An after-the fact introduction

Ok,
I thought I'd give you a bit of background now that many of you have
answered my zillions of questions. :-)

My mother went to dental school when I was 9 years old, and the summer
I was 10 (1979) she had to spend that summer in school. It was our
first summer that she wasn't going to be around.

So, we went to a dollhouse store, and she bought me the Greenleaf
McKinley kit. It wasn't my first choice - I wanted something bigger
and fancier, but she (probably wisely) felt that a smaller project to
start with was a good idea, plus she liked the idea of the space
savings of having it hang on the wall. The idea was that I'd work on
it during the summer.

I opened the box, punched out a few of the pieces, painted a few, then
after a few weeks of doing nothing, I boxed it all back up.

Fast forward 11 years. It was December of 1990. I was on Christmas
break from my senior year in college, and decided to build the
dollhouse. I built it then, and put the finishing touches on it over
spring break.

It was beautiful. Wedgewood blue paint, white trim, Dark blue shingles
(not very realistic, I know...but that's what I picked at age 10, and
we still had the paint). The inside walls were white and the floors
were sanded and varnished. I made a brick fireplace, but it looked
pretty shoddy (I didn't know what I was doing, and consulted no one as
to how to do it).

The house sat in my parents basement for another 12 years, covered by
a plastic sheet. Getting it to my home in NJ was proving a difficult
problem. It had already started to fall apart - the chimney and some
trim had fallen off. But in September, my parents had a devastating
fire, and their house was destroyed, and my house with it. It could
have been worse, most of the antique furniture survived (but had to be
restored due to serious smoke damage). I plan to duplicate the more
interesting pieces.

Sadly, I have only a single photograph of the McKinley, and that
before it was quite finished (the fireplace wasn't built yet).

I worked with the insurance company to decide on a value for the
dollhouse. I couldn't find the McKinley kit, and assumed it wasn't
made anymore. But I found a similar dollhouse in size and
configuration (the "front" of the dollhouse was really on the front,
instead of the sides, like the McKinley) but was otherwise very
similar. The kit was probably $150, but an assembled and finished
dollhouse would run around $700.

So I printed off those pages, along with prices, and sent it to the
insurance adjuster, who gave me a $173 cash payout price (75%
depreciation) or a $695 replacement budget.

After doing further research, I decided that I wanted to go with RGT,
or a company that uses the thicker wood for durability. I then
checked with the adjuster, to make sure I could buy a more expensive
kit - that I didn't have to get a finished/assembled one, and she said
it was fine.

So I picked the Thornhill, and we paid out of pocket the $200 extra
that it cost. What the heck...might as well go all the way, right??
I liked the Thornhill because it doesn't have a shallow plan - the
whole house is 2 rooms deep. I'm planning to do it in brick. I found
a BEAUTIFUL historic plantation that looks very much like the
Thornhill. See: http://www.woodlawn1805.org. When I saw that
plantation, I KNEW I had to pattern the Thornhill after it.

But, the downside? I don't have room for a big dollhouse like the
Thornhill, not in this house. So, it's going to be stored as a kit
until we move.

In the meantime, I'm going to do practice houses, so that when it
comes time to do the Thornhill, I'll be able to do it RIGHT. I
already have my first - Victorian Jr by RGT. Each house will use a
different type of flooring (I'm using the coffee stirer method this
time) different brick or stone (this one is using magic stone for the
chimney and foundations). Next one will use the compound from England
(that I think looks better). I'll try real brick on one, and brick
"veneer" (plastic sheets). There's a house in Holland where she used
paint and craft sand that looks pretty good, so I'll try that method,
too. I'll try different flooring products, too.

So, my questions are sometimes to do with the practice house, and
sometimes to do with the Thornhill. If it's the latter, the answers
are being filed away in the back of my head for later. My whitewash
question is for a stone or brick cottage I want to do...I saw a
whitewashed brick house where the color of the bricks showed through,
but it was still whiteish, and it looked wonderful, but it's not for
the current house, but maybe the next (I'm thinking of a stone cottage
where the stones outside are left grey, but putting stone on the
inside too, and whitewashing *that*)

The stone chimney and miter/trim questions ARE for the current
practice house. I start building as soon as the final supplies
arrive.

My questions about building houses for sale had to do with what am I
going to do with the practice houses? I thought I'd sell them on
eBay, but houses really don't sell there. So, I'll try and sell them,
and if they don't sell, then I can always donate them to a charity and
get a tax right-off. Either way, I'm sticking with small houses, so
that they can be shipped reasonably easily.

My only worry is that as I pour my heart and soul and creativity into
these houses, I'll have trouble letting them go. :-)

So... that's my story. I've been fascinated by minis my whole life
(I've seen the Colleen Moore fairy castle twice now. I'm going to the
Hightstown NJ show on Saturday (I'll stop by and say hi, Carol!) and
in a month or so, I'm heading down to Wilmington to the Museum there.
I may not have started with Minis as a kid, but it's never too late to
start, right?

Cathy Weeks

"Cathy Weeks" wrote in message
om...
Ok,
I thought I'd give you a bit of background now that many of you have
answered my zillions of questions. :-)

My mother went to dental school when I was 9 years old, and the summer
I was 10 (1979) she had to spend that summer in school. It was our
first summer that she wasn't going to be around.

So, we went to a dollhouse store, and she bought me the Greenleaf
McKinley kit. It wasn't my first choice - I wanted something bigger
and fancier, but she (probably wisely) felt that a smaller project to
start with was a good idea, plus she liked the idea of the space
savings of having it hang on the wall. The idea was that I'd work on
it during the summer.

I opened the box, punched out a few of the pieces, painted a few, then
after a few weeks of doing nothing, I boxed it all back up.

Fast forward 11 years. It was December of 1990. I was on Christmas
break from my senior year in college, and decided to build the
dollhouse. I built it then, and put the finishing touches on it over
spring break.

It was beautiful. Wedgewood blue paint, white trim, Dark blue shingles
(not very realistic, I know...but that's what I picked at age 10, and
we still had the paint). The inside walls were white and the floors
were sanded and varnished. I made a brick fireplace, but it looked
pretty shoddy (I didn't know what I was doing, and consulted no one as
to how to do it).

The house sat in my parents basement for another 12 years, covered by
a plastic sheet. Getting it to my home in NJ was proving a difficult
problem. It had already started to fall apart - the chimney and some
trim had fallen off. But in September, my parents had a devastating
fire, and their house was destroyed, and my house with it. It could
have been worse, most of the antique furniture survived (but had to be
restored due to serious smoke damage). I plan to duplicate the more
interesting pieces.

Sadly, I have only a single photograph of the McKinley, and that
before it was quite finished (the fireplace wasn't built yet).

I worked with the insurance company to decide on a value for the
dollhouse. I couldn't find the McKinley kit, and assumed it wasn't
made anymore. But I found a similar dollhouse in size and
configuration (the "front" of the dollhouse was really on the front,
instead of the sides, like the McKinley) but was otherwise very
similar. The kit was probably $150, but an assembled and finished
dollhouse would run around $700.

So I printed off those pages, along with prices, and sent it to the
insurance adjuster, who gave me a $173 cash payout price (75%
depreciation) or a $695 replacement budget.

After doing further research, I decided that I wanted to go with RGT,
or a company that uses the thicker wood for durability. I then
checked with the adjuster, to make sure I could buy a more expensive
kit - that I didn't have to get a finished/assembled one, and she said
it was fine.

So I picked the Thornhill, and we paid out of pocket the $200 extra
that it cost. What the heck...might as well go all the way, right??
I liked the Thornhill because it doesn't have a shallow plan - the
whole house is 2 rooms deep. I'm planning to do it in brick. I found
a BEAUTIFUL historic plantation that looks very much like the
Thornhill. See: http://www.woodlawn1805.org. When I saw that
plantation, I KNEW I had to pattern the Thornhill after it.

But, the downside? I don't have room for a big dollhouse like the
Thornhill, not in this house. So, it's going to be stored as a kit
until we move.

In the meantime, I'm going to do practice houses, so that when it
comes time to do the Thornhill, I'll be able to do it RIGHT. I
already have my first - Victorian Jr by RGT. Each house will use a
different type of flooring (I'm using the coffee stirer method this
time) different brick or stone (this one is using magic stone for the
chimney and foundations). Next one will use the compound from England
(that I think looks better). I'll try real brick on one, and brick
"veneer" (plastic sheets). There's a house in Holland where she used
paint and craft sand that looks pretty good, so I'll try that method,
too. I'll try different flooring products, too.

So, my questions are sometimes to do with the practice house, and
sometimes to do with the Thornhill. If it's the latter, the answers
are being filed away in the back of my head for later. My whitewash
question is for a stone or brick cottage I want to do...I saw a
whitewashed brick house where the color of the bricks showed through,
but it was still whiteish, and it looked wonderful, but it's not for
the current house, but maybe the next (I'm thinking of a stone cottage
where the stones outside are left grey, but putting stone on the
inside too, and whitewashing *that*)

The stone chimney and miter/trim questions ARE for the current
practice house. I start building as soon as the final supplies
arrive.

My questions about building houses for sale had to do with what am I
going to do with the practice houses? I thought I'd sell them on
eBay, but houses really don't sell there. So, I'll try and sell them,
and if they don't sell, then I can always donate them to a charity and
get a tax right-off. Either way, I'm sticking with small houses, so
that they can be shipped reasonably easily.

My only worry is that as I pour my heart and soul and creativity into
these houses, I'll have trouble letting them go. :-)

So... that's my story. I've been fascinated by minis my whole life
(I've seen the Colleen Moore fairy castle twice now. I'm going to the
Hightstown NJ show on Saturday (I'll stop by and say hi, Carol!) and
in a month or so, I'm heading down to Wilmington to the Museum there.
I may not have started with Minis as a kid, but it's never too late to
start, right?

I'll get to see you tomorrow at the show? Tell everyone here that I'm
beautiful, tall, thin, and very charming. It's ok to lie.

If you're going to the Wilmington museum next month there's a nice show in
the area on March 28. I'll be there. If you need more info, it's on my
website. I've been to the museum, it has some "non-mini" stuff and a lot
of Dupont things since Dupont owns the state of Delaware. It's in a gorgeous
area, take a ride around. Very pretty hills and old houses.

I never did a practice house since I'm too impatient. In the end it worked
out but I wasted a lot of time and money that I would have saved had I done
a practice house.

I think you're best off donating your houses to charity. It's not the tax
writeoff benefit, it's the fact that you'll make someone happy. I thought
of Ronald Macdonald house or a children's hospital. However, if the houses
are delicate that may not be a good idea since they'll most likely get used
a lot. You might want to think about taking a table at a cheap show (like
the Hightstown one - $50 a table) and try selling them there or maybe at a
craft show - craft shows are even cheaper. I'll be bringing a small
cottage, unfinished with me tomorrow.

See ya tomorrow!

Carol
S P Miniatures
http://www.spminiatures.com

(Cathy Weeks) wrote in message . com...

The house sat in my parents basement for another 12 years, covered by
a plastic sheet. Getting it to my home in NJ was proving a difficult
problem. It had already started to fall apart - the chimney and some
trim had fallen off. But in September, my parents had a devastating
fire, and their house was destroyed, and my house with it. It could
have been worse, most of the antique furniture survived (but had to be
restored due to serious smoke damage). I plan to duplicate the more
interesting pieces.

Ok, I just realized this was confusing. The antiques that survived
were full-sized (not miniature). My dollhouse was unfurnished. And as
it was situated very near where the fire started (in the basement) no
furniture could possilby have survived anyway. I plan to duplicate
the antiques in miniature.

If you want a real treat, try to get to Washington, DC, to see the dollhouse
museum there before it closes.
"Cathy Weeks" wrote
I've been fascinated by minis my whole life
(I've seen the Colleen Moore fairy castle twice now. I'm going to the
Hightstown NJ show on Saturday (I'll stop by and say hi, Carol!) and
in a month or so, I'm heading down to Wilmington to the Museum there.
I may not have started with Minis as a kid, but it's never too late to
start, right?

Cathy Weeks

"Carol" wrote in message thlink.net...

I'll get to see you tomorrow at the show? Tell everyone here that I'm
beautiful, tall, thin, and very charming. It's ok to lie.

Ok, will do. :-)

I think you're best off donating your houses to charity. It's not the tax
writeoff benefit, it's the fact that you'll make someone happy. I thought
of Ronald Macdonald house or a children's hospital. However, if the houses
are delicate that may not be a good idea since they'll most likely get used
a lot. You might want to think about taking a table at a cheap show (like
the Hightstown one - $50 a table) and try selling them there or maybe at a
craft show - craft shows are even cheaper. I'll be bringing a small
cottage, unfinished with me tomorrow.

Whereas making a profit would be nice, it's not that important to me.
Recouping my costs on the other hand, would be VERY nice. For the
most part, the money for the hobby is coming out of my allowance (my
husband I each have an allowance for frivoulous purchases...so we
don't overspend out of household money).

I can get a tax write-off even if I do donate to a Ronald McDonald
house, that way, I get double duty...I make some kids happy, and I get
a tax writeoff. :-)

See ya tomorrow!

Yes, see you tomorrow. I'll be the one pushing a stroller with my
two-year old very securely strapped in with a 5-pt harness. I'm
timing my arrival (around 11:30am) to her nap time, so hopefully,
she'll be asleep when you see me. She has red curly hair, and I have
very dark reddish-brown hair.

Cathy Weeks

"havana bill & holly" wrote in message ...
If you want a real treat, try to get to Washington, DC, to see the dollhouse
museum there before it closes.

What's the name of the museum? And is it in imminent danger of closing?

Cathy Weeks

Cathy Weeks wrote:
"havana bill & holly" wrote in message ...

If you want a real treat, try to get to Washington, DC, to see the dollhouse
museum there before it closes.


What's the name of the museum? And is it in imminent danger of closing?


probably this http://www.dollshousemuseum.com/ one and i have no idea
if or why it will be closing...

--
vixx'

"vixx'" wrote in message ...

probably this http://www.dollshousemuseum.com/ one and i have no idea
if or why it will be closing...

It will be closing very shortly. It was run by Flora Gill Jacobs the
"mother of American miniatures". She is 85 years old and can't do it
anymore. There will be an auction in June.

I have met her several times when we have sold at shows in that area. I'm
ashamed to admit that I haven't been to her museum.

Speaking of shows in the DC area, we will be at the Rockville, MD one next
weekend. You can get information about it from the show promoter's website.
http://mollycromwell.com/shows.htm


Carol
S P Miniatures
http://www.spminiatures.com

Kathy, here in NJ we have Fire and First Aid volunteers who have yearly
Installation dinners. You might consider donating any unneeded houses to
them to raffle off?
Just a thought.

--



BetsyB
"Cathy Weeks" wrote in message
om...
(Cathy Weeks) wrote in message
. com...

The house sat in my parents basement for another 12 years, covered by
a plastic sheet. Getting it to my home in NJ was proving a difficult
problem. It had already started to fall apart - the chimney and some
trim had fallen off. But in September, my parents had a devastating
fire, and their house was destroyed, and my house with it. It could
have been worse, most of the antique furniture survived (but had to be
restored due to serious smoke damage). I plan to duplicate the more
interesting pieces.

Ok, I just realized this was confusing. The antiques that survived
were full-sized (not miniature). My dollhouse was unfurnished. And as
it was situated very near where the fire started (in the basement) no
furniture could possilby have survived anyway. I plan to duplicate
the antiques in miniature.

"BetsyB" betsy959atoptonline.net wrote in message ...
Kathy, here in NJ we have Fire and First Aid volunteers who have yearly
Installation dinners. You might consider donating any unneeded houses to
them to raffle off?
Just a thought.

Not a bad idea. I figured that there would be no lack of charities
that could put it to good use.

The best thing (for me) would be to sell them and make an actual
profit, or at least get my money back. But if I donate, I can get a
receipt for the donation, make some of my money back through a tax
refund, and help out some worthy organization.

Cathy Weeks