And the Winner is ...

... Neen of Universe-in-miniature.blogspot.ca

Congratulations!! I put all the names into an online randomizer and Neen won!

37 bloggers participated and I got a number of new followers. Welcome everyone!! I wish you all could have won.

Neen lives in Washington, DC, one of my favourite cities and started to collect dollhouses after visiting the Strong museum in Rochester NY.  I was there just two weeks ago! I can understand how it would inspire one to collect.

Neen also has two intelligent cats and  no longer has a beloved old dog - just like me. Interesting coincidences? Maybe drawing Neen's name wasn't so Random after all. lol

Neen, please contact me at the email you will find in in the right column of this blog under 'Susan's Houses' and let me know your address.

I look forward to reading more of our blog.

Susan

Christian Hacker Antique Dollhouse Circa 1880

When I picked up my hard-won Tynietoy house last weekend I also picked up this gorgeous Christian Hacker. I felt like a kid at Christmas!

I had purchased this house last November, but couldn't pick it up until last weekend because I have spent the last 6 months in treatments to get rid of breast cancer - I think beat it by the way!

At last I was feeling well enough to go get it.  You can't imagine how eager I was to see this house.

The outside of the house was painstakingly restored a few years ago. There are some touch ups to the exterior, and the roof has lost its original traditional blue diagonal tile paper, but now it is looking much as it did when it was new.

The balcony is a replacement, but was copied from a similar Hacker house.

See the link at the bottom of this post to read about the restoration.

I have furnished the house with the Boule furniture that I have collected for it over the past six months. You can read about the pieces I got in Paris here.

I put the dining room above the kitchen, as I thought the decor of the room made it an inviting spot to enjoy a meal. I believe the wallpaper is a replacement with reproduction borders.

The ceiling retains its original decorations, but unfortunately has a split in it. The ceiling is actually the bottom of the attic section of the house.

The ringletted lady is a Simon and Halbig 1160 with her original wig and glass eyes. She is wearing her original outfit. It has shredded a bit from age. The older lady is a Kestner doll. She has a painted ribbon on the back of her hair.

Another Simon and Halbig lady with original wig and age-shredded dress welcomes us to the entrance hall. The wall and floor papers are original.

Her Airedale is hoping she will open the door to the kitchen. He might be able to steal a treat.

 Mrs. Featherbonnet takes a look at the parlour. The wall paper and floor paper are original with some touch ups. The paintings on the back wall are original art work by the same artist as those in the dining room.

The settee, drop front secretary and writing table with curved drawers are Boule.

 The upstairs hall has replacement wallpaper, but the floor paper is original. A small glass-eyed doll plays with her dolly. She is hoping that her governess is still napping and won't drag her off to her lessons. The doors and door frames are original. Again you can see the unfortunate crack in the ceiling. I don't know how to fix it, so I will just live with it until I figure it out.

 When visiting Ann Meehan's wonderful collection last year I fell in love with the little turned wood, painted dishes called Treen.

Since then I have acquired some and am proudly displaying them in this kitchen. They are not in pristine condition, but they are so hard to find I accept them as they are.

The dresser the dishes are in and the stove at the back of the room are original to the house. The wall and floor papers are also original

Another view of the kitchen. The lovely doll is wearing her original regional costume. I don't know what region she represents, but I think she is just wonderful.

There are also a few Treen pieces on the table.

I love the wallpaper in the bedroom and I believe it is original. The lovely Kestner lady with the bun at the back of her head is proud of her pretty bedroom.

The vanity has Treen toilet pieces on it. The picture on the wall has "Crystal Beach, Ontario, September 1908" written on the back. I have lived in Ontario all my life and I don't know where Crystal Beach is. I know the picture is too new for the house but I like it anyway.

I am wondering if I am dreaming. A Christian Hacker and a Tynietoy now live in my house. When I started collecting dollhouses I thought these wonderful antique toys existed only in museums. A few years into collecting and I actually own these exquisite items. It just goes to show you dreams can come true.

To read about the restoration of this house by a former owner go to this link - http://tynietoy.org - Click on the Antique tab and scroll down to (or search the page for) "A Larger Christian Hacker House and a Long Restoration"

I hope you enjoyed the tour as much as I enjoyed furnishing the house.

Hugs,
Susan

My Tynietoy house is home - here's a sneak peek!

I took a road trip to Pennsylvania last weekend and picked up my incredible Tynietoy Townhouse.

Most of you know the story (click here read about it) of how CM of MyReality.blogspot.com bought the house for me and Ann Meehan's husband rescued it from the Maine auction house and brought to it their PA home until I could get there to pick it up.

I have such wonderful friends! I can't tell you how much I appreciate these people.

I spent last night cleaning the house and waxing the floors. It is starting to look very nice. I took the pictures in this post with my phone. I apologize for the poor quality. I will have better ones to put up this weekend.

I have removed the staircase from the front hall. It came with the house and is complete, but someone had glued it in with a very strange foamy type glue and it is a mess. I will scrape off the glue and put it back in.

Other than that the house is in surprisingly good condition.

I have cleaned this room and the others - they were really dirty - my water and cloth were black and I had to change them several times before I finally finished.

Then I dug out some floor wax that I haven't used in 20 years and waxed the floors. It looks pretty good now.

The wonderful yellow settee, wing chair and side chair - all handpainted with the same pattern - were a purchase I made from Ann Meehan. I picked them up when I got the house. The rugs were from her website too. All are original Tynietoy.

I put a few Tynietoy pieces in the bedroom just to see how they would look. I will not actually furnish the house until I am finished cleaning it.

As you can see in this photo some of the windows are missing their acetate panes. I will eventually be making reproductions to replace them.

The upper hall has its banister and acetate Palladian window. The window was missing when I first saw the house on the auction site. So I don't know if it is original or a reproduction. 

For those who aren't familiar with Tynietoy miniatures. Marion Perkins and Amey Vernon opened a TynieToy workshop in Providence in 1920. The TynieToy Company started making dollhouse replicas of famous New England homes to hold them. By the 1930s, they offered 10 styles of houses and more than 120 furniture items.

More info on this website

Here is the dining room with a few Tynietoy pieces I acquired recently. This room will have dining room pieces when I really furnish it. I couldn't resist playing with it last night.

The fireplaces are all original and are in good condition. As you can see the door frames are in excellent shape as well.

I am delighted with the condition of the house now that I see it in person. The photos of it on the auction site made it look much worse than it is.

I can't wait for the weekend when I will have more time to devote to the cleaning and furnishing. You will get the full tour then.

Hugs,
Susan

Mr. Blue-Green buys Art

I first posted this in September 2009, but I thought you might enjoy it again. I met CM of MyRealitty.blogspot.com because she did a continuation of this story. If you look at her posts from around this date you will see her responses.

300+ Follower Giveaway!!

I am so excited to have more than 300 followers on this blog, and that so many of you have left comments saying how much you enjoy reading it.

To celebrate I am giving away this living room.

Just leave me a comment saying you would like to be included in the draw.

I will randomly choose a name on Saturday, July 21, 2012, and mail these four items to the lucky winner the following week.

These are vintage items, so please note they are not in new, pristine condition as they have been around for a few decades.

They are all in excellent condition despite their age.

I believe the couch and chair are Shackman from the 1980's, but I am happy to be corrected if I am wrong.

The cat in the basket is a more recent ornament. I have seen these pets often, but I can't say with any certainty who makes them or how old they are.

All four items are 1/12th scale.

 The coffee table is from the same era as the couch and chair and may be Shackman. I can't say for sure.

The couch and chair are the same strawberry pattern, but are from slightly different die lots, as you can see in this picture.

I hope these sweet items find a new home where they will be enjoyed and appreciated.

Make sure you leave me a comment if you wish to win them.