doc

I'm looking at the space above the 3rd floor to the bottom of the eave at the back, and it looks like there's a kneewall at the front that matches that amount of space. That's not a dimension of any of the Real Good Toys' Dollhouse Center colonials (which is what has many similarities to this house) There are a great number of similarities... the layout of the front, the colonial addition, the dormers (while an old style for Real Good Toys, this style dormer could have been pre '88) as well as the grooved construction (which became the norm after '88, so for Real Good Toys, those would have been different eras). I am inspired by jdodyd's post about the Simplicity, though... that could certainly be a Simplicity addition, and the Simplicity floor-to-ceiling is 9" so, if it is a Simplicity addition, that seems to match the house floor-to-ceiling suggesting it too is 9", and the Dollhouse Center houses made by Real Good Toys had 9 7/16 floor-to-ceilings. There are more nit-picky things, but the bottom line is that it is a well-made house and one worthy of ownership.

No, that's not a Real Good Toys kit. it looks like a great place to start, though!

I have a bunch of shorts... what do you need?

Coming up with these or smooth substitutes would not be impossible, but you would have to make sure everything (everything!) else is in the box... count; label; mark it off the list; Here is the list of clapboard pieces: 2) 15" 3) 8 1/2 3) 7 3/4 5) 6 18) 3 1/8 36) 2 12) 1 3/8 10) 1 1/4

These walls are made of pieces 1 1/2 tall with 3 clapboards and tongue-and-groove top/bottom:

I found a dab of the material in the photos... I'm pretty sure it's early '80s Batrie (when Harvard Table Tennis owned the company), but I am not 100% on that. How does this stack up (literally) compared to the Duracraft?

I am a huge fan of an oscillating multitool for cutting dollhouse walls apart after construction... I have taken out attic endwalls in a colonial dollhouse without disrupting anything else in the build... I use it all the time for electrification slots... it's versatile and gentle, and I use it on most of the houses I customize (my jig saw is lost and lonely in the cupboard). https://www.amazon.com/Dremel-Multi-Max-Oscillating-Accessories-Refurbished/dp/B00JZYQRE0/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1517080886&sr=8-8&keywords=oscillating+multitool doc

Jackie is spot-on about heat to take things apart but beware around plastic window panes... if you want to re-use them keep the heat off. I cut plugs out of corrugated cardboard that fit between the jamb. I also use aluminum foil to protect adjacent areas and to focus heat where I want it. I try to heat to a temperature I can touch but not leave my hand on for long, then wait for the heat to penetrate to the glue down in the joint... several minutes for 1/8" and more as the wood gets thicker. I also love the slimmest cake-icing spatula for taking the heat into the joint and lifting away parts as they are ready. Taking things apart takes time and patience but the results are certain with heat.

The real value of any dollhouse is to you or your 'family', and it comes from the time and love you put into it... Ebay doesn't care but anyone your dollhouse touches will care... so make the house your own and make it a reflection of your dream for it. Besides, it isn't really yours until you change it.

I reviewed the heritage instructions on Jim's Print Minis and imagine the siding is 1 1/2 tall and 7/32 thick (about 3/16"). If so it may be the same as what Model Homes used (Yeh, older than dirt) and I may have a little of that... I'll look, but it may be under an awful lot of junk so it may take a while.

Great advice here! Stacked milled molding is a challenge as Holly mentioned... I use Liner Paper to bridge the seems on the inside as it holds up better over time than spackle, which will crack as the stacked molding expands and contracts seasonally. I use Liner Paper over tapewire anyway if I am going to paint, but not if I am wallpapering. I seldom wallpaper until the house is completed, but I leave out walls that hide spaces in front, and wallpaper in front first then add the screening wall. I paint everything at least one coat before construction, as sanding after the first coat is the most important thing in getting a great final finish, and you can't really sand a fully assembled dollhouse. I much prefer tapewire in new construction as it allows adding fixtures in the future... roundwire either feeds in-place fixtures or leaves an outlet so the fixture is energized by wire strung in the room, which I don't like. Tapewire is easy and fast, and can be designed to be very reliable (see www.dollhousewiring.com) and you can run it everywhere anyone will want a fixture any time in the future.

Hi All Today I am looking for Madison instructions. Does anyone have a set to share? Thanks!

I believe you are correct, all but the door - thanks! I have Columbian instructions

Hi All Has anyone finished their tiffany and saved the instructions? I have a friend who has one without any Thanks! doc

I have a coleague who needs the instructions... any chance I could be the appreciative recipient? http://www.pinterest.com/pin/4925880813915812/

That's what I do and MDF is my preferred material - it is heavy though. I use the Real Good Toys EL-66 tool for eyelets which allow you to drive them in with a hammer... quick and easy!

Here's a demo of cutting a door hole with a utility knife: http://DollhouseWorkshop.net/plogger/index.php?level=album&id=45 ... and with a jig saw: http://DollhouseWorkshop.net/plogger/index.php?level=album&id=9 If you are cutting with a knife or a dremel, it is important to start with a gentle line and to bear down a bit more as you have a groove to follow. It's true if you are scoring a floor for stain or faux-wood finish, it's true if you are carving with a utility knife, and it is true if you are cutting with a rotary tool. As Holly pointed out, any force without a guide can turn into an un-wanted gouge (which is inconvenient or dangerous), so get a line first, and deepen it a bit at a time. I have cut door or stair holes many times in finished houses, and it is not as easy as it is when the parts are on the workbench in front of me, but it is nothing to be afraid of either. Just do a good job of predicting where things fit and of the layout, and take it slow. On the Farmhouse Jr, the stairs will come into the door hole on the right (from the front) so I move the stairhole forward 1" when I am cutting a door to an extension on that side.

I agree with both Holly and Sable. It is much easier on the outside if you just install the window over the shingles, but then you will have to extend the jamb on the inside before you trim the window. This house is large and complex and each space needs your intimate attention. Any builder can remember every place that they left a flaw that only they could see, but we can also remember the tiny perfections that we have brought into being. I remember a thorough re-hab I did of an antique dollhouse, signed in a faded pencil under the base, signed again with magic marker in the '70s by an earlier rehab. I admired the builder's ideas and the places he/she did something extra for decoration or good construction, and when I was done, I added my signiture to the list (I put in an extra week for free just because this house and those who served it in the past deserved it). Some houses just call us to be stewards; to take it slow, do it right, and enjoy the process.

The Dollhouse Workshop has a page for the Classic Bungalow, but not the Beachside Bungalow - similar though, and no teasers: http://dollhouseworkshop.net/Bungalow/Bungalow.html

Bellingham instructions are here But if anyone has instructions for the Brookfield, I would be grateful!

I do all my assembly with masking tape... it keeps things tight and square.

A set of instructions from 1980 is here: http://dollhouseworkshop.net/instructions/duracraft/VH-600.pdf

Re-hab and re-sell is never worth the money and time unless, as Holly said, you're in it for the fun. I sometimes do re-hab work for hire and, evenwhen I work for peanuts, the customer has to gulp when time and materials adds up so fast. It's easy to get hundreds of hours into a house that, when you're all done, folks want to buy as though it's plastic and made in China. Doing a re-hab as a donation eliminates the misconception that you are investing in anything but joy.

I may be able to help with siding... PM me The 550 asnd 555 were stacked molding in connectors for the clapboard walls. This kind of construction is not my favorite as I live in the north with 0% humidity in the winter and 101% in the summer, so the walls swell in the summer and shrink in the winter, but the connectors don't. This kind of construction tends to tear itself apart with a bang (literally). If I do another I won't glue the walls together, I will glue them into the connectors with goop (resiliant) and glue matt board to the inside surface, and I will build it in the summer. All three styles have the sandwich die-cut and cellophane windows, and the openings are not standard. The key with painting MDF is to not sand it before the first coat of paint (that just makes it fuzzy), to use semi-gloss interior house paint (like Behr or Benjamin Moore), not craft paint(!), and to sand it down to the wood after the first coat. Here's a video that is good advice (http://www.hd-imagination-house.com/Painting.html). That and use a thick tacky glue with enough glue in every joint so you have to wipe some up. Then it makes a nice product, but it is heavy!

I anyone has instructions to spare, I would appreciate a copy... I'd send them back if you'd like.