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New Member Intro & Help Identifying My Dollhouse


Kireyna

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Hello All,

I've always had an interest in miniatures and while not dollhouse items...several things I've made over the years have been miniatures (i.e. 3 inch tall standing teddy bears, etc.).  Several years ago (ok ages and ages ago LOL) I bought a dollhouse and worked on it a bit but never completed it.  Throughout all the years and moving several times I have always kept the dollhouse and everything that came with it or that I bought to go in it.  Now I'm retired and hope to FINALLY complete the dollhouse.  

I would like some help identifying my dollhouse if possible.  I will try my best to give as much info on this as I can remember.  It's been stored in an craft storage room so please forgive the clutter in the pictures (and the dust! LOL).  I bought it from a dollhouse shop in Occoquan, VA in the early 1980s (probably 1982-84) and have kept it and everything for it all these years.  It is wooden and from a kit, but the shop had partially assembled it.  I have all the parts that they gave me for it.  The roof is flat with 2 chimneys.  The extension top is flat and comes with a railing for it so it's actually a balcony (not pictured).  All the doors and windows open/close and are made with glass.  Second picture shows the door from the 3rd floor mansard roof to the top of the extension (I added the individual cedar shingles).  The 3rd picture shows the stairway, but it's just sitting in place, not attached (picture is from the entrance door to center hallway and stairs, same centered hallway and more stairs on 2nd floor, with center stairs opening up with railing on 3rd floor).  As you can see from the picture I started the slat siding on the extension (I completed the siding on both ends).  That's where it currently stands.  From the 1980s to now I have kept the siding slats so I have them to complete that :-)  I couldn't get a picture of the back/inside because it's up against a wall at the moment and I'm not strong enough to move it by myself, but I'll describe it as best I can.  Looking at it from the front....the 1st Floor...left window is the living room, then hallway with stairs where the doorway is..right of that is the dining room with the extension being the kitchen.  2nd Floor above living room is a bedroom, hallway, bedroom, extension room.  3rd floor is room, hallway, room to balcony.  The walls are all there and set in place but not fixed in place yet.

I'm hoping someone can help me ID this.  I'd like to know what I'm working on :-)

Thanks!

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Welcome to the little family, Kireyna.  Kelly (rodentraiser) will probably be able to identify your dollhouse for you.  When you have made five posts you can put your photos into albums in the Gallery.

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33 minutes ago, NellBell said:

Ahh Sable the name was on the tip of my tongue . Thanks it was bugging me and I would have had to Google it soon. My favorite roof too .

I’m familiar with mansard roofs because I have a house with one:

http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/?app=gallery&module=gallery&controller=view&id=101095

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Kireyna, I think what you have is the Yorktown Manor made by Walmer, catalog #121. It should be 32" H x 48" W x 19" D. Made of 1/4" mahogany plywood with a 1/2" base. Knockdown construction. Glue or patented peg assembly.

It looks like the house came as a fully assembled house (painted or unpainted) or as a kit in 3/8" wood. That's all from my 1983 Miniatures Catalog. The house could have been produced a couple of years before or after this date. That front door and stairs look to be unique to the house. Walmer was also the only company to my knowledge to make doors for the 30° mansard roof. There's one on eBay at this moment.

The only difference between your house and the one in my catalog is the bottom two windows look to be separated, where yours has two double windows. My guess is the original opening was cut for double windows but the plastic that goes into the opening from the original kit made it look like there are two windows there. The picture I'm looking at in my catalog is an older version of the house and I'd bet that later on it was sold with windows and the front door or at least the front door with the window openings cut to fit standard windows.

By the way, mansard roofs originated in France. Houses there were taxed on the number of floors they had. In order to get more living space but not have to pay taxes on it, French builders began bumping out the roof into what we now know as a mansard roof. Your trivia for today.

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Thank you soooo much!  Now that you've mentioned it I do remember the shop people telling me that the type of dollhouse was something that started with a "W" (I always thought they meant Williamsburg...perhaps as the style of the house).  The Walmer company was located in Alexandria, VA which is only about 20 minutes away from Occoquan so it makes a lot of sense for this to be a Walmer dollhouse.  Upon asking my kids to dive into their memory banks we have pretty much determined the year we got it was mid 1982 which also goes along with what you told me.  

I'll have to do some internet searching to see other Yorktown Manor's to see how others did them.  It's nice to know what I have!  Guess it's time now to pull it out of the craft room, dust it off and get to work on it!

Thanks also for the trivia tidbit.  I love that kind of info :-)

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Very interesting, the materials used to make my Walmer Old Towne roof, (posted above) are so similar I thought it might have been a Walmer too but I couldn’t find yours online. The windows were so different from my original windows that I thought it was more custom. I knew Kelly would know, she’s our expert. I can only tell Walmers from the inside especially when they are peg ones. The wood trim construction  along the floors and walls might become problematic design-wise. I had to build up my floors and walls with addition 1/4” plywood  to make it even with that trim.  That’s when I had to get new doors and windows wide enough to handle the extra wall width. It is my favorite and forever legacy house. Good lucj with it.

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I just know that I really appreciate the help everyone is giving me.  I have all the inside doors, and walls so it's a complete house (so to speak) it's just not completely put together (some walls not attached in place, inside doors not in place, stairs/railings not attached in place, etc.)  I'm trying to clear out a space now where I can set it so I can work on it while having access to both the front and the back.  Once I get a work area set up then I can work on finishing the siding.  Once that's done the outside is complete except for painting.

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