Resources

There are two US miniature magazines Nutshell News and Miniature Collector. They're pretty interesting, but not if you're just starting a house building project: they're more into the accessories and very specific techniques (making a pond, landscaping, making a bedroom set, etc.) They have pictures of finished houses that are great for ideas, if a bit daunting at first!

Houseworks (the one very large company in this entire mom-and-pop industry) provides a booklet called "Everything You Need to Know about Building a Dollhouse but Didn't Know Who to Ask" (or something like that). They have it on line, in a printed version you can buy in doll-house stores, or in a xerox copy they will send for free. Check out their website off the reference page.

Miniatures stores are incredibly helpful, almost always. I do all my shopping by mail with Collette (with an accent I can't do in this software, pronounced Colletta) Renfro at Blackberry Harvest Museum and Doll Shoppe. She's in Homewood, Illinois and is knowledgeable, helpful and service-oriented in a way that never quits. (708) 957-4332. When I was just starting, I called her and said I was thinking about getting started: she sent me catalogs, photographs, price lists, etc. Never having met me and with no knowledge of what kind of customer I might be. Of course, she won a friend for life, and we might as well have just given her signatory authority over all my bank accounts, given the way it's turned out, but she didn't know that then!

Finally, there is a dollshouse newsgroup and a pseudo-listserv. The dollshouse newsgroup has a link from Deena's reference page, as does the Tiny Talk chat group. Both are overflowing with extremely helpful, friendly people. I once asked a question about electrifying the dollhouse and got four extremely long and thorough email messages from various hlepful people. Incredible! (They were all helpful, too.)

Choosing an Approach: Scratch or Kits There are two basic approaches to building a dollhouse: from scratch, and from a kit.

Scratch: I've never done from scratch, but there are dollhouse planbooks that have the functional equivalent of blueprints. There's one major book available from Houseworks (see above) and several that ought to be available at most libraries.

Kits: There are two kinds of kits: die-cut and heavier wood.

Die-cut kits are made from 1/8" wood and come in sheets that one punches out, sands and then puts together. They are cheaper than the heavier wood kits, but also flimsier. This has positive qualities for small children, as the finished houses can be easily moved, even by the child.

The two main manufacturers of die-cut kits are Greenleaf and Duracraft. I started with a Duracraft kit that cost $14 (the Sweetheart House). (All house kits have names. Some more sickening than others!) I wasn't satisfied with the finished product, but was able to assemble and finish it relatively quickly (a couple of weekends of concentrated work) and it gave my four-year old something tangible to play with (and gave her a tangible concept of the whole thing) while the larger house was in production. It also proved to me that she was going to use and value a doll house, so all in all, I have good feelings about having begun that way, even though I will probably never build anything die-cut again. You have to be prepared to do real sanding, and to adjust your expectations with these kits, but they do have their positive points. I used a heavy enamel paint for finishing the kit (do some of the painting before final assembly, no matter what the directions say!!), and it is holding up well and looks pretty good. This is a play-with-it object, not anything that is ever likely to be handed down.

Heavier Wood Kits: usually 1/4" or 3/8" plywood, these are serious kits. (In a positive sense of the word! It's something that will be a play object and also still be standing to hand down. They're sturdy--also relatively immovable.) Some come with just the kit for the shell and some come with "finishing" kits that include all the trim, interior doors, windows, etc. Shopping around really pays, as the components can get very expensive, but the packages tend to includ things one wants to replace as the aspirations and knowledge grows!

Reputable manufacturers include Houseworks, Real Good Toys, Hofco, the House that Jack Built, Wallmer, Celerity and others. Some of the smaller companies tend to come and go (e.g., Celerity, Hofco), and not all are widely available. I can provide further info on tracking them down if you would find that helpful. I bought a House that Jack Built and am very happy with it; the kits are very good value for the money, though a little hard to come by. RGT has a great catalog they will send you that provides a good baseline set of information. It's full color and more than 20 pages, and has a very nice selection. They are in Vermont. (will provide number if that would be helpful--dollhouse stores might also have some on hand) Wallmer is a higher-end product (more money, more elaborate). Celerity has some pretty nice houses, but my experience is that their availability is more limited.

I ended up buying a RGT porch for my house, and am pretty happy with the quality. Price ranges start at about $150ish for a basic kit, with another $100-200 for finishing kits or individual components. This is before your start to furnish and decorate the thing! But you'll end up with a nice quality project that will be a lasting heirloom.

Kits come in two basic forms as well: milled siding (the siding is cut into the walls) and siding you apply (either in sheets or individual board by board). I got a milled kit, and if I was doing it again, might well go for another approach. On the other hand, my father-in-law applied the siding board by board and called it "exceedingly tedious," so maybe I wouldn't after all. I'm pretty happy with the way my milled siding turned out.

It is also possible to go a good deal higher in quality, size and price. I haven't ventured into those shores as I was building something for a child, not a collector. At the top end, you can spend a LOT of money.

Third option: There is an even easier approach that involves buying a shell house that is already assembled, but is bare wood and all the rest of the work needs to be done (sanding, painting, decorating, etc.). Many of the same suppliers of kits also make shell houses.

General Tips: I sanded between every coat of paint. It helped a lot. I interpreted directions pretty freely, and used common sense whenever indicated. There are things in directions that seemed pretty counter-intuitive, and whenever I asked, it turned out they didn't make much sense. (See above re resources for checking these things out.)

Michael made me a turntable to put my house on. What a godsend! He bought the hardware a building supply store and then cut two fairly heavy pieces of wood for the house to sit upon. The turntable is a blessing: I can stay seated and move the house whenever I want to work on a different part.

A good light is a must.

I bought a hot glue gun, which I use for the major components (windows, doors, stairs, some outside trim). The plus is that this stuff can be removed by heating it again with a hair dryer. For everything else, I use Aileen's Tacky Glue and Dean Jenson's Roo Glue. They are both white glues that stay a bit tacky so you can put something in place and it will hold it there, but you can also move it around a bit until you're happy with placement. For wallpaper, I used wallpaper paste recommended by Collette (New Creations? I don't remember). I ran out and needed about two more tablespoons, so bought some locally. It was vastly inferior, so if I ever wallpaper again, I'm going back to Collette's recommendation. Someone in the newsgroup suggested putting wallpaper on mat board and gluing the matboard in so the paper could be changed if desired later. I didn't go to that much trouble: I just glued it to my primed walls. I'll cross the other bridge later, if need be.

I used some components that came with my house, but replaced others. For example, the staircase that came with my house was ok, but the newel (sp?) post was icky. For $1.89, I got a fancy newel post, and it changed the look of the whole stairway.

I also added dormers to my house. I wanted them to be removable in the event that in later years someone wants to upgrade the decorations (there'd be no way to wallpaper inside them once installed). Someone on the newsgroup (again!) suggested attaching them with small dowels glued into the dormer and then drilling holes in the house for them to fit into. We did this (actually, Michael did that part) and it works like a charm. I couldn't be more pleased with this approach.

Houseworks is the major supplier of components. They have an enormous line (with consistent packaging) and it all works together. Through trial and error, however, I've discovered that there are a fair number of higher-quality -but-lower-cost items out there. My main source (provided by Collette at Blackberry Harvest) is Alessio, which makes very very high quality components at about half the Houseworks price. If I were starting all over again, I'd buy whatever I could from Alessio and use Houseworks for the rest.

Another point related to Houseworks: they have a catalog outlet called Hobby Builder's Supply. Many items are good buys and the service is usually pretty good, but you have to be careful with the kits to make sure you know what you're getting, as they are not always the same as you might have seen in the stores.

Finally, don't let me lead you one way or the other or scare you off. Miniatures are a lot of fun and there are a million different ways to express yourself. Just dive in and have fun.