DHGranny Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 I really like the idea of opening on all sides.Shoot you could have as many rooms as you wanted with a realistic floor plan.Even if just the back and front opened,well the options are endless.With either 4 or 2 sides that opened you could concievably stick an interior room or two in...stragically placed of course to allow access.I have so missed talking about this stuff.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheckMouse Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 I built the Spring Fling a couple years ago, a two room house, which was open at the back. When I went to display it, I couldn't put it where it could be turned around - it's on the top of a bookcase. So I had mirrors custom made to fit the back opening. It's a great solution because the front is closed, except for doors and windows, but looking in one can see the whole house with the inside of the front walls reflected in the mirror. It also makes the house look much bigger than it is. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adawnstyle Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Hi I have a huge front opening doll house that has been built from scratch and I love it because of the wall room inside, also the house can be placed against a wall in the display area without having to turn it around, mind you mine is about 4 feet wide without the conservatory, so you can see why i wouldnt want to move mine around at all.... I hope this helps a little 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Happy Heart Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 I was browsing thru the Greenleaf store pages and saw a front opening house. Has anyone on here built one? Not sure how I feel about them. I guess I like looking thru the back of the house and being able to see out thru a window, or having the light come in thru the windows when I look in the back. Just wondering how people feel about them. Plus and minuses. You can put windows in the back of a front opening dollhouse, after all, real houses have windows on all sides. Front opening is good for large houses that you want to set in place and not have to turn around to access. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 This isn't exactly front-opening as it has a Plexiglas panel instead of swinging doors, but it is an example of a faux window in the back wall. With the tiny LED lights available now, a false wall with even a half inch of clearance could be worked out. Notice how the right wall has a jog in it, adding a hint of the nooks and crannies that Tracy mentioned as being an advantage of open back houses. This box has a hinged door in back for access, but it wouldn't be difficult to make the wall removable for access to the lights or to change the scene from season to season. The window for this much smaller room box is mounted in a piece of foam core board set at an angle. It is illuminated by a battery-operated utility light. The roof lifts off to reach it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennybee Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 I like both. Currently the witches house in my living room is a front opening but it has plexiglass panels to cover each floor. This I really like because you can see all the wonders inside but get no dust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 I like both. Currently the witches house in my living room is a front opening but it has plexiglass panels to cover each floor. This I really like because you can see all the wonders inside but get no dust. Me, too. I'm thinking about how to put the Plexiglas on the Beacon Hill. May have to slide it in from the side rather than drop it down from the top, as the top floor is narrower that the bottom two floors. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patsea Posted February 2, 2013 Author Share Posted February 2, 2013 I like the idea of the faux windows with the lights. That certainly makes a good option. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-defunct account- Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 The front doors help keep out dust, cats and ferrets Agreed, that is a huge bonus. Also good to keep tiny hands out of there for those of us with munchkins or munchkin visitors. I also like the idea of putting windows on the back wall. The only front opening kit I have in the stack right now is the RGT's store and don't plan to start it for a few years yet, but now I will consider adding windows and a tiny lock to ward off intruders 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caseymini Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 I have a RGT townhouse, back opening. and I don't even like that one. I not only need back windows but side ones too, but I am not about to go to the trouble of cutting the thick walls of that house.I like the front opening ones that Greenleaf puts out,because they would be easy to cut for windows. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalesq Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Me, too. I'm thinking about how to put the Plexiglas on the Beacon Hill. May have to slide it in from the side rather than drop it down from the top, as the top floor is narrower that the bottom two floors. I've been thinking of installing screws or something and then using a router (hubby for this part) to make keyhole openings in the plexiglass so that it can slip on and off, basically just hanging it on the back rather than hinges or tracks for sliding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyrene10 Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 I think that the back opening houses are fine, being English I was brought up with front opening houses like the cabinet dolls house of the Queens at Windsor Castle which I was taken to see when I was about 10 years old. My daughter demanded to go and see theBecause dolls house every year when we went to Windsor to see the pantomine at the theatre. Because we have a horrendous dust problem here in Crete, I made rear closing doors to my first little house which worked well and I am thinking of doing the same with the Stony Maggie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shannonc60 Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 I too am a fan of front opening. So much easier for storage. My plan is that all my 1 inch scale houses that I build from now on be front opening so that I can store them stacked on shelves and still be able to look at the inside and outside whenever I want. As others say, the doors keep the dust out and I like to look in a window and see a complete room, not one with a whole wall missing. I am very good friends with my jig saw, so extra doors and windows aren't a problem! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queenannediva Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Have always liked the idea of a front opening house but always bothered by curtains and a piece of furniture hanging on the wall when opened - just takes away from realism in my opinion. My Queen Anne has a side opening to two rooms (all other rooms are viewed from the back) which bothered me for a long time. I have gotten use to it and it does add to realism having two rooms deep. Have always disliked the front openings on my Foxhall Manor, but was sold on the house for all the rooms and the grand entry hall. On Thursday we went on a buying trip to my favorite mini shop in the entire US (of all those I have been lucky enough to visit that is). Usually we combine the trip to Larriannes in Ventura with other stops but got the urge so drove down on Thursday and back last night. It was two long driving days back to back - 14 hours round trip. I think the dog thought we were crazy spending all that time driving one day, one night in a hotel and then another long drive back home the next day. The things we do for minis! She had a kit house all assembled and finished on the exterior decked out in the shop and I think I have fallen in love with it. May be ditching the Foxhall for it, less rooms but so grand and all viewed from the back. Going to be seriously thinking this one over the next couple of weeks. Valerie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KoalaSam Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 I love front opening houses. (Yes, I have kids and cats!) The dollhouses I grew up with in Australia were front opening, so when I started rehabbing houses, I would try to convert them into front opening (my bakery for example). Now I love both kinds and just enjoy each house for its unique style. I think everyone has mentioned why each one is special and I totally agree! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandystar Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 So many great arguments for and against front-opening dollhouses. I am just beginning to build the Gloucester (GL). I will be changing so many things on it that I'm not sure it'll be recognized as the Gloucester when I'm done, but I have no more space for dollhouses that need to be turned (even on a turntable!). Heck, a front-opening house can even be hung from a wall! I will be putting windows (with a view) in the back, and landscaping in the front. I'll also be moving the front door to the second story, so there will be a staircase (or two -- haven't decided for sure just yet) that will need to move with the front panel. As long as the weight is kept to a minimum (I'll use foam core board for much of the additions I put on the front) it won't cause a problem. Oh, and I'm adding a conservatory to the side as well. The tricky part is that I want to be able to enter the conservatory from the living room, which will actually be the 2nd story (where the front door will be). Because of all these changes, and the problems that will arise if I don't think them out ahead of time, it's taking me longer than normal to start building! I will keep posting my progress, with photos as I can get them done! Thinking ahead, I have the half-size Diana which will come next, and I'm already trying to figure out how to convert that one into a front-opening house! Anything is possible -- we just have to be clever enough to figure out how to do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Anything is possible -- we just have to be clever enough to figure out how to do it! I fiddled with trying to make the Beacon Hill front opening for a good long time and finally decided it couldn't be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandystar Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Oh, Kathie, I don't doubt you. If anyone could do it, you could. But I still absolutely love trying to solve problems like these... I think that's the most fun part of all the building (next to the actual decorating)! Maybe if you had altered something else, such as one of the original "building blocks" in the kit? At any rate, I sure will try! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 I have spent so much time on my Garfield trying to make a double front so the porch and outer front panels can come off for accessing those places in the front halls. "It will work", she shouts, while stamping her feet and as she keeps moving on to other projects because she is weary of the struggle to make it "look right" :yucky: when it is all said and done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandystar Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Selkie, you make me laugh. I thought about that when I was half done with my Garfield! Of course, newbie that I was, I wouldn't have dared to try something so inherently dangerous! Now? What's the worst thing that could happen? Start all over again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Sandy, the problem with fiddling with individual components on the front of the BH is that da thigh bone connected to da knee bone ... and so on The facade is on three planes, the porch connects two of them, and *sigh* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandystar Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Yes, I saw. I was looking the images on GL. What if... you hinged both the right-hand and left-hand sides, the left side to the left of the bay windows and the right side at the far right where the wall behind the porch meets the side wall; this right side must open first, so that the porch roof swings out with it, then allows the left side to come open. From what I can see, I think the roof sections can be made to lift off (if needed; it appears that there are little rooms up there) -- and not swing open with the bottom portions. Does this make any sense? I'm just going by the photos, so there are many elements that I'm not seeing... such as, perhaps the base front needs to be cut into two sections (if it isn't already) to swing out with the right and left sections. Of course, I'm not privy to the instructions or how it's supposed to be put together, but maybe you have to ignore the instructions... at least to some degree. I would also tack on a backing of 1/4 plywood, thinking the weight of this would counterbalance the front openings. Or maybe not tack on, but affix in some way so that it's moveable if you want to get into the back some way later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Thanks for your suggestions, Sandy. There are some other issues that made that option difficult. Lots of gluing has already happened. I'm happily living with it as is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Sandy, At the time the house was still in dry fit DH & I were guests of the Bennetts and Kathie and I spent most of a week trying different ideas and configurations of "what if..." including the hinging of more than one panel, and the BH would have none of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfprincess Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 I love them. In the UK such houses are the norm! It was weird to me, at first, to have to adapt to open-backed houses. They seem sort of unfinished - like the back should be there but either hasn't yet been made or is lying several feet away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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