Tag Archives: dollhouses

“One day I’d like a small piece of your work.” Those words floated above our work from somewhere in the mid-70’s until 1982. They were spoken by Marie Friedman, one of the finest miniature craftspeople we would ever meet. She … Continue reading →

Posted on March 10, 2012 by smallhousepress | 1 Comment

The Ultimate Victorian: The Octagon House

Posted on January 8, 2012 by smallhousepress

Thanks to the frenzy of enthusiasm for Victorian architecture during the 1970s-80s, we had lots of reference materials, largely in the form of period architectural magazines, coming across the doorstep. Plus, our reputation as builders of miniature Victorians brought in … Continue reading →

Posted in Houses, Miniatures, People | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

The Port Townsend, Pyrotechnics, and the Deer Revival

Posted on December 11, 2011 by smallhousepress

The Port Townsend, miniature house # 25, was the second of the major houses we built in 1981. It was named for a Victorian seaport on the Quimper Peninsula in Washington State, a town whose architecture deeply influenced our own … Continue reading →

Posted in Houses, Miniatures, People | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

The Pipe Dream of Miniatures

Posted on October 22, 2011 by smallhousepress

For us, the appeal of the 20th St. Emporium commission was the idea of a shop with an apartment above, combining the bustle of public space with the private, domestic life upstairs. Miniatures are never simply about the objects or … Continue reading →

Posted in Houses, Miniatures | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

With a Little Help from Our Friends

Posted on October 8, 2011 by smallhousepress

Being our first commercial building, the 20thSt. Emporium required a jump-start for our learning curve. The three-story structure would include a 7-stool soda fountain and mirrored backbar. To show it off we wanted gold-leaf lettering embellishing the reflective surface of … Continue reading →

Posted in Bio, Houses, Miniatures, People | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Birth of the 20th Street Emporium

Posted on October 2, 2011 by smallhousepress

In 1980 we seem to have slowed a bit, producing two structures, compared to the 3-4 we completed in previous years.  I sometimes imagine there was a time warp, or black hole, in Seaview that allowed us to make houses … Continue reading →

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The Bear and the Secret Room

Posted on July 21, 2011 by smallhousepress

The third house we completed in 1979 we called the Bear River (there are a lot of rivers in our neck of the woods, but this is one we had an up-close and personal with–blackberrying one summer’s evening on a … Continue reading →

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A Brick in Time

Posted on July 16, 2011 by smallhousepress

Last week the Den Mother of THE CAMP (the irrepressible miniatures chat group found at THECAMP@Yahoogroups.com) asked if I’d ever written about our bricks. While giving her the short answer, I remembered a brick story from the 80’s. One of … Continue reading →

Posted in Miniatures | Tagged , , , , , , | 16 Comments

When What’s Old Was New

Posted on July 8, 2011 by smallhousepress

Number 20, our second house of 1979, was a project of another sort—the customers specifically asked for less aging. At the time, the idea of aged miniatures was still new. The buyers wanted to display the house in their miniature … Continue reading →

Posted in Houses, Miniatures | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Dirty Little Secrets

Posted on July 1, 2011 by smallhousepress

In 1979 the world tilted in our favor–Mork & Mindy came on the air, and Suzanne, a new customer, asked for an aged house. Not just a hint of age, but old. “Show all the bumps and wrinkles, I love … Continue reading →

Posted in Houses, Miniatures | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment