Ginna

SOLD! June 2019

Thank you for your kind words! One lesson I learned early on about decorating a dollhouse is that all of the colors need to be compatible since all of the rooms are visible at the same time. With regard to the wiring, my husband did that project a number of years ago. It appears that the brackets he used are made of plastic/nylon with an opening on one side and they are sticky on the back. I've attached a close-up below. We think they were probably designed for securing telephone wires. Possibly purchased at Radio Shack (which sadly is no more). You could try some version of telephone wire brackets. And if the stickum on the back is not strong enough, you could attach with small pieces of carpet tape. Good luck and please let me know if you are successful! UPDATE: I think I found them! I googled telephone wire brackets. Gardner Poly Wire Clip GWC-1510

You are so fortunate to find these opportunities to rehome your dollhouses. I'm in the process of trying to downsize my collection and have sold off a lot of the extra furniture items but when it comes to actual houses, it gets a lot harder to place them. Sadly, I think this hobby is in a decline right now. I recently approached a local dealer and she said, "Oh, honey, no one is buying houses now. They all want room-boxes." And I guess little girls are more into smart phones or Barbie's! Well, in other threads on this site, I've mentioned the two houses that I'd like to move on...a completely finished and electrified McKinley and a Loren Korff half-scale farmhouse. I suppose I might eventually donate them to a charity auction as an option.

Wow...thanks very much for the suggestion. I just sent her a message with photos. Hopefully we can work something out.

Lovely Vintage Dollhouse. Completely finished inside and out. Recently re-wired and all lighting works fine. This is a Greenleaf McKinley dollhouse, especially designed to display miniatures at eye level or in limited space. This unique model is just 9 inches deep, with 5 large rooms, an attic cubby, and a tower chamber. Three latticed storage drawers beneath are perfect for storing accessories. As shown in photos (Note: I have the attic trim). Most furniture is available at additional cost. Sonoma County, CA

Hi, Christine. I just saw your post about the Loren Korff half-scale farmhouse and I happen to have one for sale at this time. Unfortunately, I can't tell if this post is actually from March of this year or earlier. Please let me know if you are still interested in purchasing one of these and I can send you pictures. I live in Northern California (Sonoma County) and while it might be a bit pricey to ship, I don't think it's out of the question given the size of this house. Ginna Gillen Windsor, CA

Wow! That Pierce is amazing! I think the sand paint might just be the answer. Ironically, I was in the hardware store this afternoon picking up a paint chart and my DH said he didn't think stucco would work very well and what about adding sand to the paint. Of course, I thought, what does he know...and it turns out he was probably right. I read thru your gallery section on the Pierce and found it interesting that you had to do multiple coats of the paint and that you should have spackled the tab slots first. The tab slots are one of things I need to hide on my project. That's all very helpful information. Thanks very much for the suggestion (and I just love your curlicues)! Ginna

Hmmm...you've got me thinking about this stucco idea. I'm rehabing a really old Fairfield that I got on Craigslist. The exterior does not have siding...just badly painted wood. I've removed the corbels around the roof and the interior window frames but I don't want to replace the exterior window frames since I know they would not be re-usable. I think this thing was put together with a glue gun....it has big globs of glue in lots of places. Anyway, I thought I'd just have to patch and sand the exterior and then give it a new paint job but now I'm thinking that the stucco would cover a multitude of sins. My question for the group is: do you think I could stucco around the window frames? Perhaps that's the way you'd need to stucco anyway since I don't think you could put the frames on top of the stucco. Any advice is appreciated! Ginna

So cute! I clearly remember this one. I had to send the link to my grown-up daughter. Thanks! Ginna

The thing I find most fascinating about Alamom's McKinley is how she managed to run all of the wiring to a power strip hidden in the drawer beneath the house. This allows the house to sit flush against the wall. Brilliant! I am in the process of re-habing a McKinley so I keep looking for examples of how other folks have built, wired, and decorated theirs. Right now I have about 15 or 20 wires coming thru to the back of the house (all disconnected from the previous strip which was not adequate). So, I have to decide whether to try Alamom's idea or just live with a 1/2 inch strip in the back. Decisions, decisions... Ginna

"The owner of Bespaq did tell me once that he deliberately designs his pieces to be small, though in 1:12 scale, because most dollhouse rooms are small. He just patterns them after smaller sized real life furniture." Grazina has made an interesting point here. I've been wondering for a long time about the size of Bespaq furniture. In fact, the scale of their pieces has made me steer away from purchasing them. Although they are absolutely lovely, if you combine them in a room with other manufacturers pieces, it can look really odd. At least now I know what the logic is and I'm not imagining things! Ginna

Note to SWTJEN: Hi, Jennifer. How are you doing on this project? I've been tempted to purchase one of these village sets for my DH to work on. Looking at that blog, it appears more difficult than I would have thought. Can you give us an update on yours? Thanks! Ginna

Thanks, everyone. Wenlaine, I really enjoyed looking at your slide show. The house is just beautiful and gave me lots of inspiration! Have you actually hung either of your houses on the wall? Ginna

Hi, I'm new to this Forum but I've been a member of another forum for several years and enjoy my daily visits there. I have several dollhouses under construction...some more finished than others. Now, I find myself the owner of a "new" dollhouse. I've been kind of in the market for a dollhouse for my granddaughter who is 7 1/2 years old. Her mother's criteria is that it not take up too much space, which is a problem if you want to have enough rooms to make it fun to play with. Anyway, on Thursday I paid a visit to a local woman who is liquidating the shop she has in her home. After picking out a number of goodies that I need for some of my other projects, I happened to mention what I wanted for Katherine. She pointed me to this dusty old house in the corner that had a price tag of $350 on it and showed me how it could be hung on the wall. It's only 9 - 10 inches deep. It is completely finished inside and out and has been completely electrified. Of course I should mention that it appears to have been done in 1984 so it's got some age on it. Anyway, she said...if you want it, it's yours for $150...with the furniture. How could I refuse??? After I got it home I figured out what model it is. I think I got a really good deal here. The electricity actually still works for the most part but it's a complete rat's nest held together by masking tape on the back of the house so my first project is to completely renovate that. But since it's all on the outside, it should not be too difficult. The furniture is a real hodge-podge but it did have a few nice pieces (including a Roper gas range) and lots of little treasures all over the place. I think I'll repaint the exterior and remove the diecut gingerbread, at least from the roof. And then see what other changes I want to make before I give it to her for Christmas. Of course, is giving a dollhouse like giving a puppy? Do I need to get her mom's permission? I don't want her selling it on Ebay next year! So, has anyone got any experience with this model? Ginna