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Faith Bradford Again


qltldy10

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Hello, all!  I am recreating the Faith Bradford house in the Smithsonian, and thought maybe dollhouse fans would like to see it.  

faithbradfordagain.blogspot.com

 

If you go to the three lines top left, there's a drop down and 'archive'.  If you click on a month you will see all of the postings on the blog, oldest (beginning) at the bottom.

 

I'd love to hear comments, and if any of you  know where I can buy any of the pieces in the original, please let me know!

 

Beth

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Thank you Holly for that book title.  Faith Bradford made the house in the Smithsonian in the late 40's, replicating 2 houses she displayed in the 30's.  She meant though, for the house to represent 1915.  Many of the pieces she used are still available, so I am purchasing what I can, and using 'close enough' until the exact piece comes along.  There is a lot of German, TynieToy and Lynnfield furniture in the house.

51 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

Beth, somewhere I'm pretty sure I have America's Dollhouse.  You might find Jane Harrop's book:  https://www.amazon.com/Thirties-Forties-Miniatures-12-Scale/dp/186108501X helpful to make period furniture.

 

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59 minutes ago, shannonc60 said:

Welcome! That house is huge and awesome! You are gonna have some fun decorating that and rediscovering all those treasures you have saved in the boxes. This will be a real joy.

I've gone through all the boxes and cannot find the set of bunnies I bought a month ago for Christopher's room, lol...where the heck can they be?

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8 hours ago, qltldy10 said:

I've gone through all the boxes and cannot find the set of bunnies I bought a month ago for Christopher's room, lol...where the heck can they be?

Oh no! I am sure you will find them when you are not looking for them. Or buy replacements - that always bring them out of hiding!

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8 hours ago, shannonc60 said:

Oh no! I am sure you will find them when you are not looking for them. Or buy replacements - that always bring them out of hiding!

17 hours ago, shannonc60 said:

Welcome! That house is huge and awesome! You are gonna have some fun decorating that and rediscovering all those treasures you have saved in the boxes. This will be a real joy.

I've gone through all the boxes and cannot find the set of bunnies I bought a month ago for Christopher's room, lol...where the heck can they be?

 

Yes, found some more last night on Etsy-lol- now I will have 6 instead of 3!!!!

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5 hours ago, qltldy10 said:

I've gone through all the boxes and cannot find the set of bunnies I bought a month ago for Christopher's room, lol...where the heck can they be?

 

Yes, found some more last night on Etsy-lol- now I will have 6 instead of 3!!!!

And now you know they breed like rabbits.

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6 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

And now you know they breed like rabbits.

Oh no! 

13 hours ago, shannonc60 said:

Oh no! I am sure you will find them when you are not looking for them. Or buy replacements - that always bring them out of hiding!

23 hours ago, shannonc60 said:

Welcome! That house is huge and awesome! You are gonna have some fun decorating that and rediscovering all those treasures you have saved in the boxes. This will be a real joy.

I've gone through all the boxes and cannot find the set of bunnies I bought a month ago for Christopher's room, lol...where the heck can they be?

 

Yes, found some more last night on Etsy-lol- now I will have 6 instead of 3!!!!

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Thank you for posting this.  I have always loved the Bradford house.  I remember being totally fascinated by it when we visited Washington, D.C.  How amazing that you are recreating it!  It will be fun to watch your progress.

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5 minutes ago, Debsrand56 said:

Thank you for posting this.  I have always loved the Bradford house.  I remember being totally fascinated by it when we visited Washington, D.C.  How amazing that you are recreating it!  It will be fun to watch your progress.

Thanks!  

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53 minutes ago, Elsbeth said:

Oh how marvelous! I am planning on doing it in 1:48.  I love seeing it being recreated. I studied the measurements and calculated them to 1:48...but wow 1:12!!! So much fun!

I can't even fathom miniature accessories in 1:48, let alone finding or creating 23 rooms of furniture! Good luck!!!

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3 hours ago, Elsbeth said:

Oh how marvelous! I am planning on doing it in 1:48.  I love seeing it being recreated. I studied the measurements and calculated them to 1:48...but wow 1:12!!! So much fun!

Wow! That will be fun to see, too!

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14 hours ago, qltldy10 said:

I can't even fathom miniature accessories in 1:48, let alone finding or creating 23 rooms of furniture! Good luck!!!

1:48 is 70% smoke and mirrors - so you really just have to the fool the eye into thinking it sees tiny recreations - but yes the challenge is to capture the right look and colors for the rooms. 

There is a 23 room Dollhouse kit by Petworth Miniatures in 1:48 - called Hungerford Manor. It has 23 rooms and you can buy kits for the furniture to each room. I'm attaching pics of the music room and diningroom kits. I think it would take me 5 years to get all 23 rooms done.

 

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I just read through your blog - I love your obsession with the Bradford house. I too have the fondest memories of seeing it long ago. It made me want a huge rambling dollhouse - I ended up with several dollhouses because of that. If I ever had the chance to have The Bradford house I'd do it. Definitely going to make it in 1:48.

I cannot wait to see more pics of your house! Seems like the only copy out there...I always wondered why more people hadn't copied it.

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Over time, I have found some good hi res photos of the house online that have helped me with flooring choices - I assume you have a good collection of photos and books as references? It's funny how the colors vary in different images.

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1 minute ago, Elsbeth said:

I just read through your blog - I love your obsession with the Bradford house. I too have the fondest memories of seeing it long ago. It made me want a huge rambling dollhouse - I ended up with several dollhouses because of that. If I ever had the chance to have The Bradford house I'd do it. Definitely going to make it in 1:48.

I cannot wait to see more pics of your house! Seems like the only copy out there...I always wondered why more people hadn't copied it.

It is just too hard for me to imagine 1:48- but I guess all scales have their issues.

I will think about 1:48 as I slog through painting more moldings and trims with boring white again today, lol.

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11 minutes ago, Elsbeth said:

Over time, I have found some good hi res photos of the house online that have helped me with flooring choices - I assume you have a good collection of photos and books as references? It's funny how the colors vary in different images.

There isn't a ton of close-up photographs of the Bradford, but mostly it has been finding flooring and wallpaper that is very very close.  I thought gingham on point would be easy (Parent's bathroom) but it has not been.  I now have some new oil cloth coming, and I will turn it to get it to run the right way.  

One of the old wallpapers has me batty.  It has a 'shimmer' in photographs.

My daughter and her family went down on school vacation and did some photographing, but her photos are no better than published ones, lol.

 

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Hi Beth!

I've just had a marvelous time reading this post, then your blog! What an amazing journey you've begun, though it seems you've been on the path your entire life!

I have added you to my Great Reads blog roll (on my blog) so that I can follow your adventure (and so that others may find you), and I have also sent the links from this post and your blog to someone who is an expert and collector of antique dollhouse furniture etc. His name is Troy ( his blog link https://tulsatinystuff.blogspot.com/ ) and I imagine he will be very excited to see your project develop and all of the treasures you've collected! He's got links on his blog about his collection of TootsieToy etc. that might be interesting to you.

I'm so glad that you joined us here and shared your plans! I am looking forward to following you!

Jodi

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I was able to visit the Faith Bradford house a few years ago.  It was fascinating to me as an adult!  I did a blog post about it and have since purchased the current book and an 1965 edition about the house.  It has a great history.  https://tulsatinystuff.blogspot.com/2016/07/recent-acquisitions.html

I will have to follow your progress!  Thanks to Jodi Hippler for the tip!

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks, Kelly

   Just this morning I finished the baseboard in the Night Nursery and calling done.  Except for furniture and light fixtures, lol.  I am looking for vintage baby bottles to make into multiple chandeliers , lol.

   You might not be able to imagine how fun this has been!  It's bigger than me..and I mean more than size.

 

   Thanks for reading-    Beth

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