A Little Peek At A Real Life Size c1901 House....Been Up North Helping Son Move House!

For those of you who emailed me over the past few days and did not get a reply until today, this is the reason why KT Miniatures ground to a sudden halt.....I made a dash up north to help one of my sons move into his new house. It was all last minute, finger biting stuff after a few ups and downs....but contracts were finally exchanged last Wednesday afternoon and he then moved in less than 24 hours later!

 I say "new" house...actually I mean his new "old house". And although it needs a lot of remedial work such as roof and damp sorted, plus nearly every room needs decorating....it is still truly stunning!!! So these past few days, I donned my old tatty clothes and have been busy cleaning (actually scrubbing as the place has been empty for a few months), hanging curtains and even putting Ikea flat pack furniture together (not recommended for the faint hearted - and I naively thought it would be easy)....but it has all been great fun! He even managed to sweet talk his sister to come across from uni' for the weekend to help too.

He has moved from a 2 bedroom place into a 4 bedroom terraced house, built in c1901. Not only does it have the original 114 year old front door....but it also has a few other original features too.....

such as this tiled front door step.

This is the original solid timber back door and quarry tiled floor, which brings back so many memories for me, as my childhood house was a c1930s lodge house and our back door, as well as our kitchen floor were just like this.

The original kitchen, which is now the utility room, still has the cast iron range...not many people can say that!! (Actually...I don't even have a utility room in my own home - something I have always wanted)!! We have been fiddling with this and been trying to imagine how on earth they actually cooked meals on it for all the family. The chimney is blocked off so it can't be lit but there is still very dusty coal sitting in the bottom. 

There are a few of the original pine doors with old ceramic and brass handles and doorplates....arn't they just fabulous!?

 There are a couple of fireplaces and although replicas, are still absolutely exquisite. However, my son is keen to put back some original features if he can...so look what he dragged me along to see, before I hopped on the train back home....

This was sitting in the back of a local fireplace specialist's workshop!! And yep, this will shortly be going into his dining room to replace the one that a previous owner had ripped out. The specialist chap is going to clean it up and add a grate and hearth....then will put it in situ. I never thought I could get so excited about someone else's home....but I can't wait to see it in place.

Although these past few days have been hard work and am totally exhausted, it has been absolutely fabulous. Sigh.....and now I have returned home, have worked through my backlog of emails/orders/enquiries.....so I think I can say that life is back to normal. I shall shortly resume listing more vintage items to KT Miniatures website throughout the week.

 Celia

PS. As window curtains still need taking up and after the builders have left, there will be much more cleaning to do, guess who has volunteered her services? Can't wait for my next visit!!