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Jefferson House


Cyn-AK

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Can anyone tell me about the era of the Jefferson House? I would like to make furniture for it but would like it to be as close to Period Times as I can.

Also, Does anyone know about when the Jefferson was first sold by Greenleaf. The one I have is NOT Lazer Cut... It is the old Rough Plywood/Pressboard Material.

I'm just trying to get an idea of it's age...

Thanks Everyone!! 

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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. :) 

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Thank You All so Much!!! I was hoping these would be the answers. I have the same book Miss Holly, so I will be looking through that one today. I have a couple others as well but just wasn't quite sure of the time range. You all have been so helpful. 

Does anyone have an idea of when Greanleaf first began selling this house? 

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Miss Holly, I also use bass wood. I like that grain much better as well. I do have some cedar wood also that a friend milled for me years ago as well as some teak and mahogany. All things I have collected through the years. I do have many pieces already made from bass wood and nothing is painted or stained. I never really knew what I would use them for so never gave them a finishing coat of anything. I think I'm glad now I didn't as they can be finished for perhaps this build. 

What is Mat Board and Core Board??? Not sure if core board is the right word.. Maybe Foam board...??? and what do you use it for? 

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Mat board is a lovely thick, hard cardboard used to mat pictures before framing.  This crossstitch picture I made one of my daughters-in-law actually has two mats:

Crossstitch picture for DDIL

Foam core is used for posters, it's a piece of dense foam sandwiched between plastic/ paper sheets, and I have used it to bash additional interior walls in some of my dollhouses.

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Beautiful Cross Stitch!! 

I understand now...Thank you for the explanation...I actually thought they were one in the same. So the foam core can be used in place of wall boards and such...HHHmmm.... :doh:

 

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In New England, houses like the Jefferson are abundant - some are very old and others are newly built, but in keeping with the architectural style here. Inside, they tend to be traditional, not modern, though the newer ones certainly have updated kitchens/baths. It would not be uncommon to see antique pieces sprinkled inside a new Colonial.

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Amy, Thank You... I think I am leaning toward the older and more period time... even though I do have what seems to be newer looking wall paper. I have some Old pieces of furniture all ready made so my thought was to *stage* some of it soon and ask what you all think.

Going to try hard today to finish up the wall paper and flooring.... and maybe a bit of paint...

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I hope my question doesn't lost in this thread.....

It's about my Jefferson...

Does anyone have a picture of how they installed the stairway and railing in the hallway?

I have the notches on the floor, But when I either place the tabs from the stairs in them, OR the hand railing in them... Nothing Lines up. I would be able to install them with out using the tabs and possibly putty fill the gaps.....(and Sand)

If someone has an example or any helpful hints I sure would appreciate anything you may have....

Maybe a couple of these pictures will help with my problem. Thanks Everyone. 

 

 

 

20170623_172038.jpg

20170623_172121.jpg

20170623_172137.jpg

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No... I wish it was something that easy though. The house is very very old and some things are just not fitting well...That's why I was thinking of just fitting them in and filling the holes. 

I was hoping someone had constructed the Jefferson before and could show me a picture of theirs. 

Thank you so much for answering though. I do really appreciate it. 

 

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You're welcome! In all the pictures I've seen of Jeffersons, the staircase is on the right side of the hallway facing the back. That's why I thought maybe yours had gotten turned around.

If you need to do some fitting and stuff, it actually is easy (easier if the house isn't already together) to use an exacto blade - a large one - and recut some things. Just be very very careful, is all.

I know you already have your stairs decorated, but this is something else you might want to consider. I put the Jefferson together decades ago, but I found a pre-made staircase. This was one that was only 2 1/4" wide but I made sure it fit to the top of the next floor.

Here's a few I found - these are 2 1/2" wide:

http://earthntree.com/miniatures/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=72_91

 

Here is one that is 2 1/4" wide, but I really don't know the height of the ceiling they fit - I think it might be 8":

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Staircase-Kit-Houseworks-narrow-wooden-dollhouse-7100-1-12-scale-/191957442735?hash=item2cb18e20af:g:pVAAAOSwknJXxM5L

 

At any rate, you could just replace your stairs with these if you wanted. Like I said, it's been a long time since I put the Jefferson together and I don't remember how wide the stairwell openings are or how high the ceilings are. Maybe someone here can give you that info. And of course you can always sub different railings and balusters for the ones that are included with the kit.

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4 hours ago, rodentraiser said:

If you need to do some fitting and stuff, it actually is easy (easier if the house isn't already together) to use an exacto blade - a large one - and recut some things. Just be very very careful, is all.

I've found that the handle of a utility knife/box cutter is easier to control than the pencil-shaped handle of an eXacto knife when cutting wood or heavy card stock. In either case, be sure the blade is new and sharp, sharp, sharp. As soon as it feels as if it is pulling, replace it.

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If the stair tabs don't want to fit into the slots and still hook in at the top of the stairs, and they are facing the correct way, you can always fill the slots and cut off the tabs (with the utility knife, as Kathie suggests).  You could also make your stairs removable for later redecoration.  BTW, I have never seen stairs' risers decorated with matching wallpaper; an interesting treatment.

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I have a picture of real life stairs done like that and Lisa did her stairs in her Glencroft the same way. I agree, though, Holly, I love that the wallpaper on the stairs goes with the regular wallpaper. I'm thinking about if for the Arthur.

 

And oh, is my face red! The Jefferson stairs DO go on the left hand side of the hall. I remember now why I thought they went on the right. That's where I put them in my Jefferson. I also remember facing them forward so they were going front to back.

The way things are going I might not even remember I had a Jefferson if this memory loss keeps up. LOL

Cyndy, to answer your first questions, though, the Jefferson appears in my 6th catalog dated 1983. I didn't see it in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th catalogs and I don't have the 5th, so I have no idea if it appeared sooner than that. I have a hunch it did. I can't remember when I got mine, but I know I had it in 1989 (I think) because that was when I got my storage locker and it was in that.

Greenleaf originally named their houses after presidents and I don't know if they went in order or not. One of these days I'm going to get a list of all the names together just to check them all out.

Anyway, one way to see other Jefferson's is to just put "Jefferson dollhouse" in Google and then select images. You can also do the same for "colonial houses". A lot of colonials have been around since the mid 1700s, so like Amy and Jenn said, you can pick your time period from then all the way up to the present.

Are you watching "We Bought the Farm"? I don't know what channel it's on, but couples go hunting for farms in the Eastern states. Some of those houses they look at are beautiful and full of old details.

One thing you might want to remember is that floors at that time were made from trees that had been growing a long, long time. So the floor planks were really wide. In older houses the windows were fairly small, too. And chimneys were in the middle of the house to heat the whole place. That's about all I know of that architecture, but there should be a ton of historical pics on the internet. You might even want to see if your library has a section on houses and there might be some nice pictorial books on Colonial houses.

 

 

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