Katina Beales' Art Deco Dollhouse

Alice Bell wrote a great article on Katina Beales' Art Deco Dollhouse in cdhm.org (Custom Dolls, Houses, & Miniatures) February 2010 Newsletter. Katina Beales spotted a 1:24 scale Art Deco style house at the Kensington Doll's House Festival in 2006. She commissioned Chris Rouch of Toptoise Design, to build this 1:12 scale version that is 36" wide by 27" long, 21" high on two stories and 10" high one story.

If anyone has any information on the builder please share. All I could fine was a 1993 directory listing on CraftScotland.org "Chris & Joan Rouch, Toptoise Design, Selkirk, Scottish Borders". I would love to see more of their work. The listing says they make collector houses and furniture specializing in the designs of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Art deco, Victorian and Scottish vernacular buildings. Chris & Joan Rouch are also endorsed by Glasgow School of Art to reproduce their furniture collection. Considering they have been around since at least 1993 and have work showing in US exhibitions and museums (not sure which ones) you would think there are photos of their work on this interweb thing.


The house is full of beautiful custom pieces, but I laughed when I read the one thing the builder said when he delivered the house was "Do not over-furnish the house!" Really good advice. The article didn't have credits for the pieces in the study, but the living area has several artists filling this room.

I love the custom fireplace screen by Barbara Sabia (based in Melbourne, Florida, she specializes in miniature stained glass. The fireplace screen is the 15th image on this slide show of her work followed by images of the sconces that are also used in the bathroom photo below). The Dragon Screen is a one of kind made by Terence Stringer (Norfolk, England). The white leather chairs are by Arlette's Miniatures (Sutton Coldfield, England). All the other furniture in the living area was been made by Kim Selwood Miniature Furniture (UK). I would love to know where she got that fabulous silver cylinder mesh lamp next to the fireplace. Anyone?


Katina really did her homework on this house. For many of the custom pieces, she gave photos to the builders who recreated authentic Art Deco pieces. The bath room set was made by Lenham Pottery Models (Norfolk, UK) from pictures she found in magazines. The tiles in the bathroom are hand painted real ceramic by Tiny Ceramics (Germany). The furniture in the bedroom is again made by Kim Selwood Miniature Furniture (UK). The kitchen cabinetry was also custom built from photos by, yep you guessed it, ELF Miniatures (London, UK) - I LOVE LOVE LOVE the work of Elizabeth LePla, and love seeing how much her selection has grown over the years. One day I will own a house completely furnished by ELF Miniatures.

The article is really a fabulous read, but the best part is that her husband bought her a large 16 room Georgian house that she plans to give a luxurious Georgian background with highly decorative features, but with MODERN FURNITURE. I CANNOT wait to see what she comes up with next. I really hope that Katina can find away to start a blog or share her photos. She truly has the start of an amazing collection.

(all information from Alice Bell's cdhm.org article, all images from Katina Beales on cdhm.org and barbarasabia.com)

So you want a modern dollhouse

THIS POST IS OLD... I created a NEW PAGE with MORE HOUSES that I update here: Where to Buy Modern Dollhouses.
I also have a new page of Modern Miniatures Directory to find modern items for your mini homes.

My biggest piece of advice is to obtain a house first and then buy furnishings and accessories that best fit the house. I started collecting modern minis before I had a specific place to put them, and now that I'm filling my houses, I'm realizing 80% isn't what I want and just sits in boxes.

Step 1: Do your homework. :D There are more and more great mini mod blogs out there but I recommend reading MiniModern and The Shopping Sherpa to start. Most modern mini bloggers would credit one of them for inspiring them to create their own blog. The more you see, the more you'll be able to pinpoint what you want. There is also an extensive list of modern and contemporary dollhouses that Modern MC has collected over the years in the lower right column of her blog MiniModern.

Step 2: Find a house that best fits your personality, skills, time, budget and space. Do you have the patience, skills, time and tools to build a kit from scratch, renovate a house or build your own? Do you want a finished, but blank canvas to paint and wallpaper? Do you want a shiny, new, already assembled house ready to drop furnishings and accessories in? What kind of space do you have for mini storage and to display your house(s)?

Below are readily available modern dollhouses on the market and hard to find ones as well, enjoy.

• Out of the box and ready to go
• Kits: Modern and Contemporary
• Custom, Commissioned, OOAK
• Budget Friendly Finds
• Auction sites, ebay, craigslist, garage sales, etc.

» Out of the box and ready to go

20" M112 Pod - Series 1 1:12 scale ($225) by Paris Renfroe Design prdminiatures.com. PRD Miniatures also sells furnishings and accessories. (shutterfly photos)

20" M112 Pod - Series 2 1:12 scale ($225) by Paris Renfroe Design prdminiatures.com (shutterfly photos)

40" M112 Pod - Series 2 1:12 scale ($385) by Paris Renfroe Design prdminiatures.com (shutterfly photos)



The Arne Jacobsen Minimii Dollhouse 1:16 scale (1,340 EUR) by Minimii www.minimii.com. Minimii also sells furniture (more photos). Some minor assembly required. Rumor has it a 1:12 scale kit is in the works. I'll keep you posted when I know more.

MH1 1:12 scale ($299 - wait list) and MH2 (contact Wes for details, you have to REALLY want this house as it is a beast to ship) by Wes Christensen mymodernmini.blogspot.com (MH1 and MH2 photos on flicker)

Villa Sibi 1:12 scale? ($750-$850) by Wolfgang Sirch and Christoph Bitzer www.sirch.de. Search online for best price and dealer in your country. Callsmall says it's slightly smaller than 1:12 but accommodates 1:10 furniture.



The Maison de Plastique 1:12 scale ($850) by Studio SWS, Dalmeny, NSW, Australia studio-sws.blogspot.com. The house can be made in any color or clear acrylic. Studio SWS also sells furniture.

Pacific Coast Beach House 1:6 scale ($500) by Schumetta McLendon, Malibu, CA www.schumetta.com. She also does custom houses.

Eco Modern Townhouse 1:12 scale ($300) by Schumetta McLendon, Malibu, CA www.schumetta.com.



Stockholm 1:18 scale ($200) by Lundby lundby.com based in Sweden. US distributor cheekymonkeytoys.com. Minor assembly required (mostly installing the railings). Furniture and accessories are available but sold separately.

Gotland 1:18 scale ($128) by Lundby lundby.com. US distributor cheekymonkeytoys.com. Minor assembly required. Furniture and accessories are available but sold separately.

Småland 1:18 scale ($170) by Lundby lundby.com. US distributor cheekymonkeytoys.com. Some minor assembly required. Småland Dollhouse ($170), Småland Extension Floor ($90) and Småland Garden ($50). Furniture and accessories are available but sold separately.

» Kits: Modern and Contemporary

Emerson House 3/4 scale finished kit ($299) by brinca dada brincadada.com. Brinca Dada also sells furnishings and accessories.

Bennett House 3/4 scale finished kit (TBD. Planned for Dec 2010) by brinca dada brincadada.com (Facebook pictures)
Clearview 1:12 scale unfinished kit (£395) by MIAIM based in London www.miaim.co.uk. Miaim also sells furnishings and accessories.

Citadel 1:12 scale (???) by Lolly's Dollhouse and Miniatures users.ameritech.net/jbayer/ LollysHomepage.htm. Lolly's is near Chicago, IL. She found someone to build the shell of the house and is now taking orders, I'm checking on the price. (Callsmall is a proud owner of a Citadel, check out her Citadel posts here)


Ocean Drive 1:12 scale (kits start at $100.00) by The Dolls House Emporium based in London
www.dollshouse.com. DHE also sells furnishings and accessories.

Malibu Beach House 1:12 scale (kits start at $416) by Dolls House Emporium www.dollshouse.com. DHE also sells furnishings and accessories.



The Apartment Building 1:12 scale (finished kit AU $1300 painted with windows and doors or raw kit AU $550 no windows doors) made by Dave Slater sold by Modern Miniatures by Nue www.modernminiaturesbyneu.com. Based in Adelaide, South Australia. Modern Minatures by Nue also sells furnishings and accessories.

1, 2 & 3 Waterside Way 1:12 scale (kits start at $250.24) by The Dolls House Emporium www.dollshouse.com

Lake View 1:12 scale (kits start at $179.52) by The Dolls House Emporium www.dollshouse.com. DHE also sells furnishings and accessories.

Contemporary Ranch Dollhouse 1:12 scale unfinished kit ($162.95) by Real Good Toys

Brookwood 1:12 scale unfinished kit ($102 and up) by Greenleaf Dollhouses greenleafdollhouses.com

Merrimack 1:12 scale unfinished kit ($238) by Earth and Tree Dollhouses and Miniatures earthntree.com

Celerity Summer House 1:12 scale unfinished kit ($121) by Aztec Imports and Town Square Miniatures. For sale at dollhousecollectables.com

» Custom, Commissioned, OOAK

Go to your local dollhouse shop/hobby shop/toy store, they might know someone who could assemble a kit for you, or someone who could design and build a OOAK (One Of A Kind) for you. Put an ad on craigslist for a custom modern dollhouse. You might be able to find a local architect/wood crafter/design student interested in building a modern house for you.

Custom Modern Dollhouse Builders
Please send me websites of other builders, but here are a few that do custom modern houses and roomboxes.

FR8 House 1:12 scale by Paris Renfroe Design, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, prdminiatures.com. PRD Miniatures also sells furnishings, accessories, pool and deck (shutterfly photos).

Mark Turpin, custom architectural replicas & roomboxes since 2000 (at least). www.markturpin.com

Peter Tucker, Vancouver B.C. Canada. Custom Roomboxes, furniture and lighting since 1998. www.roomboxes.com and roomboxes.blogspot.com


Henry Colbert, UK. He doesn't have a website, and last I heard he has a 2 year plus wait list. Since 1997, Henry is most known for his three Art Deco style houses The Amyas Petite, Grande and Deluxe in 1:12, and his modern 1:24 scale Sun House.

Gidon Bing Australian sculpture www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/yourgallery/artist_profile//81041. Scroll to the bottom of his gallery to see these houses. www.gidonbing.com

Tom O'Dea, The Doll House Shop of Richmond, VA. Custom houses and furniture since 2001. www.virginiadollhouses.com

» Budget Friendly Finds

Here are a few easy ideas for getting started without breaking the bank.

Fish Condo/Hotel 1:16 or 1:18 scale ($28) designed by Terry Leong available at www.sfmoma.org. Pictured photos are from MiniModern.blogspot.com and call-small.blogspot.com.

Lekman Box 1:10 or 1:12 scale ($10) by IKEA www.ikea.com. Pictured photos are from Oese of raumfuerraum.blogspot.com. She has done amazing things with the Lekman Box, check out more photos on her flickr page.

Custom Foam Core House 1:12 scale by Mini Pig flying-piglet.blogspot.com. Get creative with supplies from your local art or craft store and see what you can build on your own. Check out Mini Pig's blog to see this house being built.

» Auction sites, ebay, craigslist, garage sales, etc.

Look for an older dollhouse you can refurbish. Check out Craigslist, as many people don't want to deal with shipping so you might be able to pick up a gem.

Search auction sites for discontinued houses
Kaleidoscope House 1:12 scale (discontinued) by Bozart Toys - Laurie Simmons and Peter Wheelwright www.pmwarchitects.com/kaleido.htm. The Pool Pavilion was never released, if you find more photos of the prototype please send them my way.

The Antrim 1:12 scale (discontinued) by Earth Tree and Miniatures www.earthntree.com. Only 12 kits were made. You can see pictures of my Antrim here.


Highland 1:12 scale (discontinued) by Artply

Mackintosh House 1:12 scale (discontinued) by Dolls House Emporium www.dollshouse.com. DHE also sells furnishings and accessories.



Step 3: When you get a dollhouse, PLEASE share your photos. Start a blog or add pictures to the Modern Miniatures Flickr group. We just can't get enough!

Step 4: After you buy the perfect house, inevitably something better will turn up shortly after. It's easy to end up covering every flat surface of your house with this hobby/obsession. With enough money and space, we could all be so lucky to end up with a basement like Mary's Dollhouse Nook.

This is a work in progress, please send suggestions of houses to add to modernminifan (at) gmail.com.

Thoroughly Moderne Henry Colbert

I fell in love with Henry Colbert's work when I first laid eyes on his Art Deco house in Jean Nisbett's book The Modern Dolls' House (2004). Years later, here I am staring at these gorgeous works of art and reading a brilliant article on his work (THANKS AGAIN Writing Sideways!) I scanned the color copies of the article from Dollhouse Miniatures magazine and you can download the article in its entirety here (thanks DudeCraft, I borrowed your idea to use MediaFire to share this file). I am sure this is copyright infringement, but I couldn't buy the Sept 07 issue anywhere, so we'll see how long I can keep it up. The image quality is the best I could get scanning the color copies of the magazine, but still quite drool worthy. Click on images to see the larger version. Enjoy!

House in Poole, Dorset — The Amyas Petite

Henry grew up in "Barnet, Hertfordshire, just north of London, his world was a wealth of modern inspirations: the architecture of his local cinema; Arnos Grove, the nearby underground station; the Penguin Pool at the London Zoo; a Sun Trap House he passed on the way to school; and a Clarice Cliff vase from EW. Woolworth sitting on his mantel. Nearly 70 years later, many of these landmarks Henry remembers still look fresh and modern."

House in Hendon, London — The Amyas Deluxe

In 1997, ill health forced Henry into early retirement and he began to search for a hobby that could combine his skills and background in architecture, engineering, computers and a home workshop to die for. "Having attended some local miniature shows, Henry realized no one was making modern-era dollhouses. With interest piqued, he attended an evening class on 20th century architecture, bought a camera, and set out to photograph every Art Deco house he could find within a 150-mile radius of his home. Two houses stood out from the rest: a small house in Poole, Dorset, and a larger house with interesting features in Hendon, London."

The Amyas Grande

"Since the style of his dollhouses would be unique, and no parts readily available in miniature shops, apart from the hardware, Henry had to design and build every component himself. For the next 18 months he experimented by trial and error, producing the necessary jigs and fixtures to build his first models. He uses computer-aided-design (CAD) software to design each module; walls, ceilings, and floors are constructed from top-quality birch plywood with lime-wood trim. His dollhouse designs leave no room for error; the minimalist style dictates that mistakes cannot be covered up with paint, paper, or fancy trim."

The Amyas Grande Deluxe

"With key components designed and prototyped, he was now ready to launch three models that would incorporate certain key design elements. Designated the Amyas series in honor of New Zealand native Amyas Connell (1901-1980), who studied architecture in England in the 1920s and designed High & Over, one of the first International Style houses in England. Along with architect Basil Ward, they later designed their Sun House for a proposed Moderne community to complement High & Over. When war intervened, the project ended with only four houses constructed. The Amyas Petite, inspired by the Poole house, has Crittall (steel) windows, a flat roof and sun terrace, a portholed front door, and a conventional staircase."

"The Amyas Deluxe, a combination of the Poole and London homes, is a medium-sized dollhouse with the same features of the Petite, plus a flat-roofed wing, railed porch, imposing entrance doors, portholes, decorative chevrons on the bay wall, a spiral staircase, and wood-strip floors. His Amyas Grande contains all these features plus symmetrical front bays on either side of the central hall. Later Henry added an Amyas Petite Deluxe. Each house is one room deep, to make them, as Henry says, 'playable.'"

Sun House

"Henry has also reproduced a Sun House in 1:24 scale, using original house plans and photographs to ensure authenticity. The finished product is mounted on a turntable with hinged panels to access all the rooms; the house is fully electrified and has been fitted with a bathroom and kitchen."

 

"As demands for dollhouse accessories has grown, Henry has also designed period lighting, fireplaces, bathroom fixtures, and even a swimming pool illuminated with blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that shine beneath the resin to create an underwater glow. The pool steps are nickel-coated brass cast into the resin to create an underwater step. The pool deck is tiled with products from Richard Stacey. The end result is impressive and will delight anyone desiring a swimming pool for their dollhouse."

"With his meticulous attention to detail, Henry typically makes two dollhouses a year. His dollhouses have found homes throughout England and Scotland, with one currently under way for a customer in Wales. As interest in Art Deco has grown in the U.S., and accessories are becoming more available, hopes are that one of his houses will find a home outside the U.K." As of the writing of this article three years ago, Henry is stiff with arthritis, and is booked with orders for the next 18 months. I've read elsewhere that the wait list is over 2 years now. By my calculations there should be at least 15-20 of Henry's dollhouses in existence. I wish the owners would share some photos of these treasures.

The article continues with the topic of the future of dollhouses and miniatures artisans and the replacement of small miniature/hobby/toy shops with the big-box craft stores. It's a great read, but a much longer conversation that I'll save for later.

I have an email in to Henry and I will post his response if the email still works.

Here are pictures of the four constructed houses by Amyas Connell and Basil Ward. Sun House 2 & Sun House 1, Sun House 3 and High & Over.


(Henry Colbert images from article "Thoroughly Moderne Henry Colbert" by Deb Weissler published in Dollhouse Miniatures Sept 07 issue, top High & Over and Sun House pictures from flickr page of Metro-land revisited and bottom High & Over image from achome.co.uk)