vbharrington

I'm following this because I've seen those shops in the HBS catalog and I was wondering the same thing. I'd love to make a Victorian era, East End of London Pub one day.

Copper conducts heat much faster than stainless steel, so you may find that your food cooks faster, or that you do not have to cook on as high a temperature.

Well the RGT website didn't have the plans for the Harborside listed, nor the ones for the wraparound porch and Foxhall conservatory, so I sent and email requesting them (per site instructions) I honestly didn't think I would hear anything for a couple of days, but this morning I had an email with the Harborside instructions attached. I sent another email politely asking for the porch and conservatory plans and I had those in less than 10 minutes. This was my first experience with RGT customer service, and I am very impressed.

Bad News and Incredible News First, when I went to pick up the house I discovered that it is NOT MDF but is instead the milled plywood, which was great because I got no help loading it into my van. It also came with a gazebo wrap around porch kit and a conservatory addition. He also threw in all the ready made furniture that was there, and included 8 rooms of "kit" furniture which will stand in until I can replace it with others. I also came away with cans of exterior paint (which isn't so ugly in person), stacks of wallpaper, carpet, and sheets of "hardwood" flooring. It turns out that when the man said his wife had "lost interest" - it wasn't in the dollhouse, it was in the marriage, so he just wanted rid of the stuff and didn't care how much money was lost. So, what could possibly be the bad news? I have directions for the conservatory, and that's it. If anyone knows where I could get directions to finish this house and porch Id be so, so happy!

It seems like I read a thread about this once, but for the life of me I can't remember. I know that electricity in houses is beautiful, and I may end up using it in some of my kits, but is there anyone who doesn't wire for electricity? I know for most it's a matter of personal preference, and I will make my decision based on house to house, but I'm just not sure it's something I want to undertake. Did I read once that Robin Carey doesn't use electricity in her houses? (Not that mine will compare to hers in any way) I have seen so many tutorials that I want to try for non working light fixtures that I'm not sure that I want to use electricity, especially for some of the more open floor plans.

Well I just felt like a complete hayseed......here I've been thinking the Aga stove I've been saving up for $50 was "high end" and the Aga with backdrop for $125, was something to only dream about.....I looked at the sobel website and "about fell out."

This has never happened for me before either, I cant believe it.

After I just posted yesterday about my concern of being a hoarder, I found a deal today on Craig's List, in my own town, that I could not pass up. I have agreed to buy a Real Good Toys Harborside mansion (partially complete) for $100. The main portion of the house is built, the porch and windows still need to be finished. The seller has assured me that all of the parts are still there, and has said I am welcome to check them off when I come to pick up the house this afternoon. Apparently it was a project started over a year ago and she lost interest. Here is my rehab question.....It has been put together with wood glue and hot glue, so I know I will at least have to redo those pieces at least. However, the house has been painted a fairly unappealing (to me) shade of green with burgundy trim. How would one go about repainteing MDF? If someone has any links I would appreciate it. I am also picking up a Beacon Hill on Saturday, NIB for $50 from a gentleman and lady who are downsizing and need it gone. To make it even better, they live about a 125 miles away, but on Saturday they are coming up I-85 on a day trip and have agreed to meet at the exit I live off of I've also sent an inquiry about a vintage scratch built house that I am waiting to hear back from. Now to just convince my husband to make me my own workshop area.

Shannon, my Rutherford is fully furnished, but just bare walls and floors I'm thinking that I'd like a change from the Orchid right now, so I have been looking into pictures of vintage trailers/campers to glean ideas from. I blame some of it on my ADHD and some of it on my inability/fear to make a decision about decor.

My hubby bought me a Beachside Bungalow kit for Christmas, and I've been thinking about how I want the house to look. I have not seen a model built, but I am concerned about the size, and if I will have room for everything I want to add. I have seen some houses that the stairs have been left out, which would free up some room, but I'm not sure how much I like a "stair free" dollhouse.

As I've stated on here before, I have been obsessed with mini's my whole life, and when I was 12, my mom had a Rutherford built for me, which is still (in my eyes) the most beautiful dollhouse ever. A while back I bought myself an Orchid kit at Hobby Lobby and started work on it. The holidays came round and I put the Orchid away, but found a great deal on Craigslist for a San Franciscan kit, so I bought that. My hubby bought me a Beachside Bungalow kit for Christmas, and yesterday I found a great deal on a NIB travel trailer kit. So, here I am with one (barely) started Orchid, a San Franciscan, Beach Bungalow, and travel trailer all still in the box. Does anyone else have multiple kits sitting around, or do I have some sort of hoarding issue starting? It would take a whole different thread to address that why, after almost 27 years, I still can't decorate the inside of my Rutherford, because I'm afraid that I will mess it up or it won't look "right."

Congrats on such a find! It looks like you have a great blank canvas to start with, be sure to keep us posted with pictures and updates.

Has anyone on here subscribed to the dollhouse.tv site? I am especially interested in the videos of the build for the Beachside Bungalow. I'm wondering if there is enough other good content to justify the cost? Are the videos good quality? Thank you in advance

I got the same thing early this morning, and I havent had a chance yet to see how to report it. Glad to know it has been taken care of.

My baby's birthday is tomorrow, and Anna Muffin will be 3 years old. She likes to tell me that she is a "big girl" and "not (a) baby" anymore. We had the grandparents over today for cake and ice cream, and an aunt and uncle gave her a karaoke microphone (with no volume button) that she and her 4 year old brother and sister (twins + singleton in less than two years, = Irish triplets) have been serenading us with. I am behind on lesson plans so I stayed home from church this evening, so I should be working on lesson plans instead of scrolling though miniature boards, but there you go :)

I'm as excited about your project as if I were doing it myself! Like the rest of us, I can't wait to see the progress. I think it is fantastic that even the wiring is still good. Best of luck with this awesome project!

Since I am not able to work on my dollhouse through the work week, I bought 7 rooms of Greenleaf furniture kits to assemble when I have a few minutes here and there. I realize that this furniture is not what one would really want in a "show piece" house, but think that with some extra care customization, the furniture will be great to fill the house with as I replace it with nicer pieces. Anyway, for starters, I'm not totally thrilled with the quality of the wood, unlike my house kit, these pieces are very fragile and always seem to splinter and break, no matter how careful I am with the X-acto knife. I'm trying not to be discouraged, but it's frustrating. If anyone has any tips, advice, etc for these furniture kits I would appreciate it.

Oh great. I just primed both sides of sheets for my Orchid (my first build) because I saw several YouTube posts that said to do it that way, and it made perfect sense. I hope I didn't ruin the fun of building before I even got started! I guess I better pick up some more X-Acto blades.

I was able to get my Orchid unpacked yesterday at I started priming to the wood sheets. I was excited that the kit came with shingles, but that was until I saw them. These shingles are literally paper thin and when I took them out of the box they started splitting and crumbling. I'm beginning to think I will need to buy "aftermarket" shingles to get higher quality ones. Has anyone else experienced these paper thin shingles? Am I right in thinking that I will have to buy other shingles?

Thanks for the advice last week. I took the plunge and bought the San Franciscan 557 I found on Craigslist for $100. I was assured all of the pieces were there, but I was a little wary since the box was open. Well, when I picked it up there was a plastic grocery bag of shingles, and another bag of smaller parts, plus the box. I sat down Saturday morning and checked off all of the parts listed, and everything seems to be present and accounted for (no quantity was given for some of the parts, and I didn't bother counting shingles) Now, when will I get started on it? Who knows, it may be years, but at least I know I should have everything I need when the time comes.

I've tried searching the forum for help with this, but to know avail. I've decided to go ahead and buy the new, but open box San Franciscan 557 I found on Craig's list. I talked to the construction teacher at the school I work at, and he told me that the only glue I would be able to use for the MDF is Gorilla Glue. I hate all of the foaming that comes with Gorilla Glue, so can anyone suggest something else that will work on the MDF? Thank you in advance.

While I have always been a lover of miniatures, I am new to building dollhouses. In fact, my first build, The Orchid is only in the "priming" stage. However, I have the opportunity to purchase a Duracraft San Franciscan (open box, but the seller assures me all pieces are there) for $100. I honestly don't know if this is a good deal or not. I have seen this same house selling on ebay for twice as much, but I'm not familiar with the Duracraft brand to know if this would be worth the investment. I have my eye on a Real Good Toys house for my second build, but this one is significantly less expensive. Can someone tell me 1 - is this kit worth the money, 2 - are Duracraft houses much harder to build than RGT? Thank you in advance!

Oh my....I did some digging on this site and found the same model of house that my mom had built for me! It is the Rutherford by Artply. I am pretty excited to see others like the one I have.

I have always loved everything tiny, especially dollhouses. My mom had a huge (to me at the time) dollhouse built for my 13th birthday, but I can't remember the name of the kit (It isn't a Greenleaf, but it looks a little like the Beacon Hill) Anyway, 25 years later, I really want a dollhouse in my house (my large one is too big for my house, and is still at my mothers) but I have never built one, so I went with the Orchid, thinking that if I totally ruined it, I'd only be out of $30. I am excited to begin, but nervous too, when I was a little girl, I saw the Garfield in a Sears catalog and have wanted one ever since. My husband has told me that if I build a couple of smaller houses with success, he will buy me the Garfield. I'm very excited, but with 5 children (3 of whom are 4 and under) I am not sure when I will ever get my Orchid started, much less finished.

Hi all, I'm Vickie, and I'm in the Upstate of SC. I've been obsessed with anything and everything "mini" since I was a kid. I have a large dollhouse my mom had built for me years ago, but because of space limitations I can't keep it at my house - I do currently have an Orchid kit that I want to start working on. With 3 of my 5 kids being toddlers, I am not sure how fast I will get even a small house like the Orchid built. However, I've picked up my miniature hobby again with a vengeance.