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Bill Lankford dollhouse (half scale)


fov

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Last night I made an impulse buy on eBay. I paid $125 with Buy It Now.

 

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Another of this same house has been up on eBay for several months, the seller originally listed it at something like $700 and has dropped the price a few times. That one was finished by Pat Bauder and the description says the house was part of a class at Philadelphia Miniaturia in 1999. You can tell from the pics of the one I bought that it's not as nicely finished but that's why it called out to me... I've looked at the more expensive auction multiple times and it never occurred to me that I'd want to buy it. (Not even because of the price, just because I didn't want the house.) I think there's something about seeing a house that's nicely finished and thinking "it's not for me" but when you see one that needs work, you start to get excited about the possibilities...

 

I also saw this house in person at the CHAMPS show last September (I think the price was $200 or $300... I wasn't tempted to buy it then either!) So I've now seen three different versions, and they're all basically the same - white stucco, green roof, seated on a styrofoam "hill" on a base that looks like a plaque. I'm so curious to see a picture of the house finished differently, but if it was part of a class, maybe they're all more or less the same?

 

I want to make mine a Tudor, maybe paint the shingles brown/black and add timbers to the walls. Since the house is already put together that might limit what I can do with it (at that price I don't want to completely destroy it!) so I'll have to wait and see how it is when it shows up in the mail. You can tell from the pictures that there's some paint that goes "outside the lines", the chimney needs work (seems like someone tried to add color to the stones and then realized they didn't know what they were doing and wisely stepped away...), and I think some of the window glass has paint on it. For the interior I'm thinking 1700s or early 1800s, with a big walk-in fireplace in the kitchen and a loom and a spinning wheel in the front room.

 

If anyone has leads on pictures of this house finished differently, please point me in the right direction! Or of pics of any Bauder Pine houses. I've seen a few on eBay and in Nutshell News magazines but haven't come upon any really good pics online.

 

EDIT: Found another online that's very similar to the "summer / winter house" on eBay: http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/7134773

 

EDIT March 2015: Turns out this is *not* a Bauder Pine house, but a Bill Lankford. More details in this post.

Edited by fov
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I think the fun part with any dollhouse of any scale or model is that you can make it your own, and that was probably why this one called out to you. I love to see fully furnished houses, but while we may get ideas from certain decorating styles, we know there is always something we could and probably would do differently if we had the same house.

I'm glad you got a good deal on this purchase. I love the way the spiral steps leading to the front door, and the inside looks delightful to work with. - Have fun.

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I think it will make a lovely Tudor. It has that storybook feel already. I especially like that corner window, and it's ringing a bell. Didn't someone on the forum get a kit that had a window like that. I seem to remember discussion about an unusual window.

Have fun with it. I hope you post some pics when you get it for the "before" shots.

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Thanks everyone! I always berate myself a little after a purchase like this, because I certainly didn't need it, so it's good to hear from the enablers. :)

Debora, you might be thinking of the foamcore house I got at the Dollhouses Trains and More parking lot sale for $2, it has a similar corner window. It has coincidentally been sitting untouched since I bought it (I did buy some supplies for it, though!) Eh, I guess if I average out the price of that impulse buy and this impulse buy I only spent about $75 on each. :lol:

Just today I finished up the last bits I told myself I had to do on the Rosedale before I started a new project. I was deciding between the Gull Bay and building the Elizabeth Anne before this Bauder Pine house found its way into my possession. I'll probably work on the Gull Bay first, because I already have all the stuff I need. That'll give the new house time to speak to me...

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Curious about the eye hook on the second floor ... what do you suppose that was for?

Love that corner window.

I was wondering that too! No idea.

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Curious about the eye hook on the second floor ... what do you suppose that was for?

Love that corner window.

Maybe a place to secure your rope when you want to rappel down to the ground floor? I notice there are no stairs.

I love the haphazard stacking of the stones in the chimney. The stone mason was definitely not obsessive-compulsive. :D

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I was a "watcher" on this house's auction! Only a serious lack of funds kept me from pulling the trigger. I think it is so unique and adorable. I especially love the rustic placement of the chimney stones. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

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Arrived today! I unpacked it and only had time for a cursory look so far. One of the windows is entirely covered in paint. The windows are hard plexiglass (not the flimsy inserts) and don't look like they'll be easily popped out, so I need to figure out what to do about that.

First thing I did after I set it up was unscrew that eye hook!

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I went back downstairs to look at it "just for a minute" and started tearing it apart. (Once you start it's hard to stop!) Turns out the windows weren't so hard to pop out. :lol: I removed them and the inserts and will replace the inserts. I also yanked off the flower boxes, the front door, some of the decorative wooden brackets, and the corner window -- that's the only part that I damaged trying to remove it, but it had to be done and I think I can recreate it even better.

Some of the stucco is really, really thick... like someone went nuts decorating a cake. Not sure what it's made from but I might want to sand it down some before repainting. For the wood trim, I think I'll probably just cover up what's already there with thin basswood. And I'm going to paint the shingles a darker color, and fix up the chimney.

The Styrofoam base is in rough shape. I can probably rehab it but for now I've put it up on a shelf to worry about much later...

I took some pics but haven't grabbed them off the camera yet...

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