was to have!! :)

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Teresa,

I haven't been keeping up on your Beacon Hill restoration project since I've been really busy. But I had seen the beginnings. You've got vision! What a change it's come through.

I really was impressed that you made your own support brackets to replace the missing ones. That's determination! I really like the first floor foyer and your wall papering choices. I do have one suggestion though. In one of the pictures (kitchen window perhaps) there's a shelf added above the top of the window. I think instead of having it rounded I'd use one more squared off and add a bracket on either end similar to brackets used elsewhere in the house. Just my viewpoint of course. Adding shelving is a good thing. LOL! We built in some in the bath of our BH. In additon to having a place to fill up with mini towels and such it makes my tub look more "built in".

We did use real copper sheeting on our bay window roofs and the dormer curved roofs. Took me lots of experimenting to get it to "properly" rust the correct green. But we finally found out common household bleach works and it's continuing to "age" gracefully. Not like our pics at all any more. I may have to take some more pics of it.

I can hardly wait to see what you do with the remaining rooms. I am very impressed given what you started out with and that you had the vision to recognize this diamond in the rough. Such a graceful house needs a home and you're giving it a good life in yours.

Thanks for sharing what you have so far in the "project". And please continue.

smiles,

Darrell

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I thought I'd posted a reply, Darrell, but it seems to be missing in action! B)

Anyway, thanks so much for your input. About the shelf over the smaller kitchen window . . . is that not original? It was there when I found the house so I assumed it was. Also, I believe there are two fireplaces missing in my Beacon Hill. One in the bedroom (second floor, right hand side) and one in the parlor (main floor, right hand side). I plan on adding a Victorian fireplace in the parlor, but don't know about the bedroom yet.

Also wanted to say thanks for your tutorial on tape wiring! I found it VERY helpful, even for a beginner!! :D

Current pictures would be so welcome and inspirational!!

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Teresa, (and Picasso)

The other two fireplaces were not installed into the house per se, but just built from parts on the sheets and the instructions say to put them wherever you wish. Of course the parlor NEEDS one and the one on the third floor is built in. The instructions DID suggest that the most "logical" location would be to line them all up with the single chimney.

I do plan on adding more "tricks and hints" to the tape wiring tutorial. I'm happy you found it helpful and informative. It gets quite a few views so I guess people are hearing about it by word of mouth. My biggest complaint about electrifying the houses is the need to have so many transformers. We only have a couple and I move them around from house to house depending upon which one we're wanting to have lit at the time. Eventually, I plan to get one BIG transformer and build some custom "jumper" cables to daisy-chain the power down the line from one house to the next. But the light does add so much doesn't it?

But lately we've been working on Swamp Witch Hatties' bayou shack so we haven't had much time to work on the Beacon Hill.

Darrell

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Darrell, Picasso says hello! (Actually, he does say 'hello?') B)

Thanks for the information on the fireplaces. It kind of bothered me that something was "missing". Now I know it's not the end of the world!

I'm thinking at some point I'm going to add on a conservatory to the kitchen side of the house and make the kitchen bigger because all the furniture and such I'm buying takes up a lot of space! :D For now I have to be content with decorating and starting work on my Buttercup! :D

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Found some older pics of our Beacon Hill on an older geocities page we used. There's some detail pics showing some closeups of some of what we did on ours. It's at ... http://www.geocities.com/darrellandmelissa/ ... There are also some pages on a mission my daughter and I built from garbage we found laying around for a school project. DONE IN ONE EVENING! And some interesting things we've done with the Greenleaf 56 piece furniture kit. Check out the tub and toilet. Just because it's wood doesn't mean you can't make it look like porcelin. LOL!

Teresa,

I think adding a conservatory to that side would be a great idea. I'm still impressed with the fact that you MADE your own pieces for the missing brackets on your house. To ours we put the bult in cabinets in the kitchen (purchased) and added a custom cabinet to make our tub (from the greeenleaf furniture kit) look built in. That shelf unit next to the tub was made from window and door punched out parts from the BH as well. And we did that little decorative work above the front door with toothpicks and if I were to build it again, I'd cut a closet door into the block under the stairs in the first floor entry way, just because it's LIKELY there would be one there for storage. We put aged planks on the first floor porch and emery cloth on the second floor one. We cheated and used one BENT curtain rod for the bay windows in the parlor and draped all three windows at once. I did notice the inside bay trims were missing on your treasure find. They would be hard to duplicate but if anyone could do it I'm sure you could. Got a scroll saw? LOL!

Anyway, just wanted to offer up the pics we'd misplaced on the web for a while.

smile,

Darrell

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Hi Darrell! As always, I love looking at your pictures. The toothpicks above the front door are awesome! I never would have guessed that was what they were if you hadn't said anything! :( The mission is absolutely awesome! I can't believe you built it in one evening!!

I have the trim pieces for the windows, but decided not to install them. With the crown molding and wallpaper border and then the cornices for the curtains there wasn't much room for them.

I thought about making a door under the stairway as well for a Harry Potter type room and then decided against it. Maybe in another house!

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Hi everybody,

I'm the guy who started this thread, and I've finally found a space to build my Beacon Hil (hard to do in Manhattan). Spent the whole weekend on it. I primed and sanded almost everything and have the first major assembly done. One trick I found to avoid using clamps: thumbtacks! Some walls would not stay flush, but a thumbtack held them in place nicely until the glue dried.

Now it's on to the stairs. I want to stain and varnish them - can anyone recommend a stain that works well with this wood? I'd like a nice rich feel - not too dark, but something deep and solid-looking. Any adivce on getting a quality finish would be appreciated.

Also, I did not seal the thin pieces that make up the curved roofs, for fear that would interfere with bending them. Since they will all be shingled, is it essential to seal them?

Thanks again,

Mark

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Well gee, Mark, nice that you're back.

Sealing the roof pieces ought not interfere with the bending. If you aren't going to paint or paper the underside for a ceiling and not using a water-soluble glue to attach the shingles you needn't seal it.

I use MinWax stains because they come in a wide array of colors and everyone seems to carry that brand. You can also stain with acrylic paints (remembering I use mine straight from the tubes) by diluting them with extender and then water.

"This wood" takes stain as well as any other wood I've used.

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My take on your questions.

Staining. You can use pretty much any stain at all. Test it on some scraps from the kit to see for sure the color you'll get. For a rich finish, put several coats of a high gloss polyurethane, with very light sanding with super fine sandpaper or better yet, #0000 steel wool. Make sure it's really dry before sanding and going to the next coat. When you are satisfied with the richness and smoothness of the finish stop adding coats.

Sealing the curved roof panels. No. You don't need to seal these. They'll not be visible if you are going to shingle, which I assume you are. And the inside of them isn't visible either.

Darrell

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Hi Mark! Glad to see you back! :blink: Hope you're taking pictures as you progress! Sure would like to see them!

Pretty much what they said above. You don't see any parts of the roof from the outside (once shingled) or from the inside (there are ceiling pieces that cover up the roof parts).

I stained the table that sits on my front porch with a dark walnut color. It's nice and rich looking. I then put on about 2-3 coats of gloss urethane. Shouldn't be a problem to stain the wood as it is.

Looking forward to seeing your pictures!

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Unfortunately, I have no digital camera - I'll try to borrow one, but I may not have pics until I'm further along...

I finished the first assembly and moved on to the staircase - can't believe how many pieces there are: about 75! Wasn't there any other way for Greenleaf to design it?

I made my first big boo-boo: I primed all the steps and risers by mistake, so I had to strip them all, since I am staining the staircase. Duh. Luckily, it all looks good, tho. I used Special Walnut stain, and it looks like I may be able to use the rest of the can for the shingles.

Couple of questions:

The instructions recommend cutting pieces of cardboard to match the Mansard roof parts, shingling them and gluing them to the actual wood pieces. Has anyone else done that? Is it really better?

My black walnut flooring from Houseworks just arrived:

http://www.miniatures.com/hbs/global/Index...PRODUCTSKU=7021

Teresa, or anyone who has used this, do I have to sand, stain and lacquer it as the instructions say? It looks pretty good as it is!

Mark

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Hi Mark! Oops about your stairs, luckily it sounds like you were able to save the day! They'll be marvelous in the end!!

My dear hubby glued the shingles directly to the roof (no cardboard). I don't understand why you'd do that except if for some reason at a later date you decided to change things?!! Hmm . . . maybe someone else can answer that question for both of us! :o

For the flooring, as you know I have the same, I put one coat of urethane on and once thoroughly dry, sanded it every so slightly, then put on one more coat of urethane. You did get the black walnut, right? Don't stain it! It's a wonderful color when you just urethane it.

Hope that helps! :D

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Hi Mark,

I did my roof using the cardboard and found it very easy. I don't think I would have wanted to try doing it without only because of the curve. It was the only house I've done in which I did it that way though. I doubt there is a right or wrong way and since BH was my first house and I had absolutely no experience I just did what the instructions said.

Let us know which you decide?

Wendy

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I too glued the shingles directly to the curved roof with ONE exception. There is one place to the left of the tower where it's very difficult to get in to work. Very tight fit. So I tackled this hole first.

I cut a piece of construction paper (it's heavier and I wanted to make sure I matched the curve of the roof when attaching shingles. I taped it to another larger portion of the curved roof to curve the paper in the same curve as the roof. Then I glued the shingles to the paper. Once it was dry I cut the edges of tape sticking out to release it and glued this "assembly" into that hole. Worked like a charm.

As for the rest of the roof it's easily accessible so shouldn't present any problems.

Hope this helps.

And for pictures you don't need a digital camera. Just use any camera and usually for only a few bucks they'll burn the pictures at many places onto a CD Rom for you that you can read from your computer. Makes for easy picture transfer to the web.

Darrell

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Darrell, can you believe my hubby actually glued each shingle on individually in that little space? He has big hands!! ;) Needless to say, he's my shingle man from now on! I have him as a captive prisoner!! :D

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Hi all,

Spent the evening on the staircase, and I have to say I am not crazy about the QuickGrip.

How do others use it? I tried squeezing it from the tube and found it very difficult to get the right amount. Also, if it goes somewhere you don't want it to, you can't just wipe it off like carpenter's glue.

I'm told to use it for the shingles, but now I don't know - do people have techniques they recommend for working with it?

But the staircase looks good so far - I will install it tonight and move on from there.

When is the best time to start adding the siding? Before I add all the windows, I would think...

Thanks again for helping a first-timer!

Mark

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Hi Mark, I always add my siding as the last thing to do except when shutters are being added, the siding should be underneath those. I cut around all the doors and windows. But I do know that others have done their siding before installing the porch on the BH. I just like everything done on the outside first before working on the siding.

For shingles, I will only use hot glue. It's the only place on a dollhouse where hot glue should be used. (in my humble opinion).

Sure wish you could get some pictures up on the board for us to watch your progress.

Wendy

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Well, I have good news and bad news.

I spent about 20 hours on the house this weekend, and made a lot of progress. Teresa, the flooring looks great - so good that I'm buying two more pieces to do all three hallways. I had a little problem with buckling once it dried, but it's okay.

The stairway sure is a challenge! Lots of sanding and futzing to make everything work. But it's almost done. I've got all three stories of the house up. Next step is to start bending the mansard roofs.

Now for the bad news - I think I've lost a piece of the staircase! I've looked everywhere and can't find it. I know I had it 'cause I remember staining it. It's the very small railing on the second floor - the one that has only two pillars. I guess I will take the drawing of it, blow it up and make a replacement from scratch. Or can I buy a replacement piece? How?

Thanks again,

Mark

P.S. I will ask at work if anyone can loan me a digital camera. The problem with using a regular camera is that I'd have to develop the whole roll just to put a couple of pictures up here. And I've already spent way too much on this gift!

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