A lot of times we think of the thatched roof, stucco cottages as being from the 15th and 16th and 17th centuries when in reality some of the cottages of that type seen in the picture books were much more recent structures. There was a movement known as the Cottage Ornee (Ornee meaning ornate) or often spelled Orne in the late 18th century and throughout the19th century. Its all about the idea of living a simple and idealized life in the healthy countryside.

Most of the structures were built on the estates of wealthy landowners, some as play houses, others as cottages for the laborers of the estate to live in. They were meant to improve the living conditions of the workers but mostly they were erected to improve the view of the landlord as he walked about his estates.

At "Le Petite Trianon" Marie Antoinette had build "Le Hameau" (the hamlet), a picturesque village of such structures as playhouses. She and the ladies of the court would dress in peasant costumes and go play for the day at being milk maids, shepherdess and miller's daughters. Her children were also taken there for walks. I suppose travel was fairly treacherous and such places in reality were certainly not all that luxurious as the insides and grounds of these cottages. But the idea of living the simple life, if only for a day, was very appealing.

Another famous group of cottages is "Blaise Hamlet" in England, designed by John Nash, the nine cottages were housing for the workers on the estate. I have read that unfortunately they were not all that convenient to live in. Some of the Blaise Hamlet Cottages are available for overnight rental if you visit the area. They have been recreated in resin miniatures by Lilliput Lane.

I designed my Acorn Cottage in the style of the Cottage Ornee with the rustic wood elements but the somewhat more sophisticated interior. Currently it's furnished as a music room but in a early version of this project I had it furnished as a writer's studio. I think what is interesting about these structures is it's a chance to do a small piece that can easily fit on a desk or tabletop and be furnished using Victorian era or somewhat earlier fine furniture. The contrast of the simple cottage and the elegant interior is rather fun. Wicker pieces would look great in them as the settings of the buildings were often garden or rural landscapes.

The architectural styles of these cottage buildings were done in a very wide range, Chinese was popular as well as the rustic timber, classic Greek was also a favorite as well as Gothic. Bespaq produces a lot of Victorian furniture with influences other than the typical American Golden Oak types including gothic and classical motifs. I can easily picture the chinoiserie line they produce in a cottage ornee with a pagoda style roof and Chinese motif paneling on the outside walls. Brighton Pavillion was a cottage ornee on steroids but then that would be expected of the royal one who was "The Victoria" and namesake of the Victorian era.

The book "English Cottages" by Tony Evans and Candida Lycett Green has a whole chapter at the end of the book on picturesque cottages of the 18th and 19th centuries. It is very reasonably priced in soft cover.

Marie Antoinette's cottage ornee
http://www.aboutromania.com/ParisVersaillesLeMoulin.jpg
Old black and white photos of Le Petit_Trianon http://tinyurl.com/36ho9

Cottage Ornee from Ireland
http://www.12travel.com/ie/attractions/swisscottage.html

Karin Corbin
6/14/04

Its so much easier to build a house with
all straight lines. Then I could just measure out the dimensions and cut them but this
house has lots of curves.

I will be making jigs and fixtures to construct the sides and the
roof of the new dollhouse both of which have curves built into them. The method I will use to create the basic shells is similar to the boat building methods used for small plywood craft.

You build a form with the shape of the curves and screw your piece of plywood to that so it forms to the curve.
When all the sides are on the form and trimmed to size the corners are
joined using what is known as the stitch and glue method. I doubt that I will have to stitch this piece but it could be necessary.
Stitching consists of drilling small holes on the edge of each piece by the corners and lacing wire through them to hold the parts together.

The wire is removed later
after the corners have received epoxy resin with filler and then a layer of fiberglass cloth tape layed into a coating of epoxy to join
the pieces together.

After the epoxy is set up you can unscrew the
plywood from the
form to release the piece and fill any holes you don't want visible. This is all great but I will itch like crazy. Fiberglass always gets to me even with protective clothing and washing in cold water only. If you want to know more
about how to build structures that go beyond the basic box shapes check some books out from the library on small craft design and
construction.

Karin Corbin

I have built the Real Good Toys (RGT) 1/2" scale lighthouse. You can see it at the following page:
http://www.homestead.com/davesminiplace/dollhouse.html. Just scroll down until you get to it.

I did it without help or construction of jigs and fixtures. It is really simpler than you would think. All you need is a table or sufficiently flat
area cleared from your workbench. (In my case, I needed the table. No way, I could find that much space on my worktable.) The following steps fit the RGT house and should work with any other kit that uses beveled sides.

1. Lay the sides down flat with the outside up. Put each side next to the other with the bottom edges even. There is a narrow side which is placed on each end of the group. This will make an angular group, kinda pie shaped.
Using at least three long strips of duct tape, wide masking tape, or selfstick mailing tape, tape across the sides. Lay the tape across the
group so that the tape is slightly back from one side of the group and all the surplus is on one side. The tape strips will make an angle across the group, but don't worry about that. Make sure that the edges of the sides are firmly together, but not overlapping.

2. Making sure the tape is firmly adhered to the wood sides, carefully turn the assembled group over so the outside and tape are down. The hardest part here is keeping the surplus tape from tangling. Once I got it turned and
the tapes properly arrayed, I used bits of tape to secure each of them until I needed them. Starting at the side of the group that doesn't have tape sticking out, put glue in the grooves of the short and first full sides and the beveled edges between the two. Fit the bottom into the first full side's groove and carefully roll the short side up until you can fit the bottom into both sides' grooves. The RGT lighthouse has three floors that you now need to add glue to and fit them into their appropriate grooves. At this point, I suggest pausing to let the glue set up a bit, but not
completely because you might want to adjust things as you proceed. I use Tacky Glue and it doesn't take too long before I can work some more. (I have used tacky glue for houses that are 10 years old and found no
deterioration of bonding.)

3. Now the fun begins. Glue the grooves and the edge of the next side and, keeping the grouped sides flat on the table, carefully roll the assembly as you fit each part in its proper groove. Just take your time and it will
work out. Then you can continue for the rest of the sides glue, roll, cuss, fit, glue, roll, cuss, fit, glue, roll, cuss, fit. Finally, you have only the second narrow aside to glue and fit. Remember, there is an open side to the lighthouse so don't try to close it all. This, however, is the time to use those long ends of tape to tighten across the opening to clamp
everything tight until the glue is finally dry.

4. If you have followed these instructions, the lighthouse will still be laying on its side. Now, you can bring it to an upright position and step
back and admire your work. (Gee, did you remember to paint the interior walls and floor before you started this?)

Dave
11 APR 04

I have never done a lighthouse but I have done stained glass lamps for about 25 years or so, and it sounds as if it may use the same technique. Try to fan out the pieces next to each other and use electrical tape to connect them. Try to use a long a continuous piece if you can. Then bend the sides to the shape of the lighthouse. This should allow you to fit it in the groove on the floor. I think I would add some glue to the walls but I haven't read the instructions to see how its put together. The electrical tape shouldnt leave a residue if you don't leave it on a long time.

Joni
10 APR 04

I am not familiar with the lighthouse kit but I am venturing a guess it is tapered and that there are several sides that glue together to form the house. But first the floor has to be fitted in a groove. Right? How does one hold it all together? Try taking a heavy cardboard or piece or 1/4' plywood and cut a round hole in it about the diameter of half way up the lighthouse side. Put legs on the plywood or support it so that the lighthouse can be pushed down in to the hole thus holding all the side boards together while you work with the floor. A series of larger holes and smaller holes in several different cardboard pieces can all be slipped on at different levels thus holding all together while glue dries.

Bill Hudson
10 APR 04

I have not put together a lighthouse kit but I have scratch-built a lighthouse shell and make a number of other multi-sided tapered structures. I have found through experience the adhesive that works best, better than carpenters glue by far, is acrylic adhesive caulking. This comes in large or small tubes in clear and in white and is made by DAP and other companies. It is available in most every hardware or home improvement store and is reasonably priced. It sets up faster than carpenters glue and it fills the gaps better on the corners. Excess squeeze out can be cleaned up with a damp paper towel while it is fresh or scraped off with a sharp edge of a knife. As to clamping, I normally use a few strips of duct tape along the joints. Use a recently purchased nice fresh roll of duct tape, old rolls are prone to leaving sticky residue. You are not going to need to leave the tape on for more than about 2 to 5 hours at most so the residue cleanup will be minor if any. Another clamping method is to wrap strong string around the house spiraling upwards and tied off snugly.
If you have an old work bench or table you can nail strips of scrap wood snug up against the bottom edge of the house and that will keep the bottom edges from spreading outwards. You don't need to nail them into the house sides nor do they have to fit the slope of the sides, they are just acting as braces. That will help keep the structure together while it dries but I rarely find it neccessary to do that unless I am dealing with a piece with an extreme slope and a lighthouse does not qualify as extreme.

Karin Corbin
10 APR 04

Having a problem getting the walls to stay nice and tight and there just isn't that other person handy so you could borrow their arms? I dragged out my basket of nice and thick macramé yarn and once I figured that the pieces were together nice and straight, I wound the yarn around the lighthouse at several levels and then started to tighten a bit at at time until things were snug and the glue was oozing out (which I then carefully removed with a damp rag on all edges).

I found that tape won't be strong enough unless you use heavy duty strapping tape but you don't want to use that because it would leave residue of the tape.

I put a medium bead of glue (I use WeldBond) in the grooves and spread it with a craft stick (popsicle stick to us old timers) or an old skinny paintbrush, and then put the floors in the grooves. As you tighten the yarn you will get glue oozing out and that's a good thing because you know that there will be no patches without glue. Get a damp rag and wipe up all traces of glue. You don't want any glue traces that could cause problems with wiring, or papering or painting.

Sharen Bruck
11 APR 04

There are (or should be) little numbered stickers on each piece. #1 is the base. #2 is the right hand side, #3 the back and #4 is the left side (the inner sides are unpainted). #5 is the dividing wall which has the two doors to the front of the house. #6 is the right hand floor/ceiling. I put the stairwell on the left but think you could put in on the right. #7 is the
left hand floor/ceiling.

First, set the base on your work area. Set pieces #2, 3 and 4 on the base and screw on using the long screws.

At this point, I painted all walls, stained the doors, and finished one ceiling and a couple of the floors.

Once you've done the decorating that you want to do ahead of time, you can finish construction. Piece #5 (the inner wall) has two pegs on the bottom which fit into the base. When this is in place (with the doors toward the front and the groove on the left hand side), you position piece #6 in place and screw it in place (two screws through the outer wall and two screws inside the groove in wall #5). Floor/ceiling #7 then slides in place through the groove in inner wall #5. #7 is held in place on the right by the groove and on the left by screws through the outer wall #4.

At this point, the diagram suggests putting on the front pieces (#8 and #9). You use the 12 very small brass screws for this. Personally, I added the top ceiling (#11) at this point to leave me a bit more working room. Add the
attic (#12), dormer (13), and chimneys (15). Position the front steps (#16) and if you put on the doors in their order, you are finished!

All the large screws are for the construction, the small brass screws are for the hinges. I never did figure out what the 2 medium screws were for.

Maureen in St. Albert AB Canada
09 APR 04

Construction tutorial

I am closing in on the completion of the house project that I started last winter. I have posted some new pictures of the interior in the construction tutorial. Here is a link to one of the new pictures:
http://www.msnusers.com/WillowBeeMiniatures/constructiontutorial.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=333

The tutorial has almost 150 pictures now and covers the remodeling of a small four room doll house. If you are interested in the project start at page one of the construction tutorial at my web site and follow the progression of the project.

Sharon Blake
3/17/2004

Making memory/shadow boxes that highlight a special event. I just finished a collage type box using minis that depict the "Things I Love" for a friend. For example, she loves the color red, so I covered the shadow box picture frame mat with red fabric with tiny white poka dots; she likes cooking, keeping house, raising her two little girls, oranges (the fruit), going to church, reading. I used several mini accessories including a blue miniature skirt & blouse with matching hat, a mini Bible (New Testament with real pages and text). That was a fun project.

Tillie
2 Mar 04