Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for vintage

The Vintage Dollhouse and Sheet Music

January 3, 2019 at 11:01 am by Claudia

I took the Christmas decorations down yesterday – since we don’t do a whole lot of decorating, it isn’t all that time consuming – and then I moved the egg cup cubby cabinet away from the wall, which is always scary, opened the door under the stairs, and stored everything for another year. Then I moved the cabinet back, which was a bit tricky this time around, but I finally got it in place.

Then I vacuumed like crazy.

(By the way, Don broke a glass yesterday and then I proceeded to break a glass and a bowl. What’s with us? We’re down to three glasses.)

I sorted through the sheet music in our music cabinet. That cabinet was one of the very first things we bought for this house. We got it at an auction. I have a lot more music than I had remembered, some of it from my childhood, some of it from my grandmother (a hymnal, and three songs from Oklahoma, which means the sheet music is from the 40s,) and my first Beatles Songbook, which I got when I was 11 years old. I wrote the names of each of the guys under their photos – in pencil. And look what I found:

Neither of us can remember how this got here and we were shocked and thrilled to discover it! Was it in my grandmother’s music? Doubtful. Was it from my parents? Also doubtful. Was it a gift from someone after we moved to the house? Or did we find it when out antiquing and forgot about it? Either is possible.

It’s getting framed, that’s for sure.

After all the chores were done, I moved the vintage dollhouse onto the coffee table in the den to give it a cleaning. Eventually, the exterior will need an even deeper cleaning but for now, this will do.

I took some pictures.

By the way, the chimney on the roof actually connects to the fireplace. I dropped something down there by mistake and the object ended up in the fireplace.

I put this in the living room to see if the scale worked and it does.

There are arched doorways into the adjoining rooms.

The other two rooms, which are small. And I can only get into the front room from the doorways, so that will be a little awkward!

This is the opening at the back of the house and it’s the only way to get into these rooms. There’s a high, vaulted ceiling. I briefly debated painting the walls, but it would be very difficult. I can’t lay the house on it’s front because the porch is there. I think I’ll put battery operated hanging lights on the ceiling just so I can see more of the room. But that’s down the road.

A corner of the house. Aside from a deeper cleaning of the exterior, I plan to leave it alone. These shutters, by the way, are adorable. They work. They completely cover the window space.

Just playing around. I don’t really have a large stash of miniatures – a few things, but nothing like other miniaturists have. The painting is a mini Wallace Nutting given to me by Barbara. The books were in my stash.

Since I’m currently working (or not working, which is more the case at the moment) on three different houses, and since we are back on a strict budget, I’ll have to take my time. That’s what I did with my first dollhouse. I did what I could, when I could afford it.

My thoughts are still the same with this treasure. Keep it rustic – maybe a little removable wallpaper, maybe not – and honor the work of the creator. Living room, bedroom, kitchen…and we’ll assume there’s an outhouse somewhere nearby.

I really love it.

We have a wee bit of snow on the ground this morning, but once again, it’s not covering all the grass. Still, it was neat to see some snow-covered tree branches this morning.

Happy Thursday.

 

Filed Under: dollhouse, miniatures, music, vintage, Wallace Nutting 45 Comments

An Extraordinary Find

December 21, 2018 at 10:51 am by Claudia

If you follow me on Instagram, you’re already familiar with this story. But heck, it’s so great that I have to share it with you here!

I had a list of errands yesterday and I planned on starting the ‘loop’ with a visit to one of my favorite antique emporiums to see if they had any vintage ornaments left; not that I really need any, it was just an excuse to visit. Then I’d tackle the bookstore and Michael’s and return home.

One of the first things I saw was an amazing tramp art house. Handmade, of course, and simply fascinating. It wasn’t practical for me and it was expensive – though, as a one-of-a kind piece of folk art, it was worth the price. You can see a photo of it on my IG feed. As I headed in and out of booths on the first aisle, I looked up – something I often forget to do – and saw this:

What???

Half off? Half off of an already ridiculously inexpensive price?

I continued on my perusal of the booths, my thoughts going back to the dollhouse, posting a photo on IG asking if I should buy it, heading back, looking at it again, walking around some more – you get the picture.

It was perched very high up on a ladder that had been placed horizontally to form a shelf. In the meantime, messages kept coming in from my initial post on IG basically in the form of “Get it!”  “Are you nuts? Get it NOW!”

Finally, I asked one of the ladies at the counter if it was possible to get it down because I was very interested and wanted to see inside. She had to haul out a tall ladder and, as I expressed worry that it might fall on her, a man who happened to be walking by volunteered to help. We finally managed to set it on a counter.

Frankly, I expected it to be one big room, an empty space. This is what I saw:

Are you kidding me? This is exactly what we had in the Craftsman house we rented when we were living in San Diego.

There are two small rooms as well. Doors that open and shut beautifully. Shutters that work.

Arched doorways that frame the entrance into the two rooms from the living room.

A front porch.

It’s solid as a rock. Whoever made this knew what he/she was doing and it’s beautifully made. It’s very old – I’d guess it was made in the early decades of the twentieth century.

Needless to say, I bought it. It’s big – bigger than it looked when it was perched way up high – about 22 inches wide and about 15 inches deep.

It wouldn’t fit in the trunk. I couldn’t maneuver it into the back seat.  (Dad, I’m so grateful that I have the use of your car, but this is about the millionth time I’ve wished you had gone for four doors instead of two.) After a wee bit of panic, I managed to get it on the passenger seat, with the seat back reclining at a sharp angle. I had to turn it on its side. As I drove home, I kept holding onto it so it wouldn’t bump against the gear shift.

 

I brought it home and immediately created this little scene on the porch. The ‘snow’ is flannel from my stash. The trees and wreaths are from my stash.

I’m in love.

Someone made this for a loved one: a daughter, a grandchild, a niece or nephew. It killed me to think of it sitting there, marked down, when at one point someone played with it and loved it. So much love was put into this dollhouse. It needed to be rescued.

Do I have the room for it? No. But I’ve already thought about putting it on top of the china cabinet in the den or on a table in the living room next to the big white armoire. Right now, I have it on the blue bench that sits there, but I’d like it on something that’s offers more support. It’s big and heavy and solid as a rock and I don’t want it crashing to the floor.

Everyone keeps saying, “I can’t wait to see what you do to it.” But the truth is, I’m not going to do much. This is someone’s creation – hours of work were put into making it. It’s a piece of folk art. I’ll give it a gentle cleaning, of course. But Don and I have already decided it’s going to be a summer home or cabin – rustic in nature. I don’t want to transform it in any way other than with furniture and accessories. The basic structure will remain the same. It seems a sacrilege to change its natural beauty. I have such admiration for the person who built this. I want to be its caretaker and honor it.

Since Don found out yesterday that one of the presents he ordered for me is in China, of all places, and hasn’t even left the country (he thought it was shipping from Arizona.) He was very upset. I suggested that this could be a present from him. I texted a photo of it and he immediately said yes! I know he was relieved.

It’s currently perched right here by the entrance to the den.

I had to add some lights, of course! It’s the holiday season.

To say I’m thrilled would be an understatement. When things get put away after Christmas and I have more space, I’ll take better photos. Right now, every available surface is in use.

As I am constantly reminded, timing is everything.

Interesting side note: the dealer that I love (the one I got the egg cup cubby from) has a booth in this shop. She commented on my IG post, saying that she had had her eye on it! Looks like I got there just in time!

Happy Friday.

Filed Under: antiques, Christmas, dollhouse, miniatures, vintage 61 Comments

Small World

December 15, 2018 at 11:05 am by Claudia

Slow going this morning. I slept in. Glory Hallelujah!

The past two days have been rather busy with commuting back and forth to the city. The sheer length of the round trip commute tends to tire me out. I had very good coaching sessions yesterday with some of the actors. I still have to have sessions with 4 of them, but the stage manager tells me that will be next week, which is just fine with me. Such a lovely group of actors. Christa, the director, is also lovely (I’ve worked with her on three shows now). She’s also an actress. Anyway, I’ve found that nice, good-hearted directors tend to attract actors who have the same qualities.

And in “theater is a small world” news, in addition to the actors I mentioned the other day that I worked with 20 or more years ago, I had a feeling that I knew another one of the other actors somehow. When it came time to work with him yesterday, I immediately said “I think I know you from somewhere.” He responded “I’ve been thinking the same thing.” After establishing that he hadn’t worked in Hartford, I brought up the Old Globe. Sure enough, he’d done 3 shows there and the first one he mentioned was the one I had coached about 19 or 20 years ago. That’s one of the things I love about theater. I invariably run in to actors I’ve worked with before – in this case, more than 20 years later!

My favorite ornament. I found this little bluebird ornament a few years back. Isn’t it sweet?

Today is a day to tend to things around the house. Whenever I’m in the city for more than one day in a row, I feel like I’ve lost control of the house! Although, I did give Don some chores to do yesterday and, bless him, he did them all while I was gone and made a fabulous dinner as well. And he found a grocery store that had Mallomars in stock and bought me three boxes.

He’s a pretty neat guy, my husband.

Stella in the early morning light. I added a few more Christmas trees and I think she’s happy.

Happy Saturday.

 

Filed Under: Christmas, coaching, Don, Stella, vintage 26 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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