Half Kits Coty - restored and happy again

 

No. 18 ("Half-size Kits" or "Half Kits"), pre-1909. Dimensions: 26 inches [66 cm] wide, 19 inches [48 cm] deep and 35 inches [89 cm] high

I have yearned for a Kits Coty house since I first began collecting but I never thought I'd own one. Ok, so its a half Kits Coty (they came in three sizes). This one has had a rough life - it came to me very grubby and daubed in horrible black gloss paint with a hideous red front door but I knew what was lurking beneath. There were broken bits, pieces of the roof had been reassembled wrong but I just knew we could fix it.

 Originally, the left side of the roof were supplied loose so they could be lifted off and furniture added. They have very often gone missing over the years so I was delighted to find ours intact. some previous owner had glued it down and it is probably due to this that we still have the original. It took a bit of brute force to jemmy it off but it came away with an explosion of ancient dust and flaking paint.

We travelled all the way to Morecombe to collect it, stayed overnight in B&B by the sea which was a bit of a busman's holiday for us but we had fun. Highly recommend Morecombe for its brisk wind, fish and chips and of course Eric Morecombe's statue.

The dolls house was situated three storeys up at the top of a small Victorian terrace, so the old fella and I had a  bit of a job getting it down the narrow staircase. Luckily it was in two pieces so I took the roof and Himself took the main part of the house. I couldn't wait to get it home for a proper look but had to wait two days as we had other business.

I had recently had cataract surgery on my left eye so couldn't get to work straight away but I admit I did start peeling back paper and chipping at the paint. Not only was the paint thick, it had run and I soon realised that a blade was not going to be enough. We got the heat gun on it in the end and carefully removed the top thick layer before getting the scrapers out. The picture above shows it stripped back, the oxblood base had been overpainted green. I think at this stage I had painted the outside and just about to begin painting the sections of the conical roof you can see propped up ready. I did intend to paper the roof, I ordered the paper from Trevor, the dolls house man on Ebay but there was a delay so I painted it oxblood for the time being - I rather like it now and might leave it as it is. there are rough bits but I don't mind that as it reminds me of its age. We did have some trouble reassembling all the pieces correctly but got there in the end. The gold on the balustraded widows walk and above the windows excited me very much. I was beginning to sense it was going to be lovely.

Some of the woodwork was quite intricate and difficult to see with just the one good eye - lol so I left most of the careful scraping to Himself. As we worked, the original paint layer came into view with traces of gold! I was so excited and immediately made plans to restore it like for like. This involved a bit of research and I did fail to find the original papers - if I ever find someone reproducing them I can always redecorate.

I removed the paper from the roof and side walls which wasn't original, and stripped the inside. Lord knows what glue had been used but it was set hard and very thick in places but I managed to remove most of it. A few coats of antique white chalk paint disguised a multitude of flaws but I didn't want it perfect, I wanted it to retain some hint of the long life it has lived already. 

As I worked on it I thought about the person who made it, employed by the lines brothers just prior to WWI. I wondered about the lucky child who perhaps tore the wrapping paper from it on Christmas morning oblivious to the approaching war. The child who owned this house was fortunate, as I am to own it now. I wonder about its future journey when I am gone, who will care for it, where it will end up in this rapidly changing world where treasures like this are undervalued. But I don't want to grow maudlin.

The house is far from perfect now but it is certainly closer to perfection than it was before. The Lines brothers houses were not about perfection anyhow. They used rough wood, were not fussy about the finish and with no toy health and safety measures in place there are often sharp nails and bad angles. the porch on this house is a prime example of this but we didn't change it, we just cleaned it, repainted and put it back as we found it. As you can see from the photo, there is more to life than angles - lol.

Once the interior was papered (some of the wall paper fought back and I got a few creases and bubbles so I may replace it when I get more) it was time to address the gold. I found a few examples online of original houses with traces of gold as I had discovered on mine, and there were plenty of examples of restored houses with gold lining but there didn't seem to be any rules so we went our own way. I have a very shaky fist. My Trusty Helper has a far steadier hand (and two good eyes) so you can tell which bits he did and which were undertaken by me. He is currently fashioning replacement chimney pots for the left hand roof while I turn my attention to furnishings and dressing it. 

I made a replacement dresser which now needs to be piled with plates and bowls and food and then I will get started on a fireplace or range. The upper rooms still had their fireplaces but they were so daubed in paint it took a lot of work to get them clean, they look so much better for a repaint. I put a fire in the parlour that I had upgraded so it looks old and only kitchen lacks a hearth.

One thing I did notice in online photos is the kitchen is often on the righthand room, the one with the big bay window but I decided I wanted that in the parlour so I did mine the other way round. there aree just a few tiny tweaks to do and the house will be ready to join my others on display - I will have to get rid of the telly soon because I am fast running out of space!