New Acquisitions and Inventory Time

I usually browse Facebook Marketplace with a simple keyword search: dollhouse. The results are mostly plastic children's play toys but occasionally wood dollhouses and dollhouse kits pop up.  If you've followed my blog you know I've acquired some great houses on Marketplace. When I did this recent search a garage sale popped up because they mentioned a dollhouse in the description of the post. I contacted the seller to inquire if the dollhouse was wood or plastic, and she replied with TWO wood dollhouses for $30 total. She attached pictures of the houses, and I couldn't do the electronic payment fast enough. I purchased a DuraCraft Sweetheart that is completely finished and fully electrified, including two working light fixtures and the second house is a Walmer Cranberry Cove, unfinished on the inside and missing the front porch attachment. I can do a lot with this Walmer house, I'm looking forward to working on that one.

 

Walmer Cranberry Cove, 1:12 Scale

 

DuraCraft Sweetheart Cottage 1:12 Scale

Both of these houses are new projects for me, as I intend to finish off the Cranberry Cove, and completely redo the Sweetheart as a Tudor style with a thatched roof. I just can't look at the roof lines on this house and not see a thatched roof. I'm not fond of the current colors either, or the decorative hearts all over the house. I could possibly get carried away and make it a fairy house, the potential is there, but as of now I'm thinking of a clean lined tudor.

The Cranberry Cove may end up with a solid brick exterior with no front porch, or my second vision is a smaller front porch than the original, that just covers the front door area. If I do that I would try to add a bay window on the first floor as well. I'm still looking at both of these houses carefully, to get a clear vision.

I wasn't able to blog about this next acquisition, because four days after I bought it my home flooded in the storm surge from Hurricane Ian in South Florida on September 28, 2022. This is a Hofco Federal Victorian, that I drove 2 hours one way to pick it up. I also found this on Marketplace, and honestly didn't realize how big it was until I picked it up. Not only is it the largest house I have, it's made of MDF wood so it is very heavy. The back is solid flat because it's a front opening dollhouse, so it's a lot like a piece of furniture. It's similar in size to a small dresser. The house is in pretty good shape, a few pieces need to be reassembled and the hinges need reinforced, but overall it's great.

HOFCO Federal Victorian Front Opening Dollhouse 1:12 Scale

Since I have a dollhouse display room now, I'm starting to absorb the size of my collection. In addition to the houses I have listed below, I have many room boxes, lanterns, odd scale houses and my built Quarter Scale houses. Once my dollhouse room is completely set up I will post a video and photos. 

CURRENT DOLLHOUSE INVENTORY
Listed in order of acquisition

 

Built Houses:
1949 Keystone of Boston
Greenleaf Travel Trailer
Greenleaf Arthur
Greenleaf Brookwood
Greenleaf Harrison Rehab
Greenleaf Harrison Partial Build
Petite Dreams Victorian
Greenleaf Buttercup
DuraCraft Ashley
Greenleaf Brimbles Mercantile
Whitney Tennyson
Batrie Sparrow Lane
Skilcraft Colonial
Greenleaf Washington
Skilcraft Cape Cod
Lundy Gotenburg
Hofco Federal Victorian
Walmer Cranberry Cove
DuraCraft Sweetheart
Four Greenleaf 1/4 Scale Houses

Dollhouse Kits:
DuraCraft Pioneer Log Cabin
Real Good Toys Princess Anne
Real Good Toys Victorian Cottage Jr.
Artply Highland
Walmer Mint Julep w/Left and Right Wing Additions
Greenleaf Rosedale
Greenleaf Orchid
Greenleaf Travel Trailer
Greenleaf Village Kit
Greenleaf Town Kit
Greenleaf Emerson Row
Real Good Toys Beachside Bungalow
DuraCraft Newberg
Real Good Toys Conservatory

I have several projects in mind that I want to get started on, I need to decide which one I should tackle next. Most likely it won't be a new kit, as I have several built houses that need to be refinished. In the meantime, I think I will stay off of Facebook Marketplace for a while, Ha! 

Thank you for visiting!

~ Mini - Shack

My Skilcraft Cape Cod Dollhouse Video and Interior Photos

Please enjoy this video of my Cape Cod dollhouse by Skilcraft. It shows the interior rooms with detailed photos, plus the building process at the end of the video.

My YouTube Channel also has videos of some of my other miniature projects.

 

A few of the interior room photos. More detailed photos are in the video:

Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments. 

Thank you for visiting!

 

~ Mini Shack

Happy Independence Day from my Cape Cod Summer House

What a fun little house to build! This is a Skilcraft Cape Cod dollhouse that I hunted for several years for. I finally found one in an unopened box and pretty much shuffled all my other projects aside and started building. I love doing nautical style homes and minis, and with this architectural style of home it was an easy decision how to decorate. I tried to stay away from the traditional nautical colors of red and navy blue by using shades of mint, teal and various light and dark blues. For the first time ever, I also included a laundry room. Initially that room was going to be a smaller bedroom, but the space was too challenging. In all honesty, I have 3-4 sets of washers & dryers and several ironing boards in my stash that I haven't used yet. So I figured I'd go ahead and take the opportunity to do one in this extra space. 

The original kit has two large rooms on the first floor with a carport. Although I was excited initially to make a carport/garage, I quickly realized there was not enough space downstairs. I love conservatory's, and I only needed two new walls, so I made one myself. I cut an opening in the original wall so you could walk into the conservatory from the kitchen. I also liked the way the house looked from the front with the conservatory added. I did quite a bit of visual research on Cape Cod homes and saw many built like this. The worn shake siding mixed with white panel siding on the conservatory looks very appealing and realistic, with white window frames accenting the shake siding. I intentionally did not add shutters either, as most of the traditional Cape Cod homes I saw did not have them. I kept the landscaping light, as this also seemed a trait of Cape Cod homes, and I pictured this house in the summer time, not the winter, because the grass is green and the flowers are in bloom. Inside the house the owners have returned from a day at the beach and are having wine, cheese and dessert in the conservatory. The American flag is hanging out front, and as the photos were being taken, it was flying in the wind.

 

Here's a few photos of the interior of the Cape Cod. I will make another post with detailed interior photos, and a link to the video on my YouTube Channel once it's completed.

Happy Independence Day and I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday! Thank you for visiting.

 

~ Mini Shack

Merry Mini Christmas, to ME!

For the past few years I've been hunting for this specific house, a Skilcraft Cape Cod. I saw one on eBay, but it was overpriced and I couldn't quite tell if the box had been opened. I don't usually spend money on myself during the holidays, but a couple weeks before Christmas one popped up on Marketplace. An unopened kit, still with the plastic wrapper on it. It wasn't a local pickup, it came from California, and not only was the price low but the shipping was free. It showed up on my doorstep in just 5 days, during Christmas week! 

I have also been on the hunt for a reasonably priced Real Good Toys "New Orleans" house, or a vintage Batrie "Bradley" house, but had decided that whichever house I found first would satisfy my craving for a "Cape Cod" style house to build. Skilcraft wasn't a high end brand, but this will be a much lighter house than either of the other two and I will make it awesome. It also has a unique feature that the other's do not, a carport!

 

I actually own another Skilcraft house, the "Colonial". One of my oldest friends gave it to me when she explained that her Mother was cleaning out her storage shed and was going to throw it away. It was her childhood dollhouse, which she had completely forgot about. I told her I would rehab it and make it a fabulous Colonial Estate house. One day in the future if she ever wants it back she can have it. She had very fond memories playing with that house as a child. 

I have not started the actual renovations yet, but I have collected quite a few construction parts for it - a front entry door, columns, shutters, siding, etc. Skilcraft houses are plywood, but come with plastic siding, windows and shutters and the roof shingles are strips of thick pre-cut black paper. So all that will be replaced with wood parts and roof shingles. Here's the house the day she brought it over (after I stripped the roof). I have all the extra parts that came with it in a bag:

 

Here's a diagram of some of the Skilcraft Dollhouse models, which is a photo of the back of the box of my new Cape Cod house. It doesn't include their "Nob Hill" model, which is a grand scale house or their "Federal". Also pictured below are close up photos of the two houses I currently own. I've also had my eye on an eBay listing that included the Victorian Mansion plus a matching Coach House (not shown in the photo). I love houses with mansard style roof's, and the coach house is really cute too. I've actually seen several listed on eBay, but all the box conditions were kind of terrible, so I didn't want to risk it.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and looking forward to another New Year of miniatures! Lots of fun and exciting projects to get to. 

Thank you for visiting!

~ Mini-Shack