Friday 30 May 2008

Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens Part 3 - The Dolls House

Having toured the beautiful rock garden and then the main gardens and lakes
at Leonardslee
it was time to visit the Dolls House
This exhibition which was called "Beyond the Dolls House"
was more than I could ever have imagined
It is a fascinating display of life at the end of the 19th century
This minature model was created by Helen Holland
and she did it in 10 years
It looked more like a lifetime's work to me
It consisted of a market town and a complete country estate
done on a 1/12th scale
with 140 foot of frontage
I photographed just a part of it
and I do apologise for the quality of the photos
They were all taken through glass and the place was so packed
it was difficult to photograph without being nudged
Do look at the detail
it is amazing and one forgets that this is just a dolls house
with everything in minature and not some large model

A school room



The laundry in the manor




The pantry



The kitchen


The dining room



The library


A smaller house




The Apothecary


The doctors surgery



Gentlemen's outfitters


The music shop


The Photographers studio


The artist



The Tearooms
no different to today



The bakery and cake shop



The greengrocers


The Butchers
see the dog running off with a piece of meat


A family room in one of the smaller houses



The Inn
If you double click you will see the mice on the floor



Are you alright Sir?


Children's outfitters and Haberdashery


Toyshop


Toy Theatres




Church



Farmyard


Afternoon in the park



Formal garden


Tea on the lawn at the Manor House

House and kitchen garden








The Farrier
Ten years - can you believe it
what a talented woman


13 comments:

Susan said...

Exquisite!!! They have a placed called HOUSE ON THE ROCK in Wisconsin that is PACKED with things. But one of the rooms if full of beautiful doll houses of every sort. It was a joy to visit. I would love to see this one for real!
Susan

Annie Jeffries said...

What marvelous miniatures. My husband loves this sort of thing. I'm sending the link to him to enjoy as well.

Dorothy said...

Barbara...first of all...thank you for taking the time to photograph all of this and placing it on your blog..it is fantastic! What a talent indeed....I have so enjoyed seeing this...Dee Dee

Linda said...

What an incredible exhibit. I love having a look at life in times past. It must have been difficult but these doll houses don't show that. Love it.

Charm and Grace said...

A.Maz.Ing!! Despite your disclaimers, I am quite convinced we didn't miss even one detail of this masterpiece thanks to your painstaking photography (and again... hubby's patience, I'm assuming. LOL!) What a wonderful exhibit and testament to creativity and the deliberative nature of work on this lovely doll's world... from the servants' quarters and laundry to tea on the lawn, a bakery, and even a farmyard. Can you imagine playing with dolls for ten years? Fantastic!

Linds said...

I used to run a dolls' house shop some years ago, and I can only imagine how many hours have gone into this! Stunning, Barbara!

duopastorale said...

Fascinating! You got some good shots Barbara!

Elizabethd said...

That is unbelievable. I would love to visit it. Whata joy it must have been for you to see it in all its exquisite detail.

Vee said...

Pretty incredible for sure! I love miniatures; they simply fascinate me. I'd have no patience to create them, though.

Anonymous said...

The detail is absolutely amazing and what patience to put it all together.

By the way, I just realised you were on my typepad list, very remiss of me! Very happy to tell you I have now added you to it :)

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

Absolutely wonderful! I love miniatures so much...the detail is so amazing and realistic. I could look at that for a long time. There used to be a Museum of Miniatures in Los Angeles that we would visit which had rooms full of things like this. Sadly, it got moved to Florida.

Amongst The Oaks said...

I love building dollhouses and dollhouse accessories. An aunt gave one to me many years ago and I spend a lot of time fixing it up. Then my girls became teenagers and we set it aside. I sometimes think I'd like to go back to it because it gave me such pleasure. As your post did! I'd like to visit Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens someday.
Thanks, Laura

Anonymous said...

How wonderful! I wonder what will happen to all these treasures in the future?