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Hello from Sunny California!


Bluestocking

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I am starting to get into miniatures after a lifelong fascination thanks to a book on Colleen Moore's dollhouse that my grandmother had when I was little.  Surprisingly, I never did anything about it until I had children of my own!

This is a house that my husband and I built in 2007 from scratch to the Victorian Town House plan in Venus and Martin Dodge's book "The New Doll's House Do-It-Yourself Book".  Actually, he built most of it and I did all of the decorating and furnishing! -- though I did make the front door and the kitchen dresser, I'm pleased to say (though the latter was just this past summer).  Our daughter was delighted with the house for a few years but grew out of it, so I have it now, and have been adding a few things, including the carpet in the kitchen which I cross-stitched from a kit.

Next up is a serious house, the Tudor one from Brian Nickolls's book, based on "The House that Moved" in Exeter.  Haven't started building yet, since we both felt that we could have used a bit more advice when doing the first one, so I'm glad to have found this forum!

Jeanne

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Welcome to the forum.  Looking forward to see your progress on building the Tudor based on "The House that Moved" in Exeter.  So many pictures of the exterior of this and other old half timber buildings, but I have spent hours on the internet searching for pictures of the interiors without much success.

I became enthralled with the old half timber buildings in Germany.  Currently working on my version of a half timber making changes as I build.  I should have spent more time doing research, but I was so eager to start the build. 

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Hi Jeanne and welcome. If you enjoy building the 'House that moved' as much as I did then you are in for a great 2017. I actually took a trip down to Exeter to take a good look at the real building (It's now a Bridal Wear shop) and was treated to a very useful interior tour.

Since everything I build is set in the present day the house that moved is a shop.......an Artists Materials Store.......although it started life as a 'reminder' of a real 'Hi-Fi' Shop I once owned. You'll see in my album that I ultimately added the exterior wall and lamp post that links the shop to the adjoining building in real life and I think it makes for an improvement........as well as being a useful conduit for electrical wiring so that you avoid 'mucking up' the beautiful beams that your going to spend many hours of 'blood, sweat and love' on!

Have the best of times with your build and shout if you get stuck.........otherwise you have a new follower!

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10 hours ago, thriftymini said:

Welcome to the forum.  Looking forward to see your progress on building the Tudor based on "The House that Moved" in Exeter.  So many pictures of the exterior of this and other old half timber buildings, but I have spent hours on the internet searching for pictures of the interiors without much success.

I became enthralled with the old half timber buildings in Germany.  Currently working on my version of a half timber making changes as I build.  I should have spent more time doing research, but I was so eager to start the build. 

Yes, me too on both counts!  Most of the photographs are reconstructions of what somebody thinks it should look like.  I am also gathering images of period art, though most interior scenes are Dutch.

I saw a German house for sale in the UK a few years ago, which still haunts my dreams as "the one that got away" but I couldn't possibly have afforded it, OR the shipping (!).  It had a little market area on the ground floor and living space upstairs.  I did save all of the photos!

Jeanne

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9 hours ago, MikeUK said:

Hi Jeanne and welcome. If you enjoy building the 'House that moved' as much as I did then you are in for a great 2017. I actually took a trip down to Exeter to take a good look at the real building (It's now a Bridal Wear shop) and was treated to a very useful interior tour.

Since everything I build is set in the present day the house that moved is a shop.......an Artists Materials Store.......although it started life as a 'reminder' of a real 'Hi-Fi' Shop I once owned. You'll see in my album that I ultimately added the exterior wall and lamp post that links the shop to the adjoining building in real life and I think it makes for an improvement........as well as being a useful conduit for electrical wiring so that you avoid 'mucking up' the beautiful beams that your going to spend many hours of 'blood, sweat and love' on!

Have the best of times with your build and shout if you get stuck.........otherwise you have a new follower!

Your gallery is wonderful!  I'm impressed with all of its "incarnations".  I admit that I've been tempted to do something of the sort as well, with "modern" (insert interesting era here) furnishings, but I've always had a soft spot for the Elizabethans so I'm looking at it as a challenge, and really making an effort to get it as right as possible.  I am still pondering "who" will actually live in it -- originally was thinking a wool-merchant, but don't know if they would actually have a shop, or just do business at the dinner-table (as it were), so am thinking maybe a tailor's shop ...  The front windows just beg for a shop, of course!

Thanks for replying!

Jeanne

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1 hour ago, L Swearengin said:

Welcome,  stop by and enjoy.  Where in SoCA are you hiding.   Not too "sunny" the past few days.  I grew up in Placentia

I grew up in West Covina, live south of there now just "behind the Orange Curtain".  It was actually beautifully sunny when I wrote! though I must say I'm really appreciating the rain.

Love your orange-crate label icon!

Jeanne

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You need to copy and paste on the above.

I also received a whole bunch of official records on the house from 'Devon County Council' records office.......if I remember correctly they cost me £5 and that was around 4 years ago.

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On Sat Jan 14 2017 09:57:11 GMT-0600, Bluestocking said:

I grew up in West Covina, live south of there now just "behind the Orange Curtain".  It was actually beautifully sunny when I wrote! though I must say I'm really appreciating the rain.

Love your orange-crate label icon!

Jeanne

Lol...Jeanne  that's funny you would recognize what it is....only SoCA would get it.

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On 1/14/2017, 9:41:48, MikeUK said:

You need to copy and paste on the above.

I also received a whole bunch of official records on the house from 'Devon County Council' records office.......if I remember correctly they cost me £5 and that was around 4 years ago.

I had already found that site, once I began to seriously study Nickolls's plan and realized that the house was real and still in existence!  I must say I was very amused to see that the real thing is far wonkier than the miniature version.  It is fascinating to see how it was moved -- quite a feat of engineering and logistics.

What kind of information is in the records you received?

Jeanne

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On 1/15/2017, 12:57:34, L Swearengin said:

Lol...Jeanne  that's funny you would recognize what it is....only SoCA would get it.

I don't know that brand, but I could tell right away what it was!  I love those old graphics.  I think one of my "most favorite" labels is the Avenue one from Riverside, it's so iconically SoCal.

Jeanne

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10 hours ago, minigrandma10 said:

Welcome to a fellow Socal member. Just want to let you know that there will be a Tom Bishop Miniature show

coming up  January 28 in Anaheim. 

 

Gail :bear:

 

Gail, I went last year when it was in Fullerton, and am now on their mailing list!  Thanks!

Jeanne

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