This Old House - Antique and Vintage Dolls House Rescue

  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 pai...

  I am so lucky to have done so well on the mini front this Christmas (2025). A week before I happened upon a half stockbroker, a house I have been hankering after since I first began collecting. Usually when they come up for sale they are on the other side of the country, but this one was in Swansea, just an hour away. It has been restored and still needs some inner window panes and there are a few changes I will make to help it blend in with my other houses. I love it though. The second house I purchased from Kevin Taylor just before Christmas. I knew I shouldn't be buying myself things so I wrapped it and marked to label, To Jude with love from John's wife - I know, I am crazy  but at least I am harmless. It is such a cute little house. A DHC made around 1924 - 1929 and again, it was in great condition for its age. I couldn't wait to get to work so the day after Boxing Day I made a  start. I gave it a gentle clean, waxed the floors and touched up the roof with bur...

  I have named the houses Taylor Towers because I bought them from Kevin Taylor who has the most exquisite collection of Lines/Triang dolls houses I've yet to see.  I never thought I would come to own such lovely examples myself but over the last year or so I have sold some properties that I've restored and stashed the money away like a miser. The houses, although a little tired as they've every right to be are actually in very good condition and I had no intention of stripping or trying to make them perfect. I only do that if a house is truly beyond help. The house on the left is a G & J Lines house that was made for Gamages and has the fabulous little brass badge on the front to prove it. The one on the right is similar in style but a little earlier in date. This house is the one shown in the Dolls houses Past and Present catalogue. It is a G & J Lines number 8 which were made from 1895 - 1912. I did very little to the exterior of number 8 apart from a little scra...

  DH/D, 1924-1932. Dimensions: 20 inches [50 cm] wide, 11 inches [27.5 cm] deep and 26.5 inches [66.5 cm] high. The DHD is a lovely little house, easily fitted into any collection. I've had this one sitting in the craft room for a while now and I thought it only needed a few repairs. Closer inspection threw up a few exterior things that I wasn't happy with. The roof paper was not original and was torn and had been badly applied. The front door knocker and letter box had been painted glossy black to match the window frames and gables. I dislike glossy paint, its just a personal thing.  The windows were plastic so we replaced with glass. It didn't take much to bring the knocker and letter box back with a bit of wire wool and dull down the gables. I also replaced the roof paper with reproduction Triang - I still need to black wax that to age it a bit. But I am getting ahead of myself. The photograph above and the one below is how it was when it arrived; the first thing I did w...

 I was given this lovely house! All very splendidly done out in 1990 pastel decor. I needed to give it the Arnopp touch. It is a gorgeous house. I think, along with Sid Cooke, these are antiques of the future so I was excited to start work on it. The paper was easily removed, revealing a clean smooth surface so unlike the rough, aged wood I am accustomed to on the Triang houses. When I am doing up an antique house I like to restore it to the original but with a newer house I have a free hand, to do as I please. I love old houses, I love old times so it is unlikely I am ever going to do a modern home. I wanted it to look old so I painted it in two halves. The upper in red brick, the lower half in bath stone bricks. As before, I did the colour mixing and painting while trusty sidekick drew the bricks - freehand. I don't seem to have taken photographs of the process, I must have been too busy enjoying it. Inside I used three ply paper napkins for wall paper. I mod podged it to heavier...