Arne Jacobsen Design Dollhouse Concept

Minimii's 1:16 true copy of Arne Jacobsen's house at Gotfred Rodes Vej 2, Charlottenlund, was all the buzz after debuting at the Formland Exhibition in early 2009 in Denmark. (I first saw it on MiniModern here). As with many builders they had some set backs, but it looks like it's almost here. The dollhouse is going to be available in stores worldwide in October, but the company will be taking pre-orders online in late July for first delivery end Sept./early Oct. Price is € 840.

The Arne Jacobsen Designer Dollhouse will be a limited production series and houses will be individually numbered. Its fully licensed and approved by Arne Jacobsen Design I/S and Arne Jacobsen's descendants. There is no mention yet of which will be the next designer house.


Besides being a gorgeous replica, what I find most unique is the construction. The railings and staircases are made of metal and the house is made of reusable plastic material with an iron-inlay technique allowing magnetized items (lamps and paintings) to be easily moved wherever you want. Pretty clever.

At one point the website indicated a 1:12 kit version would be available, but no mention on the website currently, they're probably pretty focused on the launch. I'm guessing the 1:16 scale might accommodate the 1:18 scale Lundby furniture/accessories. Anyone have thoughts on that? I'm pretty much a 1:12 girl, so no expert on the smaller scales.
The Arne Jacobsen House is Length: 784mm (30.8") x Width: 676mm (26.6") x Heigth: 424mm (16.7") including staircase and chimney.

Available now:

• The Egg Chair € 53.50. Comes in Red, Light red (looks pretty pink to me), Black, Yellow, Purple and Petroleum (looks teal).
• The Swan Chair € 40.50. Comes in Red, Black, Moss green and Light purple.
• The No. 7 Series Chair € 27.00. Comes in Red, Black, White and Turquoise blue.

Coming soon:

• Lounge Table € 20.50. Comes in Walnut, Black and White. Expected in stock beginning of October.
• Dining Table € 27.50. Comes in Walnut, Black and White. Expected in stock beginning of October.
• The Swan Sofa € 48.50. Comes in Red, Light red (looks pink), Black and Orange. Expected in stock spring 2011.

(all images from minimii.com)

It's only a model

I've blogged before about architectural models that I wish came in dollhouse sizes (360 Winnett and MC finds), but mini2b sent me this really cool link to an architectural model on Court1616's Flickr page called A Writer's Tower. Oh how I wish this was a real dollhouse in 1:12 scale.

Thanks for the link mini2B!

Your email reminded me of a paper model of Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye made by Paperlandmarks. It is 1/200 in scale and is sold in printed, pre-cut, or fully assembled.
On my never ending list of things to do, I had wanted to build a 1:12 version of Villa Savoye, but the sheer size of it was so daunting that I moved towards the Case Study Houses instead. Sadly, only plans on paper now, but I hope to start building one later this year.

Note: the pre-assembled Villa Savoye is $75 at Paperlandmarks etsy shop. They also sell a lot of other historical buildings but of modern interest are paper models of SFMOMA and Le Corbusier's Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp Chapel.

(images from Court1616's Flickr page and Paperlandmarks etsy shop)

Ira Grandberg house back on ebay

The Vintage 1976 Mini-Modern Dollhouse built from Ira Grandberg's plans is back up on ebay at a lower price. Fore more details on the house see my previous post or "My Vintage Dollhouses and Other Treasures" blog post.

Starting bid has dropped from $800 to now $275. ebay listing here. Will there be any takers this time?

Updated 7/4: Only 2 days left at the new price of $225 new ebay listing.

Antrim Exterior Finished

We finished assembling The Antrim Dollhouse Kit a few weeks ago, but I have been searching high and low to find the spray paint I want in satin finish (everyone has it in flat and semi-gloss only). I gave up and finished it in flat. Then I finally got a call back from a company that could special order it, but it would have been another week. Argh. Rust-Oleum’s Painter Touch Ultra Cover 2x is by far the best spray paint I've used. It has a wide spray tip that is way more comfortable than that regular button that makes your finger cramp up on other cans. Plus it really does provide double coverage, so less painting.

I think the finish is nicer than if I had used regular paint and had to deal with brush strokes, I went through about 10 cans of spray paint! One tip if you are spray painting large flat surfaces: paint the piece in a vertical position versus having it flat on the ground. When I painted the sides, they looked great; when I painted the front that was in a horizontal position on the floor, lots of dust/lint/dirt got caught and stuck on/fell the surface. I never knew how dirty my garage was until it kept getting stuck on my dollhouse. Oh well, I'll sand it off later.
Here are a few shots of the interior. I still have to figure out doors, windows and railings for the balconies. Finishing the interior will probably be more fun. This house is HUGE. 40" W x 34" H x 15.5" D. I was planning on adding hardwood floors throughout but haven't found the wide plank version I'm looking for. I would love any advice on flooring, I am open to suggestions.

Photos Down Under

My photos made it to Australia before I did. Mary from Red Nest stumbled across my blog and asked to use my photos of the SFMOMA Modern Playhouse on her website selling the house. If only getting to Australia in real life was that easy.

(image of rednest.com.au website, with my blog circled)

Skea modern paper houses

My Realitty found this and I just had to post more pictures. It’s a paper model of a house, intended to be burned as a gift to the dead in Chinese funeral rites. I hope I don't have to die to have something this cool. The paper house effigies, featured in a CNNGo.com article, are made by Skea.com, a Taiwanese company.

I really love these designs and will more than likely borrow some of these ideas in a couple of houses I plan to build. The first house is the "smart living apartment No.2" click on the link and scroll to the bottom of the page to see additional pictures. Click through all of the smart living houses to see different interiors and bathrooms.

 

Above is the "Angux & J.Yean Design Luxurious Mansion".

 

Next is the "single story house". Don't you just love that bathroom? Bubble bath and all.

 

Above is the "Luxurious mansion".

 

They even have a green house "Thermal Green Hill House".

 

Taking it to the coast is their "Cape No. 7 Beach House".

 

I love the roof top pool on "Breeze Garden Luxurious Mansion".

 

I like the staircase in the "Glory House".

 

I take it back, I like these open stairs better in the "Thermal House Breeze".

 

I wouldn't call this Victorian, but I see the idea from the wallpaper and flourishes in "Victorian Thermal House".

 

There are a few more on the site. The larger house is the "European style house sunshine" and the smaller one "Dubai Maritime 21".

 

I like the karaoke bar as well, I might try to do something similar with the tile like wallpaper "KTV BAR".

 

(story from CNNGo.com article, images from the Taiwanese company Skea.com)