DOLL’S HOUSE MARVEL

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 July 1923, Page 8

DOLL’S HOUSE MARVEL

EVERY MODERN CONVENIENCE The most wonderful doll’s house in the world is now being constructed from a design by Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, prominent architect. It will contain running water in tiny baths, books the size of one’s fingernail, and two seven-inch full length portraits of the King and Queen done by Major Sir AVilliam Orpen. This doll’s mansion was originally suggested by the Queen to aid the hospitals of London. It will be placed in the British Empire Exhibition next year for that purpose. Its doors are so delicate that they had to be made by a watchmaker. Yet, its small size notwithstanding, it is complete in ‘every detail, including gardens, garage and power-house all contained within the space of 12 feet and 7 inches. The house itself which stands on a base of cedar and mahogany the size of a billiard thble, is done is the style of the Hampton Court buildings, of red brick and white stone, set in a garden of velvet turf, clipped yew hedges, tiny paved paths and statuettes in odd corners. In the library every British author of note is represented in beautifully bound volumes, whose every word may be read witli a magnifying glass. A collection of drawings representative of the best art. of each period are specially executed in miniature. Every piece of furniture is a work of art, including the mantelpiece, and the marble inlaid and jade table. The walls are lined with linen and silk, their panellings beautifully carved, and the wooden ceilings are painted by Sir William Nicholson. In the music room is a grand piano seven inches long, which could be played if one’s fingers were light enough to touch each single note. The kitchen is equipped with every utensil, and the entire building ’s illuminated by electricity, regulated by tiny switches in each room. Electric lifts are provided, and in the gavage the doll inmates may find models of the finest motor cars.