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

Spring Cleaning

So it's time to take inventory, because I've acquired enough dollhouse kits to last me the rest of my life. The way I see it though, I'm setting myself up for retirement. Not financially, I mean something to keep me busy, HA! Here is my current situation:

Dollhouse Kits in boxes:

Walmer Mint Julep with Left and Right Wing Addition

Greenleaf Emerson Row

Greenleaf Rosedale

Greenleaf Buttercup

Greenleaf Orchid

Greenleaf Travel Trailer

Real Good Toys Princess Anne

Real Good Toys Beachside Bungalow

Real Good Toys Victorian Cottage Jr.

Dura Craft Pioneer Log Cabin

Dura Craft Newberg

Artply Highland

Artply-Whitney Tennyson

1/4 Scale Town Kit

1/4 Scale Village Kit 

 

I couldn't get them all in one photo, because they're scattered all over the house now, but here's a few:

 

 

Here's how some are stored temporarily (pardon the mess! Construction zone):

 

 This is the Travel Trailer and Quarter Scale 1/4 Building Kits

 

 

 

Houses in progress:

Greenleaf Harrison Partial Build

Greenleaf Harrison Rehab

Petite Dreams Victorian

The base of the Artply Highland

These are just the dollhouses. I have 9 room boxes and 3 lanterns that could be done at any time too. It seems I have managed to also acquire quite a bit of furniture, fixtures and construction parts. It was time to reorganize my stash and thin out the parts/pieces I didn't need to keep. By the time I was done, there wasn't much in the "get rid of" pile but I did manage to rearrange all my stuff in appropriate bins. It also gave me a chance to take a look at everything again, which was a pleasant experience because I forgot about a lot of really cool pieces I have! 

I also spent time repairing pieces that were set aside because they needed work. While I was repairing a side table I noticed how beautifully detailed the carvings on the wood were. Once I found my reading glasses and tipped it over I saw that it was a Bespaq™ table. Nice little surprise. 

So for now I'm getting ready to build the Tennyson that will be given to a family friend, a 9 year old girl. She request turquoise and yellow as her colors, so this will be a fun and bright colored house. This will be only the second time I've built a house for a little girl to actually play with, so I won't be furnishing it, just giving her the house. More photos and details to come!

Thanks for visiting!

~ Mini Shack

Oops I did it again....

Okay, I really have no business looking on Marketplace or Craigslist for local dollhouses for sale, but for some reason I checked Marketplace the other day and this house popped up as the first listing. It was just listed for about an hour. It looked like it was in good shape, and it included a box of furniture, so I put it in my "saved" list. I had recently been looking for a similar house, so I just couldn't get it off my mind. I went back to the listing and the seller had already dropped the price for some reason - I felt like it was meant to be so I contacted the seller and made the arrangements. I didn't even have to drive far, about 10 minutes from my house. I'm having trouble identifying this house, I think I've narrowed it down to Walmer, but so far no luck researching it and no luck from the websites I've posted it on.

 

It's a great house, it's 1:12 scale and measures about 3ft wide and a little less than 2ft tall. I'm going to paint the front door red, strip the trim and add shutters to all the windows. I'm not sure if I'm going to paint the exterior, I actually like the color it is now. It's been painted as stucco and I like the white trim already. I love that it has a mansard roof too. 

About a month ago I bought an eBay auction that was full of HouseWorks windows, doors, fireplaces and staircase kits. I bought it because it was a super cheap auction and I knew I would use those items eventually. It just so happens this house didn't include doors, and I'm going to replace the aweful staircase that came with it, so it just reaffirms that I was meant to have this house, HaHa! The exterior will be an easy make-over, there's not too much to do and I have everything I need. The interior has good quality wallpaper and trim, but I just don't like it so it will get stripped and replaced eventually.

I am also in the middle of building my Artply Highland mid-century modern house, which I'm excited about too. I may have to set it aside and work on this little cottage instead, or maybe even work on both at the same time? I don't usually do that but I've expanded my workspace so I think I can pull it off. I will come back and post before and after photos once I'm done with this little house. 

I do have a small dilemma, however. I always name my houses the same name as the manufacturer. For instance, The Arthur, The Brookwood, I don't re-name them. Since I don't know the name of this house I'm just going to refer to it as the Cape Cod house, for now.

Here are a few more photos that show the mansard roof.

 

Here's a closer look at the front entrance. Definitely needs shutters!

Stay tuned for the transformation :-)

Thank you for visiting!

~ Mini Shack