Sunday, November 4, 2007

The Van Buren


Newly finished wooden one inch to the foot scale Van Buren doll house. The house is not wired. The house is 29 inches high, 30 inches wide, 14 1/2 inches deep and 20 inches deep with the porch. The base of the house was made from the Van Buren, made by Greenleaf, and has been out of production for quite some time The stone finish on the outside of the house was created by a dimensional material that was hand-cut and hand-applied. It is beautiful in person! The front porch was a custom addition, as well as the sandstone finish balcony additions on each side of the house. The roof is done in all wood shingles that were stained in grey tones, and individually applied.All the custom flower beds are included, as well as the window boxes, and landscape pots on the top of the porch.


The inside has very large rooms with plenty of room to decorate.The floors were done in a variety of patterns to give the look of marble or European Tile.The material is a bark cloth that was hand cut, applied and sealed.The ceilings are all finished, and four of the main rooms have a special decorative design that is highlighted with the house's deep accent color pallet.You will see base boards, and crown molding (some done in real gold leaf) and all other finish trims are done. The walls are all papered in coordinating colors, so the colors flow. The first floor left room has a wall treatment that gives a tile look, and was made in Spain. The two fireplaces are not attached, and can be moved about the house. The small room behind the stairs on the first floor, would make a nice powder room. It is finished inside, papered, and has hard wood floors. The house is attached to a wooden base 34 by 25 to keep it secure in shipping. The house can be easily detached by removing a few screws on the bottom if you choose.

~ Robin Carey

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I love the colors used. Absolutely beautiful. I found an old Van Buren at a thrift store, built with the standard kit materials. This one has so much more added to it, and the craftsmanship - the result is stunning.

Unknown said...

I love the colors used. Absolutely beautiful. I found an old Van Buren at a thrift store, built with the standard kit materials. This one has so much more added to it, and the craftsmanship - the result is stunning.

Beth Wilson said...

Thank you for your beautiful Van Buren! My parents built this kit for me in 1980 and my next project will be its restoration. Unfortunately the glue has given out in many areas of the house and some pieces (like all the stair railings!) are missing. I love what you have done with the exterior of the house and your interior finishes are beautiful! Needless to say, after I finish the structural repairs, I have a lot to do on the interior.

Pam Cicerello said...

You have a beautiful dollhouse. I’m just a beginner in the dollhouse world. I was looking for a hobby & decided to rehab a dollhouse. I am working on one and have two waiting in the wings! I was surprised at the amount of work it entailed. When I was removing wallpaper & carpets I thought it might have been easier to do a real house! I hope you don’t mind if I use some of your ideas.

Unknown said...

Very nice. I, too, am about to start my first. Looking for color palets and design ideas. Think I'm going to have stairs at bottom away from wall then a landing to the 2nd half against the wall. Trying to find someone who has done that but to no avail. Yours is beautiful! Love the different yet matching wallpapers in each room! Outside is so realistic! Love it!

Unknown said...

One more comment! I do like the idea of the under stairs storage closet and the slight curve of steps to 2nd set of stairs. Nice!