French Chateau
My mother built this house in 1999. She has degrees in fine art and design from Stanford and Parsons and crafted a series of historical dollhouses in her later years. The following excerpt is from her notes. (Chuck and Alice in the excerpt were the owners of Ah! Miniatures in Minneapolis, a shop which is no longer in business).
The big idea for this house was to display to two petit point tapestries removed from my mother’s 60’s Viennese evening bag.
I wanted doors on the house now and an unusual roof line. Chuck sold me a rectangular shell and some scrap wood, and Alice found the rest of the glued on ornaments and French windows. I enjoyed watching it evolve in the third dimension. I knew where to find furnishings. I built and hung the interior doors. I built six 2nd story windows and added on the kitchen and nursery wing. Miniature magazines were my teachers. Chuck agreed to build the hip rood which I covered in printer’s aluminum plates and painted grey. Alice found the chimney and paneling in the master bedroom. Beverly Dahl had a family of French 1810 dolls just waiting for a good home. The Quimper dishes by Elizabeth Chambers came from A Little Joy in Pequot Lakes.
It took about 9 months to finish this house.
Scroll down for the French gardens. For the next post in the series, click here.
Photos by Karen Nyenhuis.
