Margaret Clough’s Tudor dolls house bedchamber

The Tudor Bedchamber

The bed was the largest and most expensive piece of furniture in the Tudor home, its size and quality denoted the owner’s wealth. Everything else in the bedchamber was secondary.

The wealthy purchased four-poster beds, which were elaborately carved, with a canopy and valance of embroidered material. Heavy curtains allowed for privacy (a new concept advanced by the Tutor gentry) and kept out the cold. Edgings of fur were common to hold in warmth; “ermine for the King; squirrel for the middle classes.”

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The Hartnell’sKensington House has a side portico above a wine cellar. Found on the Daily Mail

The Hartnell’s Kensington Doll House

Tim and Angela Hartnell, owners of Anglia Dolls House in Norfolk, modeled the Kensington House on an 1815 Regency property. Their attention to detail is paramount. To protect the 1:12 scale visitors from being exposed to the scurrying and clatter of the miniature staff bringing food to their table, each elegant reception room is entered from a servants’ corridor.

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The kitchen in a cabinet dollhouses found on All About Dollhouses

Xandra Dekker’s Cabinet Dollhouse

Xandra Dekker’s “All About Dollhouses”

The Dutch to English machine translation of the caption under this blogs cover photo reads:

“ON THIS WEBSITE YOU FIND EVERYTHING ABOUT THE DOLLHOUSE HOBBY, MINIATURE, DOLLHOUSES, WORKSHOPS AND MORE … “

This is not an overstatement. “All About Dollhouses and Miniatures” is outstanding. The information is primarily European, which puts artisans doing period projects closer to the source than we US bloggers seem to provide.

Maybe it just seems that way, because Ms. Dekker is focused on one geographic area, while I find myself flitting all over the map and through the centuries.

It is obvious that Ms. Dekker has done her research, giving one a true sense of authenticity. There are so many links to other great sites. Check out Ms. Dekker’s “Blogs I Follow” for access to more useful information.

Travel Blog

Xandra Dekker also has a travel blog, with many of the posts about tropical climes. That’s understandable, I guess if you have ever experienced winters in Northern Europe. I’m sorry if I sound smug, but that’s the way it is for escapees from Cleveland who found paradise in Florida.

Enjoy exploring both of Xandra Dekker’s blogs.

Susan Downing, with Patrick Owens

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I invite you to visit my Etsy Shop where I offer many accessories and pieces of furniture in 1:12 scale. 

Orange Victorian, source unknown

Victorian Painted Ladies

I had always thought the Victorian Painted Lady originated in San Francisco, and that is partially true. That’s where the term was coined after the second world war. The gingerbread on a Victorian house has always inspired outrageous color schemes, and that goes back to nineteen century England. What wonderful dollhouses they make!

It’s All About The Gingerbread

If new technology drove innovation in Victorian architecture, nostalgia was the inspiration for plundering past designs. By the mid-nineteenth century, handcrafted decorations were not the only choice. Mass production allowed anyone that could afford to build a house to tack on any sort of corbel, bracket or gable they wanted. Painting these appendages a different color helped each to stand out in the crowd of decoration.

The desire to have a Victorian home spread throughout the British Empire and its former colonies. Clusters were built wherever cities were expanding or being rebuilt after disasters, natural and manmade. Think San Francisco after the earthquake or Atlanta after the Civil War.

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