This is above the door.It even has a little wooden church organ!Lots of damage on this side. Most of the tissue paper windows are gone.
This structure is actually an old model of a long-gone church. It was reportedly made by an early boyscout troupe. The couple I bought it from says that they purchased it online through an auction, and that it was damaged during shipping. They didn’t remember what state they bought it from– possibly Wyoming or Wisconsin. They had made a few repairs, but this is what it is, now.
The stained glass windows are actually made of old tissue paper, that might be original, as it is brittle and discolored, and has remnants of some of the (I think) original paint on it. I also have discovered some tissue paper pasted to the floors in designs. There are small pews made of varnished cardboard, and a ‘priest’ made from a small Kewpie doll :).
I don’t plan to alter this piece. My ideas include placing clear plastic sheets on the floor to preserve the papers (they are flaking off and look very messy). I also would like to make a few clay pigeons to perch around inside and out, to give it an abandoned feel. I may add a tiny paper wasp nest and an owl.
I made a cardboard base that is covered with fake turf, and have been working on a tiny graveyard for the background. I will post pictures when it starts coming together.
Front view.Side view. Panels on the side lift up on hinges, and have a wooden dowel that helps hold them up while you play.
As you can see, this window needs some restoration. I eventually used Museum Wax to stick the glass back under the thick paper frame.
My cat’s back is in this shot- don’t be alarmed, it’s just Teracles :).This is an upstairs room. Old wiring in the attic, that was modified by a recent owner with a more modern plug. Not sure how safe this would be to plug in, so I choose not to.
This is another marketplace find. The couple I bought this house from had found it in an antique shop many years ago. Apparently it was built in 1887, by a doctor, to give to his daughter. I confirmed with members of my antique dollhouse group on Facebook that this is probably authentic, as the glass is thick and imperfect, the wood looks to be from old-growth trees, and it was popular at that time to make houses out of crates. This house also appears to have been modified slightly through the generations, as someone added electricity via antique Christmas lighting.
It came furnished with a variety of Strombecker furniture, plus a pair of Erna Meyer dolls. I have decided to decorate the downstairs as a small general store (1800’s style), with the store keeper and his wife residing in the upper level.
When I was younger we had the opportunity to walk through a General Store that had been closed up, with all goods intact, for many decades. It was a magical moment to step into the past like that, and I would like to try to recreate that feeling (at least to a degree) in this dollhouse. The old store had a post office inside, goods on shelves and hanging from the ceiling, lots of old displays, and all sorts of stuff.
I don’t plan on altering the house itself in any way that can’t be undone. I have decided that any beams that I add for hanging goods will be held in place with museum wax so they can be easily removed.
Some of the included furnishings.
I moved all of the ‘living’ furniture into the upper floors of the house, and any that didn’t quite fit in were stored in the dollhouse’s attic. Next step will be getting store furnishings, and making goods to sell!
I made this 2 sided store display out of craft sticks and split dowels.
First I made this 2 sided display out of craft sticks. I figured that it would work well in one of the windows as a display. I stained it and loaded the shelves with extra dollhouse items I had lying around.
One side, stained and with items added.The other side with items added.
Next, I found a cool post office display and bought it off ebay.
Post office display, along with packages and letters, on my messy desk (sorry!)
I also acquired a glass display counter and a few more goods for the store. Here is how it currently looks:
Display counter, post office, and window display all installed. There is also a cast iron stove and a grindstone pencil sharpener.A closer view. The glass display domes were bought at Hobby Lobby and the cool, intricate scale was found on ebay. The cash register is a metal pencil sharpener.
Obviously there is much more work to be done. I would like to make some horse harness and tack to put on display, as well as removable beams across the ceiling to hang goods from, like candles and baskets. At some point, I would also like to figure out how to make antique-looking medicine bottles (I collect them in real life) that can be displayed on shelves or even in the glass display case. One of the fun things about doll houses is that you can always come up with fun ideas for future projects.
This is the Pepperwood Farm dollhouse. I was fortunate enough to acquire it from Facebook marketplace in September of 2019. We drove across the state on a 3 hour, one-way drive to get it. These houses were made from plans that were sold in a book. It was built by hand with thick plywood, so it is very heavy!
I believe that this particular house was built in the late 1970’s-early 1980’s. The wallpapers are a bit brittle and faded from age (but I love them). The older couple who had inherited it from their friend decided to pass it on to another who would enjoy it just as much, so I was fortunate to come across it.
There isn’t much that I plan on changing with this house at the moment. The inside has been decorated wonderfully, with trims and papers that I adore, but could use a few finishing touches, along with some light restoration. Mostly I have been having fun with making and collecting furniture for it.
The windows open like real windows, the attic has studs in the storage room, the attic bedroom has a few built-ins. It’s such a quaint little home, and my daughter and I have fun playing in it together.
Here is an image of the space under the hinged roof. On the left is the untidy nursery, and on the right is the untidy attic. Note the studs in the walls, like an unfinished space. I love the details that the maker put into this house.A closeup of the nursery. Note the built-in cupboards/drawers in the back. These appear to be made of thin wood. This is the side with the front door and porch opened up. It has the stairwell, the bathroom, the main bedroom, and the parlor. This is during Christmas. A closeup of the main bedroom, before I got the mattress made for the bed. The trunk was something I made as a teenager and the bedroom set was a vintage victorian bedroom kit from Realife Miniatures.A closeup of the parlor. The parlor organ was a windup music box that I altered to resemble a Reed Organ, using wood, popsicle sticks, and dowels. The stairs. The rug is a wide strip of ribbon, with stair rods made of toothpicks capped with beads, held in place with blue sticky putty (until I switch it to museum wax).The bathroom. I found some glass mosaic tiles that I eventually plan to install. I think I will attach them to matboard and piece it in along the walls and floor so I can just cover up the existing stuff without damaging it. The doll is a Ficen, with a Tom Holland head added. This view is with the other side opened up. It shows the kitchen, dining room, second bedroom, and upstairs hallway.The second bedroom. I plan on making this the grandmother’s room. I would like to make a murphy bed to put in here. I did make the rolltop desk as a miniature of my own desk, and the trunk is one I made as a teenager. This is an older photo, as I now have a nicer Heidi Ott sewing machine.The dining room, with my daughter’s toys in residence. The kitchen. I made the piesafe out of popsicle sticks. I would like to make a decent hoosier cabinet to put in here, also. There is one that I made (out of view on the wall opposite the sink) but I wasn’t very happy with it and want to replace it.
The insides of this house are constantly changing and evolving as I find different pieces of furniture or as I decorate for the seasons. Lately I have found myself wondering what new siding would look like, or even bricks? In my area of Michigan, I see a lot of old brick farmhouses, and they are breathtaking! I haven’t seen any photos of a brick pepperwood farm before. Perhaps someday I will try it out, even if it’s just printing some bricks on paper and taping them to the siding to see what it might look like.
Have any questions or comments? Want to see more photos of anything specific? Just leave a comment in the comment section!
