circa 1910 Dolls House...With A Provenance Including Brass Plaque!

Another gorgeous dolls house has come into KT Miniatures and is now up for sale. It is not often a dolls house actually arrives with a written provenance these days but this house did just that! But not only that, this little treasure comes with it's very own engraved brass plaque too.........how fantastic is that!?

This brass plaque says it all really, doesn't it? Mr W.E. Hoare of Parkstone in Dorset made this house for his daughter at Christmas in 1910. Mr Griffiths restored this for his wife in 1980.

There are umpteen photos and photocopies of images before and after restoration by Mr Griffiths in 1980. Plus Mrs Griffiths has left a handwritten account of how she bought this house from a junk shop in Boscombe, Bournemouth in the 1970s.....and how in 1980 her husband lovingly restored it and even put electricity into it. The 1980 decor and lights still remain in place but whether the lights still work or not, I don't know.

Mrs Griffiths tells us that when she first got it, it was back opening but because she loved the front so much, she got her husband to put a back on and open up the front instead....which he did!

In the above photo, you can see the interior of the house, as viwed from the front.

When Mr Griffiths opened up the roof in order to get the frontage off,  he was amazed to  find  a handwritten message on the inside back roof panel from Mr Hoare, the maker, stating that he had made the house for his daughter for Christmas in 1910, along with his address....isn't that brilliant! 

So, Mr Griffiths decided that now the roof was open, he may as well make good use of it and created three further rooms but left the central piece loose so that it could be unslotted easily if anyone wanted to read the handwritten message....very clever! It does make me wonder how many other handwritten messages by a doll house maker there are, yet to be discovered hidden inside the fabric of our old dolls houses?

There is no doubt that Mr Griffiths had undertaken the restoration well....however, the 1980s decoration is now very dated and to be honest, this house would look even better if it was stripped down and restored using antique wallpaper and paint effects instead......KT Miniatures have some genuine antique wallpaper available on:  http://www.ktminiatures.com/Antique_Wallpaper.html

But just look....Mr Griffiths thought of everything!! He very cleverely created four sliding latches on the back panel so that the back wall could be completely removed in seconds...then put back into place if needed, just as easily. 

This is the interior view from the back, which I much prefer than the front interior view, because you can see the beauty of the bay windows from the inside and more importantly the actual staircase.

 In the above photo you can see the stairs as viewed from the back. All the interior doors open and on the landing is a lovely pair of opening doors which lead out onto a front balcony.

The windows are all glazed with real glass and each main central window panel actually opens.

In the lounge is what I believe to be an artisan made wooden fire surround with an over mantle mirror, from 1980. It has been very nicely done.

The kitchen, when viewed from the back, has this beautiful bay window with window seat, which could be made into a real lovely feature.

This is one of the upstairs rooms.....also with a bay window and window seat.

Here is the other upstairs room. Both rooms upstairs have a fireplace from 1980, the year this house was restored.

Finally, this ballustrade at the front is not all there...and like a jigsaw puzzle, I have endeavoured to slot pieces into one long run.....there are other bits of ballustrade still present but not enough to make the run extend to the left hand side. The small bit of ballustrade on the right hand corner is fully intact. However, we understand from Mrs Griffiths that this ballustrade was not actually original to the house but put in by Mr Griffiths.The pieces are not glued in so are easily removed if necessary.

This house has been much loved. Somehow, this charming house found its way back down to Bournemouth many years later after its restoration and was then handed down through another family where it has been much played with - hence now in need of a new home.
Please click on the following link to view full details:

http://www.ktminiatures.com/1910_House.html