Betsy McCall Dollhouse for sale in NY

Last year Melissa sent me pics of a renovated house that she found on Craigslist for $25, and thanks to all of you we found out it was made from the Betsy McCall Dollhouse No. 150W Do-it-yourself plans. Another reader, Laurie, has one she is looking to sell so if anyone is in the Long Island, NY area and interested in restoring a mid-century modern house, drop me a line and I'll send you her contact info.

Her doll house was built by her next door neighbor from the McCall's pattern when she was a kid. He made one for his daughter, too. Her's is a mirror image of the pattern (to make them different) except that the carport is still on the left. It's only partially finished. Much of the furniture is Petite Princess Fantasy furniture (and she found a few of the original boxes for those). The rest is assorted and Laurie doesn't recall where it's from. I particularly liked the little black rocking chair with flowers and the folding table and chairs in the kitchen. It's too big to ship, so local pick up only in Long Island in NY. Email me and I'll send you Laurie's contact info if you are interested in the house.

Kaleidoscope House, Brookwood and Betsy McCall on ebay

I am seriously procrastinating getting work done tonight, but here are a some more houses on ebay.

There is a Kaleidescope House (1:12 scale) on ebay with a starting bid of $125 and a buy it now for $195 with free shipping. Check out listing here.


There is an interesting finished Brookwood dollhouse (1:12 scale, kit sold by Greenleaf. The exterior is a little retro 70's but I'm kinda diggin' it. Check out the digs here.


There also looks to be a house built with the reverse plans from the 3/4 scale Betsy McCall Do-It-Yourself Dollhouse plans from 1955. Check out the listing here.

Okay, now I really have to get back to work. :(

Melissa Johnson's split level dollhouse

Melissa sent me these great pics of a split level custom dollhouse she renovated that she found on Craigslist for $25 in DC.

She was told it was bought for a young couples child from a neighbor and they didn't have any other information on it. It shares some similarities with Lundby and Brio (maybe inspired by those) but it is just slightly smaller than 1/12 scale. If anyone has seen another one of these or might now any information on the builder, we'd love to know more.
A great idea that Melissa has done, is to always ask and document on the bottom of her dollhouses any information, her name and date when she finished her restoration. I will definitely be doing this for my houses as well.

The living room cork floor is made out of inch squares that Melissa hand cut. I think it looks great, but wow, that's a lot of work! The bed and desk are custom pieces she made as well as the kitchen cabinets, all slightly smaller than 1/12th scale also. Melissa has other dollhouses she has restored that I hope to blog on later.
Thanks so much for sharing Melissa, I look forward to seeing more of your work.


(all images from Melissa Johnson)

Many thanks to The Shopping Sherpa, Rebecca and Florine for your great dollhouse sleuthing. Below are photos and details from their comments.

Update 1
The Shopping Sherpa commented that Melissa's house looked like a Triang DH2 or DHK3 from 1962, check out the similarities on her flickr site, the windows and carport seem to be the only difference www.flickr.com/photos/49333775@N00/2898271160/. From the catalogue:
"MODEL HOME" DOLLS' HOUSE
DH2 - Contemporary House as illustrated, with five electrical lights and switchboard. 42" long, 12" deep, 19" high.
DHK3 - Complete kit of parts to build above house, except electric fittings available as separate set. Main parts already cut and grooved, requires only simple hand tools, paint and glue to complete.

Update 2
Rebecca sent these links to the Barton Model Home, available from about 1956 to 1976. They were sold mostly as kits, to make up at home, although some were sold made up.

(images from Rebecca are on dollshousespastandpresent.webs.com and same site here and here)

Update 3
Florine added another idea... McCall's Do-It-Yourself dollhouse pattern, copyright 1955. She found this pattern on eBay and added scans to her flick site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/fnbettge/sets/72157623827135110/. From the pattern:
A SPLIT-LEVEL Dollhouse like this will make any little girl starry-eyed on Christmas morning. The pattern includes decoration and finishing ideas and complete directions for making house from plywood. 51" long, 11 1/2" deep, 18 1/2" high.



Update 4
OMG. I had a bit of deja vu when Melissa first sent me these pictures, but seeing Florine's pattern triggered where I'd seen this before. Modern MC blogged about this ¾ inch scale “Betsy McCall Dollhouse No. 150W” back in September 2007. Visit her post for more pictures minimodern.blogspot.com/2007/09/some-modern-dollhouse-plans.html.