This Old House - Vintage Dolls House Rescue

  This one was in a sorry old state when we got it. The lady who sold it was reluctant to let it go as it had been her mother's but she knew she would never find the time to restore it. Hobbies houses were sold in kit form - a bit of research and I found the image below. Inside wasn't pretty but miraculously we found all the missing windows stored in the vintage 1980s tin. The previous owners had stipped most of the paper, presumably with a chisel for the walls were gouged in places. The stairs were missing. The hallway of these houses is very narrow, so narrow I couldn't get my hand in and make a fist, so the only way we could work in the two left hand rooms was to remove the walls. Not so difficult with a small hammer. It took ages and a  great deal of wetting and scraping and weeping to get all the paper off. The house seems to have been made from a packing crate, the big black letters visible once the paper was removed. Since it had so few original features left, I had ...

  As you can see, this one was quite bashed up when we got it. It looked like I feel, as if it's had a long and hard life but I wasn't about to let it crumble further. Purists would probably leave it alone but I wanted to give it a proud position in my collection. My way of looking at it is, if you buy a crumbling historic building you invariably make subtle repairs to make it look and feel loved again. I kept as close to the original colour as I could. Please note the colour in the photo below is way brighter yellow than in reality. I replaced the brick paper on the bottom half like for like. Then we bent the windows back into shape - strangely they didn't need painting. I repaired the front door, painted the base and repositioned all the intact windows so they were all at the front and made fake panes for the ones that were missing and put them at the side. It immediately looked better. Inside was in remarkably good original condition so I made few changes. I added skirti...

  I got this one from Ebay, the seller wouldn't post so I sent my poor, long suffering OH all the way to Stoke on Trent to pick it up - considerable miles from West Wales. However, the house needed me. It was in almost original condition but badly in need of salvaging, unable to  breathe under layers of dirt. I guess they had a coal fire in the nursery this house once lived in. Below is the description of number 62 from the catalogue courtesy of Brighton toy Museum (https://www.brightontoymuseum.co.uk/w/index.php?curid=11269). I didn't begin work on it for quite a few weeks while I considered what to do with it. It sat in the corner of my study and I put some furniture in while we became acquainted. It had such charm I even considered leaving it as it was. Inside it was tatty, grubby and worn but the original papers were intact. Outside, there were missing bits of the fretwork on the gables and it had suffered a coat of badly applied white paint quite a long time ago. The hing...

  I saw this one on Market Place and felt an immediate connection to it. I dont know why, it just looked sad, as if it remembered being very  much loved and was aware that it no longer was. I emailed the seller who knew nothing about it and persuaded him to post it. It seems to me that risking handing a beaten up old doll's house into the hands of a courier is not so risky as a pristine example. I paid him, and then spent an anxious few weeks waiting for delivery. I began to fear I'd been scammed, and many would say I have been. When I opened the box, the smell of mice and old straw flooded into my kitchen. Warily, I parted the packing which consisted of newpaper, bits of cardboard and several very ancient, moth eaten pillows that went straight in the bin. I lifted the house out and put in on the side and it smiled at me. Rust has eaten away at the badly repainted front but I quite like that, it is part of its history. I opened the door, the smell of mice growing stronger the ...

  I bought this one on Ebay, she cried out to me for help and I couldn't resist. Luckily the seller was happy to send it via courier - I lose so many because people are reluctant to post but with careful packaging they do arrive in one piece. Anyway, I digress. This one probably dates to the 1950s. Pre-war models had painted front and garage doors and dinky little chimney pots. The chimney is missing on this and several other of my models but I know a clever man who can replicate those once he gets around to it. The outside of this had been rather crudely painted in white emulsion - paint splashes on the gabling and on the base. The roof was damaged but salvageable. Inside, the walls were papered with loud shouty 1970s wallpaper, the floors carpeted in foam backed flooring that had been stuck down with some monstrous adhesive. I had planned to do another house before I began this one but within an hour of it arriving, I began to pick at the paper and before bedtime I had already un...

Described in the catalogue as 'A larger house with two large rooms and built-in garage. Metal-framed windows with curtains, tiled sun-porch and steps. Red tiled roof.’ It measures 19 inches [48 cm] wide by 11 inches [28 cms] deep and stands 17 inches [43 cms] high. This one was in a sorry old state, not from neglect but from over enthusiastic refurbishment. Gloss paint and leary wallpaper didn't suit this proud old house and made it shine like a drunkard's nose. Apologies to whoever put so much effort into the work, but when we opened the doors the smell of paint and varnish fumes were like a slap in the face. I'd not let any child of mine play with it. The windows and garage door had unfortunately been replaced with Romside but there was nothing we could do about that. My aim was to let the poor house breathe again and remember its origins. Ok, so it will only ever be a ghost of its former self but at least we could make it recognisable as a Triang. So, we carefully di...

 Sometimes I get fed up with routine. I write historical fiction and need a release from that and have various hobbies which include sewing historical clothing, crochet, gardening. I never seem to have enough time for them and you’d probably be right in thinking the last thing I needed was another one. However, I recently spotted an almost antique Triang dolls house and it triggered something dormant in my mind.  My dad made me a lovely modern 1960s style bungalow when I was little, which was probably just as splendid a pad as a little girl really needs but I’d always cast slightly envious looks at the houses my friends owned. One of my friends had one with electric lighting and a radio that worked. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I mentioned said longing to my old fella and he said, ‘Why don’t you buy one then?’ So I bought nine ... so far. Number 76 cost the princely sum of £65 and is in ‘original’ condition. We intend to  keep all the houses as close to authentic as...