The Garden Cottage Tudor

This is the Garden Cottage Tudor. This was a charming little project, and my first addition of vegetables to the gardens. The vegetables are done in raised beds, kind of giving them their special identity in the layout. I did a large grouping of sun flowers and then made black eyed Susan plants for the flower beds to move the same distinctive colors through the design. The roses add rich bright tones, and make this a visually happy little cottage.

The small shed piece on the side is for wood drying , or it also had a shelf and could be storage for garden supplies. The side chimney is done in the real stone, also used in other past houses. The texture and the lighter gray color were a better fit for this small cottage than the deeper tone brick. It adds visual weight, but does not burden the light cheerful theme of the house.

The Countryside Tudor

This house was adapted from a vintage Dura Craft Tudor kit. This is a nice large house with big rooms for decorating. I changed the profile to feature a front chimney, replaced windows, added windows, and added a second side door. I also lengthened the back roof space, and changed the interior room layouts.

I had a lot of fun playing with the different brick patterns, and balancing stucco, brick and beam areas. The house being so large needed stronger brick placements to give it a more grounded look. Keeping the proportions of the large walls, yet toning down the space to make the house feel inviting and cozy was a challenge.

The garden is done with a pallet of blues and coral/peach, and then I added the golden sunflowers for a punch of yellow to brighten it all up. The rustic cut log fence is open and airy, yet the wood tones act as an extension of the wood beam trim from the house, out to the garden.

The natural textures used on the roof shingles and on the bricks give the house a wonderful earthy and rustic feeling. The stucco also adds another layer of texture as your eyes take in the complete visual of the mixed medias.

The loft with ladder piece is not attached and also fits on the other side of the same wall, so it could be used in either room. It also will fit underneath the staircase in the bottom room. I love being able to change things up and this loft with ladder piece, being a movable piece can inspire many different display ideas and uses for the rooms.

The Coral Island House

I was finally ready for some color, so this coral color caught my eye on a real house in Key West. I also saw a brick walkway in a magazine that I just loved. So these were the inspirations for this Coral Island house.

The base of the house was a very old kit I got on eBay called the Theresa and was made by Greenleaf. The seller told me the kit was complete; however the huge piece that makes the first floor was missing! This was not fun! There was also no actual picture of the house only a line drawing on the two sheet instruction page.

I really like to have more than one color on a house for trim. I think it makes it more interesting. The white is very crisp and clean looking but I wanted a fuller pallet. The bricks accomplished that. They added not only a whole other dimension, they filled the color gap. I made all the bricks and painted them in a rosy terra cotta and cognac (a very trendy color) and some cream tones. All mixed together they create a rich warm feeling that works well against the coolness of the house.

The landscaping is all tropical zone 11 that you would find from palm beach to Miami and down to the Keys. The landscape is a mix of bits from craft stores, and the handmade clay flowers arefrom Thailand. Also moss and paper, and other natural materials. More beautiful palm trees from Marilyn: http://www.virtualdollhouse.net/Customer/Earthscapesbyheath.htm

The stained glass windows in the front door are from Pat who sells them on eBay under think*small .

The original design of the kit had the stairs facing the front, but I rarely like that, so I turned them to face the back of the house. The lovely stair runner came from Denise http://handmademiniatures.yolasite.com. Wanting more light coming in and a more open to the outside feeling, I added the French door and the full size windows. The house flows out to the garden by doing this, just as the homes in Key West do.

I enclosed the stairs and added a narrow door that opens and the inside under the stairs is finished. It could be storage or a small powder room.

The kit also had the small center window the same shape as the two dormer ones, but I felt the round window gave the house more character. I added a Widow’s Walk just for fun and to keep the Key West theme, as many of the larger homes there had them for actually watching for ships that crashed on the coral reef. Treasure salvaging was very lucrative around the turn of the century.