Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The house with no name



I bought this dollhouse at an antiques store over Labor Day weekend. My intention was to furnish it and give it to a school raffle, as I do every year. Once I got it home, however, I realized it's much too big for the raffle. -- three floors, 9 rooms, and more than 30" in all dimensions.

So, darn, I might have to keep it. I'll pick up a smaller one in the next month and that's what will go to the raffle.

But, although I love to look at them, I've never wanted a typical dollhouse with living room, bedroom, and so on. I'm trying to think of something else to turn this into. I already have a mortuary and a museum. Plus a campaign headquarters roombox, but I'll keep that off the blog, lest we get distracted by politics!






Bordellos are way too common among dollhouse owners, and so are flower shops, pawn shops, beauty parlors, hat shops, and Christmas shops.

Any ideas??

19 comments:

Sue said...

Santa's Workshop? Different "Departments" in each room maybe with an updated twist of one room with elves building/packing up/sorting common electronic gadgets like iPods and Wiis and computers?

Camille Minichino said...

I like this, Sue. A different take on the Christmas theme for sure! One room on the first floor is quite large and could be the shipping area.

Anonymous said...

Professor M.A.R. Barker has this humungous castle (well, bigger than the dollhouse in your picture) which he's turned into the base of an Evil Overlord. It has barracks and dungeons and throne rooms and all kinds of inhabitants and myrmidions.

I suspect if he tried to give it to a raffle, he'd be arrested.

Ellen said...

(Ooops - the evil overlord message was me. Somehow it went anonymous.)

Savannah said...

What about turning it into a bait and tackle shop for fishermen or just make it an old timey general store like in the west where they carried everything from guns to flour to bolts of cloth to hard candy and such. Just a thought

kathi said...

A department store?
A school?
An abandoned building?
A warehouse?
An apartment building?
A library?
An artist's gallery?
Museum?
Antique store?

Bonnie said...

A quilt or yarn shop would be fun.

Queue_t said...

How about a hotel? it reminds me of the Stanley for some reason in estes park, Co . or a bed and breakfast? cute house.

Camille Minichino said...

I knew it was you anyway, Ellen!

Camille Minichino said...

All you creative readers out there -- thanks! I've done room boxes of many themes, like the library, general store, and artist's loft.

SO -- it's the abandoned building that appeals to me. I blogged a while ago about Rachel Whiteread's abandoned village of 200 dollhouses. (http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/sub.asp?key=15&subkey=6910)

I could start my village with this one. I'm thinking a meth lab, squatters ...

signlady217 said...

Here are some more ideas: A sci-fi convention, a haunted house, Lord of the Rings, the Mall of America (hey, it's got an indoor roller coaster!), the White House, or scenes from famous movies, i.e., Gone With the Wind, Wizard of Oz, Casablanca. Good luck!

Donna Lea Simpson said...

What about a craft or hobby shop? Little tiny wool shelves on one floor, tiny car models and plane models on another and so on?

Or a Revolutionary era publishing company, with tiny printing presses and Yankee pamphlets?

Camille Minichino said...

A movie theater -- great. I can have all my favorite movies showing at the same time, instead of 21 very stupid movies that clutter my life size theater. But that's another blog.

Imagine continuous showings of Godfather ...

Camille Minichino said...

Hi Donna!
Looking forward to guest blogging with you next Tuesday http://cozymurdermysteries.blogspot.com/

Meanwhile, I'm contemplating that printing press!

Camille Minichino said...

I've done a fabric store, Bonnie, but not quilts or yarn ... hmm. I'm imagining rolling up all those balls of thread! Could be very colorful.

Savannah said...

One other thought, how about a hospital?

Anonymous said...

Great Blog per usual - and all the hits! Godfather era house? Wine cellar, gat stash etc., etc. All suggestions good. xoxoxox

Karin Corbin said...

In the movie, Little Women, Jo March turned a house like this that she inherited into her school for boys. Some rooms were class rooms, of course there was still a parlor, kitchen, dining. Other rooms were for housing the boys who were residents instead of day schooling.

I don't remember that particular plot twist in the book, seems like the school she and her husband started was in a different city. Buy many women with few skills besides teaching did start schools and took in boarding students. In girls schools domestic arts such as needle work were taught as well as academic subjects. That gives a lot of opportunities to vary the use of the rooms.

Unknown said...

I'd vote for a library ;-)
You can have the rooms with bookshelves, an office, maybe a cozy reading room etc.