Sing the praises of my SO..... (Newberg 1st Floor Aerial Floorplan)

Wow.. lucky you! and happy birthday  

Ambitious plans, but it will be lovely when done. Is that an elevator I spy?  

How do you intend to get into this house? Is it a break apart house?

8 hours ago, Samusa said:

Wow.. lucky you! and happy birthday  

Ambitious plans, but it will be lovely when done. Is that an elevator I spy?  

How do you intend to get into this house? Is it a break apart house?

Thank you! I'm so thankful that my SO - while he doesn't want to do miniatures personally - understands that out of all my hobbies it's my favorite, and is more than willing to fund my addiction hobby and listen to me ramble on about how I made this or that, or my plans for the whatsit....

Yes! You are correct, that is an elevator to the left of the stairs. I was doing research for this house (the background story is starting to come together now), and discovered that for some Victorian homes built by the super-rich of the time, they had old cage elevators in their houses. This house, what with the additional floors that I've already added, and the back half that I am intending to build, seems as though it may have been one of those. My mental image of the house is that it was remodeled at some point in its history (possibly even dismantled, brought overseas somewhere, and then rebuilt), but although there are definitely some modern touches, many of the original details of the house are still intact. I intend to make the elevator actually work somewhat via weights kept in the attic. I don't know if I'll be able to make it stop at specific floors necessarily, but who knows, I might be able to figure out a way if I plan it out carefully.  

As for getting into the house, it is indeed going to be a break apart house with two sections - front and back - of roughly equal size. Most of the rooms in the house are divided along that middle line, so it should work out pretty well. I'm just going to blend any sections that cross over as much as I possibly can.

Additionally, parts of the walls - like the entire back wall of the house - are going to be hinged, and the latches will be tiny magnets embedded into the wood. That way I can get into the house even if I have the two sections standing together on a display table, without having to swing it all the way open. I also plan on having all doors and windows be working, for the added realism.

The only thing I haven't figured out yet is how the roof is going to look - something to puzzle over I guess. 

I think Brae (Otterine) made a working dumb waiter in her Watson Mill.  An elevator would likely work on the same principles.  You could probably make some kind of crank-action pulley for raising and lowering it.  It would be very fun to see a working elevator in your house!  I love seeing all the plans and elevations, and I like the magnet idea for holding the two halves together.  Your SO is definitely a keeper! 

10 minutes ago, Debsrand56 said:

I think Brae (Otterine) made a working dumb waiter in her Watson Mill.  An elevator would likely work on the same principles.  You could probably make some kind of crank-action pulley for raising and lowering it.  It would be very fun to see a working elevator in your house!  I love seeing all the plans and elevations, and I like the magnet idea for holding the two halves together.  Your SO is definitely a keeper! 

Oooh, thanks for the reference to Otterine's dumb waiter! I think you're right, it would likely work on the same principles. I'm going to check that out right now.

He definitely is, and I plan on keeping him!