Here it is, my childhood dollhouse — proud and colorful from the front, a little shaky from the back. But isn’t that true of many houses?
Note that the landscaping is painted onto the front of the house… I wonder if I could try this at home? It certainly would be easier to take care of than my 3D landscaping is.
This find isn’t from my basement — it survived in a closet at my brother’s house.
What’s broken?
Alas, I don’t think the garage door opener would work anymore (if it had one, that is).
The door can be repositioned manually, but then, the dolls didn’t drive, so there isn’t a car. The interior decor is painted on too, so the homeowners won’t be redecorating any time soon.
There was still some of its furniture left, and one remaining doll. I’m hoping it all finds a home with a collector who can restore it. And yes, I’m still in love with that idea of painting the landscaping on the side of the house. Maybe then I could donate my yard tools and just paint some on the garage walls like this:
See them to the left of the garage door? I might still need a 3D vacuum though.
Here’s to all our vintage toys, whether they’re soft like the Velveteen Rabbit — most of whose hair had been loved off — or sturdy, but in need of a structural repair and maybe even a modern “staging”, like my dollhouse.
Do you still have any of your childhood toys?
More on the Weekly Photo Challenge: Broken
Hoarder Comes Clean 
I remember that dollhouse well. Many happy hours were spent rearranging the furniture and playing pretend (I always had a sister in my “dream house” but not in real life).
I loved my dollhouse too, and my nieces played with it after me. It got lots of use and I hope it has a happy afterlife. Thanks for commenting Mickey (I always wanted a sister too)
Sandy, was thinking about you yesterday as I was in den cluttering mode.
What a great dolls’ house!
Yes, lots of childhood toys still here including my little red scooter, teddy bears and books that I read over and over and over and still dip into from time to time.
Books, yes! I still have a few of my childhood books and wouldn’t want to part with them. Thanks for commenting – and, I’m glad to see your blog is back — Sandy
Your dollhouse is in such good condition. Amazing, doesn’t look like it’s falling apart one bit. I suppose it must have been stored in a box to look this good after all these years. As a child, I had two doll houses, two storey doll houses where you had to buy each piece of furniture individually. If I remember correctly, the brand name was Sylvanian Families and the dolls I had weren’t doll dolls, but Japanese characters like Kerokerokeroppi and Pochacco. I used to play with them and put the toys to bed each night when I was in high school in Singapore. When I moved back to Australia, my parents gave away the houses to my young cousins. I managed to keep most of the toys with me, but the toy Bad Badtz Maru sadly lost it’s way along the route to Australia. It is still missed up until this day 🙂
What a great story about your dollhouses and the characters who lived in them – they sound wonderful, and almost operatic. I hope your cousins appreciated them too. (and maybe they still have them?) And Bad Badtz Maru may still be out there somewhere, just in a new home. At least I’m hoping that’s what happened to my other dollhouse dolls; only the lady was left and she’s not bending as well as she used to.
I think my cousins enjoyed the houses. I remember visiting them when they were younger and the houses were on display in the lounge room. Most of the toys are on my bedroom shelf today, less than ten of them 🙂 Bad Badtz Maru must have fell through the floor or wall cracks or something…because I lost him in my own house back then.
Maybe you can straighten the lady? That could be a project for you, to restore her to her glory days.
I don’t know about my old dollhouse lady, she looks a little like an overly-stern (and grumpy) schoolteacher. Bad Badtz Maru sounds like lots more fun. And in the future someone may find him, like a little time capsule, and wonder who he belonged to “back in the 21st century”. I think there’s a story in that.