Kevin Mulvany touching-up the miniature Ham House entrance
Miniature Ham House
Susan Rogers and Kevin Mulvany are amazing artisans, responsible for some of the most expensive dolls houses ever made. They have been commissioned to create such 1:12 scale marvels as the Brighton Pavilion, Spencer House, and Buckingham Palace. One of their latest creations is a miniaturized version of historic Ham House in Surrey which was on display in the 17th-century Stuart manor house during the Summer and Fall of 2016.
Ham House drawing room with real-life shoes for scale
Two Years In The Making
The husband and wife team worked two years on the replica miniature in their Wiltshire studio. When delivered to its real-life counterpart, Susy Rogers said the model only just “fitted through the door.”
The miniature Ham House features gilded barley-sugar columns, floors inlaid with exotic woods, tiny silver fire-irons and hand-painted miniatures, no bigger than a child’s fingernail.
Using more than 30 craftspeople and artists from around the world Ms. Rogers said “faded” Ham House had been “whisked down a time tunnel” and returned to its “original ‘bling’ magnificence.”
Ham House dolls house ceiling
Original Ham House
Ham House sits on the banks of the River Thames in Richmond, 10 miles from the center of London. Built-in 1610 by Sir Thomas Vavasour, Knight Marshal to James I, it originally comprised an H-plan layout consisting of nine bays and three stories. The Thames-side location was ideal for Vavasour, allowing him to move between the courts at Richmond, London, and Windsor.
In 1626, the Ham House passed by lease then deed William Murray, 1st Earl of Dysart, who transformed it into one of the grandest Stuart houses in England. It remained the centerpiece of the Earldom of Dysart until the 9th Earl, William Tollemache, the last in the line died 1935.
Video of Kevin Mulvany and workmen delivering full-scale original found on BBC News
End Of The Line
A cousin lived in the House until 1948, when Ham House and its grounds were donated to the National Trust. It has since been completely restored, and is considered to be “unique in Europe as the most complete survival of 17th-century fashion and power.”
During the Second World War, a nearby aircraft factory was a magnet for German bombing raids. Fortunately, the Ham House suffered only minor damage.
You may be interested in another article we wrote on other Mulvany & Rogers masterpieces.
Susan Downing, with Patrick Owens
