c1950s Tri-ang Queen Anne Dolls House

This fabulous c1950s Tri-ang Queen Anne Dolls House has just gone up for sale on KT Miniatures.

 It is the version that has a turquoise coloured finish with stencilled foliage over the front and is in 1/16th scale. 

The dolls house is accessed via the front, which opens right up to reveal two rooms upstairs, and a large room downstairs divided by a central staircase.

The staircase can actually slide out completely to make one large downstairs room if so wished....very clever idea! All the floor and wallpapers inside are original.

Even though the flooring papers are a little worse for wear in places, it is still refreshing to have them at all, as they are often missing. The worst patches can easily be disguised by strategically placed rugs or carpets.

The windows and doors are made of plastic and it is brilliant that they too are present, as due to their fragility in young hands, they were often broken and then lost forever.

Well actually, they are all present except for the right side lower window, but the previous owner very cleverly made a wooden replacement. It has been so well done that I didn't even notice at first!

It is extremely refreshing to have the two half front doors present, as it is rare to find this model dolls house these days with them still present.

The reason being is that these plastic doors were extremely fragile in young hands, and the little plastic notches top and bottom that kept them in place and allowed them to swing open, would often quickly snap off. And although this has happened to the left door, as you can see from the photo, the previous owner taped it so that it could swing open. Now the tape probably does need replacing but this is easy to do.

The roof is original and can be removed if necessary. Is also nice to have both chimneys present, although one of the chimney pots is a replacement.

So there we are.....this Tri-ang dolls house rarely comes along these days in such relatively good condition. Could make an ideal present for a vintage dolls house collector and would look fabulous filled with vintage 1/16th scale dolls house furniture.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW

Please note that due to the particular fragility of the plastic windows and doors, this has to be collected only from me here in Thame and is not available to be posted.
(Sat Nav: OX9 3BE - close to junctions 6 & 8A of M40)

Celia

An Inspiring Way To Decorate An Old GeeBee Dolls House Exterior - Absolutely Beautiful!

A few weeks ago I received an order from a lady called Linda Bright for a tiny Romside metal door. She explained that she had bought a dilapidated dolls house similar to the one she had as a child and wanted to restore it, with the help of her father. The back board was rotten, the floor sagged, the outside had been repainted more than once and even part of one wall was covered in plaster. Sounded like they had quite a big job on their hands!

Linda, a professional artist based in East Sussex, emailed through a drawing of her dilapidated dolls house as it was in its present form at that time. You can see Linda's drawing above. The front door was missing and one of the frontage pieces was completely off its hinges. It was an old GeeBee dolls house, probably circa 1950s. 

A few weeks went by and then one morning I received an email from Linda with a couple of photos attached, the content of which literally blew me away! 

Using images of 1950s gardens for inspiration, Linda hand painted flowers over the dolls house frontage to replace the original painted flowers that were long gone. 

I have to say that these must be the most beautiful hand painted flowers I  think I have ever seen on the exterior of an old dolls house...and I have been in this business for over 20 years so have seen many old dolls houses during that time I can tell you! The colours and depth of Linda's carefully chosen flowers are stunning and now bring an exquisite charm to what was a very sorry looking old house. 

 Here is another photo of Linda's dolls house, as you can see now fully restored in all its glory. I think you will all agree that it is absolutely beautiful.

I would like to thank Linda for allowing me to share her photos with you and hope that you have been suitably inspired. 

Linda is an artist and also attends some vintage fairs, you can find her on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/lindabrightartist/

KT Miniatures Back Open For Business.

After two very long and difficult weeks, KT Miniatures has now re-opened for business. Thank you to everyone who have sent lovely messages, I have read them all. 

My daughter Kate is making steady progress, and although the road to recovery is going to take some time, we are all very hopeful that she will be ok.

Celia X