I have had a life-long love affair with dollhouse miniatures, and careers in art education and interior design. I hope to combine these life experiences to help other miniature enthusiasts get more out of this wonderful hobby we enjoy, a hobby that often reaches the level of an art form. Susan Downing
Tudor dollhouse on display at the P. Buckley Moss Museum in Waynesboro, Virginia
The P. Buckley Moss Museum in Waynesboro, Virginia has an enormous Tudor dollhouse under the stairs, just outside the gift shop. It was designed and built by Joe and Ellen Waterbury. The Waterbury’s were dollhouse enthusiasts and collectors of Ms. Moss’ artwork, who wanted to express their appreciation with an elaborate miniature.
Categories: dollhouses, Tudor
Tudor Half Timber Dollhouse -“A River Runs Through It” is the caption on Gerry Welch Manorcraft Dolls Houses
When thinking about Tudor home exteriors, keep in mind that Tudor architecture is an outgrowth of Medieval design, where the nobility and upper classes lived in fortified castles: crenelated battlements and moats. They were huge uncomfortable places in which to live. Peace settled on the land with the end of the Wars of the Roses in 1485. The Tudors came to power and castles became passé; the aristocracy “downsized” to manor houses. Even though many were as large as the fortresses they replaced, the manor house was built to comfort the gentry, not repel invaders.
Categories: dollhouses, Tudor
Great hall in Maria’s Tudor Rose Apothecary, one of Kevin Jackson’s dolls houses.
Tudor Great Halls had undergone dramatic change after Henry Tudor ascended the throne as Henry VII in 1485. During medieval times it had been the most important room in the castle, where the Lord received hordes of supporters and where feasts were held for special days. In many castles, all the members of the household sat down to eat at tables set up for every meal.
The Tudor’s brought a period of peace and prosperity to England. The aristocracy no longer had to live in castles, where fortifications were more important than comfortable living conditions. The manor house was born, and over time, the Tudor Great Hall became obsolete.
Categories: dollhouses, hall, room boxes, Tudor
The Queen’s Bath at Leeds Castle in Kent. Henry VIII made this castle his principal home when he married Katherine of Aragon – wife #1.
The Tudors gave us the first room devoted to bathing, even the first indoor plumbing since the Romans. The Tudor version included hot water. But that comes at the end of the Tudor era and was affordable only by the very rich.
