Nell

With great respect, actually, no. Those bigger pieces would better go to the back (preferably painted darker) for a forced perspective. And you can shorten legs, shave off some clunky stuff, and whittle a bit to make things look a bit smaller ...

I'm shyly delurking here with some more information. I vastly prefer fully enclosed front-opening doll houses, probably because I am originally from the UK. As others have said, they have mostly been discontinued by US manufacturers. Probably your best bet is to stalk EBay, Craigslist, or Facebook marketplace in the hopes of finding a kit. Finding them in 1:24 (my preference) is as rare as hen's teeth but I often see 1:12 kits. However, there were a lot more front-opening doll house kits made in the US in the past so a few more names to search with: Greenleaf made the Cheltenham. I'm assuming it is discontinued because it has been Out of Stock for the last 5 years. If they brought it back in half scale I'd snap one up in a hot minute. RGT also made the front-opening Bay View Manor, the Federal, the East Side Townhouse, the Victorian Farmhouse, and a Colonial. I have the 1:24 Colonial in my stash and it is my next project. It has windows on the sides that I may cover over. I also have a 1:24 Thornhill kit (not the same as the Federal) that opens on all four sides. I'm waiting to develop a lot more skills before I dare to tackle it. Another option is to bash a back-opening dollhouse. I've considered picking one that has a front you can cut in half neatly (less weight on the hinges) and then just substitute a back roof and back, and hinge the front roof. I don't think it would be terribly hard with the right kit. I did find a source for front-opening doll houses in Canada. Free shipping to the US. But hold onto your hat because they are ... not cheap! And I'd never heard of some of these houses before. No affiliation, never purchased from this company, I just found them on my latest google for front-opening doll houses: https://www.thelittledollhousecompany.com/dollhouses-miniatures-furniture-kits/front-opening-dollhouse-kits-c-1_258/

Hi. I made the Lyndeburgh in half scale and it might be worth checking with Earth and Tree on the wood versus fiberboard issue. In my half scale only the floors were fiberboard and the rest was wood. I do think E&T are a bit pricey but they are very good quality. It would be hard to hinge the sides to open out, but on the Lyndeborough both the front and back are detachable so you have access to the rear. E&T recommends using friction closures (I used magnets) to hold them in place. I would probably hinge them instead if I were to make it again. Let's see if I can manage to upload a couple of photos. They will gives a better idea of the layout of the back of the house if I can get photos to work. I think it worked! I hope the pictures aren't too big. These are from when the house was still a work in progress. Note that I only moved the positions of a couple of doorways. I am a complete amateur and wasn't confident enough to try bashing my very first house. I had enough problems with the darn magnets! I haven't got around to taking pictures of the finished house yet but it is intended to look circa 1716. These floors were just failed prototypes and were not installed. I am rather proud of the colonial inglenook fireplace I made from scratch with polymer clay though.

I see the Jefferson as "First Period" (early 17th through early 18th century) but you always could furnish it in a later style. If you google "Early American colonial furniture" or "17th century American furniture" a lot of examples come up. More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Period and http://www.historicipswich.org/1st-period-houses/ I've almost finished my First Period Saltbox half scale Saltbox house but still haven't managed to figure out how to post pictures here. I think I have enough posts to start an album now if I can work those pesky details out.

What a lovely project! I'm a big Paddington fan. You did say any ideas ... so check out this one for the correct Georgian exteriors. http://www.dollshouse.com/the-classical-dolls-house. There are other good options on that site too. It is front opening, if you want to recreate the doll house in the film exactly, but it could easily be bashed into an open back. Of course the cost of shipping the kit would be dreadful (although the exchange rate is in your favor at the moment) but perhaps they sell the plans and you could get someone to cut it for you.

I'm such an amateur that I read and learn here rather than post, but I do want to mention that there is one of those - and I've been working on it for over two years. My first dollhouse is Earth and Tree's Lyndeborough in half scale. They make it in 1:12 too. http://earthntree.com/miniatures/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=16 And I'd like to give a shout out to the owners and staff of Earth and Tree for being so helpful. The Lyndeborough is two rooms deep, opens on both front and back and it does need a turntable. If I had it to do over again I'd hinge the walls that open - mine relies on magnets to keep them in place. The end is in sight with my Lydeborough. I'm still not satisfied with the floors and may redo them. ;) I'm originally from the UK and search out the front opening and fully enclosed houses. They just call to me for personal (those were the dollhouses I lusted after as a child) and practical (dust and pets) reasons. There is also the RGT Thornhill, of course, that has 4 opening panels. It has been discontinued and was really expensive but perhaps one will turn up on Ebay sometime. And many thanks everyone for saving me from many amateur mistakes. There is a wealth of knowledge here.

Thank you very much for the welcome. I have so much to learn from all of you. I do have a digital camera. I'm not sure how well it will photograph minis though. I'm a bit cyber-challenged as well as very miniature-newbie challenged. I see there is a lot of guidance here on posting pictures so I may be able to manage it.

Hello. I'm new to miniatures but got interested after going to a couple of shows this year with a friend. I fell in love with 1/2 scale and am in the process of building my first house. It's the 1:24 Lyndeborough from Earth and Tree as I live not far from the store. It was something of an impulse buy but I am really enjoying the process. My husband is having an easy time this Christmas because all he has to do is wrap a few miniatures I have already chosen and bought for the house when it is finished. I'm trying hard not to play with them until Christmas. I've learned a lot from reading here already. Thank you.

Hello. This is my first post because I finally plucked up my courage and joined the forum after reading here for several months. I've learned a lot so thank you all. I watched all the same videos as Katclaws and wanted to tell her that I really understand her anxiety. I just finished tape wiring my first build (1/2 scale Earth and Tree Lyndeborough saltbox) whilst holding my breath as I tested each connection - but it worked! I have some more hammering and definitely a lot more decorating to do before I install the lights. By the way, I agree that eyelets are the way to go. Those tiny brads are incredibly fiddly and after failing to get a secure connection a couple of times I switched to the eyelets. I also wanted to mention to Deer&Vixen that Cir-Kit sells two fireplace lights. One flickers and requires a separate transformer. The other is just "glowing embers" - no flicker - and doesn't need the extra transformer. At least, I hope that is right. I bought the glowing embers because I didn't want to splurge on an extra transformer and junction splice for my very first build.