The English Cottage was my first "big" 1:48 scale project. The cottage is designed by Pamela Junk and I built it from her instructions that appeared in Nutshell News (now Dollhouse Miniatures ) in April and May 1993. The landscaping is based on Karen Marsh's landscaping directions in the June and July 1993 issues, but I
couldn't follow them as closely as I wished, as I hardly had access to any of the materials that she had used for landscaping. I used dried flowers and some dried greenery in the garden, but
have found it to be awfully fragile and even though it's not exposed to sunlight the colors have changed considerably. The greenery has faded, and some flowers have turned brown, in only a few
years time. So, I've decided to avoid using natural flowers and leaves in miniature projects, with one exception - painted flowers! The sunflowers are made from dried flowers that I painted,
and these still look as good as new. The coat of paint has given them additional strength, so they're not as fragile as the others. The sky is fake - a roll of paper from a model railroad
shop.
When I started on this house, I had already built some Arts and Crafts furniture from Madelyn Cook's designs in Nutshell News. I decided that this was the country retreat of a 1920's couple, who had brought a lot of their Arts and Crafts furniture there. Most of the furniture in the kitchen and living room is built from Madelyn Cook's instructions, and the carpet is also her design. The clock in the living room is based on a 1:12 scale Georgian design in Dolls' House World (1989).
The beds are based on a photo of 1:12 Stickley style bed in Miniature Collector. The crocheted bedspread is my own design, using cotton sewing thread. I crocheted the woman's shawl too. Each room has a working lamp.
The "library" upstairs. The Morris style chairs, tea table and smoking stand are built from 1:12 scale Stickley designs in Nutshell News (October 1991). My instructions for the Art Nouveau reading lamp in the library were published in Little Enough News volume 4, issue 5.
The Morris chair is all wood. The full-scale chair had an adjustable reclining seat back, but I decided make the back fixed instead!
The slats in the living room furniture are made from plastic parts intended for model railroads. As you can see, the lamps are working.
The sink and pump are copied from a 19th century kitchen in a book on renovating English houses. The towel is a piece of fabric - soaked in FrayCheck, arranged in folds, and glued in place when dry.
I think I based the kitchen dresser on a traditional design (1:12 scale) in Nutshell News, and changed the trim slightly in an attempt to make it look more like Arts and Crafts. The plates on the kitchen dresser are polymer clay, made according to Lyn Latimer's instructions in Little Enough News volume 2, issue 2, and the design is inspired by some paper cut-outs in an old issue of Dolls' House World .
