The  girl was ten years old when we purchased our kit  for her gift dollhouse.  It languished in our home for two more years, until we finally bit the bullet and began building it.

It was especially interesting because of its 1/12 scale wherein an inch on the dollhouse is a foot in the real world.  Also, it has a double porch as do many Victorian houses on the Gulf Coast.

Common double porches on Gulf Coast houses.

By myself,  I stained shingles, and assembled the porch.  There were long gaps of inactivity, sandwiched between construction stages, during which the dollhouse and its parts occupied a lot of space in our house.

Finally, my husband, tired of having the partially constructed project,  and all of its parts lying around, volunteered to help finish it.  He said, “We’ll get it done in a day.”

The remaining construction did no go nearly as fast as expected with windows, flooring, and shingles to install.

The kit contained realistic detailed windows,  and railings.

The charm of its scale kept us going and enticed us to order the furniture.  Many of the little drawers and doors on the furnishings open and close.  I crocheted three little rugs, and two mini doilies, and we got out the scale family of four, which we had purchased earlier.  These dolls, which I formerly thought were unacceptable, became more attractive as their habitat evolved, and the lack of more suitable, affordable alternatives became apparent.

 The furnished bathroom and nursery. The living room. The bedroom.

 The dining room. The kitchen.

Good parts of three weeks later, happy to have reached this stage of completion,  we finally carted it off to the much older youngster, who can now enjoy decorating  it with 1/12 scale utensils and decor.