AMERICAN TOWNHOUSE
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I have a collection of house plans books that covers the architectural styles of all the decades from the mid Victorian era to modern times. Since I wanted my next dollhouse to be complete with all sides (no open back), I looked through my books to find a plan that suited me. |
Rather than opening down the middle like a clam shell, I wanted to be able to open only 2 side panels and see the entire house, nothing hidden from view. I found just the plan. It was for a small 2 story cottage with only 2 rooms downstairs and 2 matching sized ones upstairs. The staircase was built into the livingroom, so no hidden hallway.
For some reason the book called the cottage American Townhouse, so I stayed with the same name. However the plan wasn't complete. No basement or attic were shown and it was apparently designed for a time period prior to indoor plumbing. So I had to improvise the missing areas. I divided one of the existing downstairs rooms and made a diningroom and library. I divided one of the existing second floor rooms to add a bath, and the other room for a hallway to make the attic accessable. I have a compulsion to make sure staircases can be clearly seen, showing where they begin and end at each level.
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Because my dollhouse room was quickly running out of floor space I decided to work with the 1/2" scale again. And since I'd always admired those old German dollhouses that were made of wood but completely covered inside and out with paper that had artists' renderings of every house feature, I decided to get creative with my computer and its 2 paint programs, 1 scrapbooking program and Google Images.
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I still made my doors and windows of wood, but created my own brick siding and roofing, etc. with the computer, and glued it all on with wallpaper paste.
Then with the aid of various other image sources and some linen weave computer paper. I was able to make all the soft furnishings the house required. |
Using real fabric for curtains, bedspreads, pillows and such always makes everything seem too bulky in the 1/2" scale in my opinion. The rest of the furnishings are all still made of basswood.
So this completed house was small enough to mount on a plywood platform on top of a converted typewriter stand, and for the first time I was able to add some landscaping.
So this completed house was small enough to mount on a plywood platform on top of a converted typewriter stand, and for the first time I was able to add some landscaping.
While building this house I also made a complete paper model kit of it that can be downloaded from http://kineticpaper.weebly.com for a very reasonable price. The cut and assemble set of pages also includes all paper model furnishings, and can be resized to print out in any scale on sturdy card stock.