In May 2004 I was going to visit my long-time friend Pam Scott in Florida. What better gift to bring to a fellow miniaturist with Swedish roots, than a miniature version of a traditional Swedish house? I decided to recreate a typical cottage from the third quarter of the 19th century, the time when Pam's ancestors left Sweden. If I'd have to specify the year, I'd say around 1860 or so.
History: Small log houses like this one were common in large parts of Sweden at least from the 18th century and on. Originally, they had sod roofs. The exterior was left unpainted and unpanelled, and weathered to a silvery grey. During the first half of the 19th century, they usually got panelled. Later, in the second half of the 19th century, they finally got painted (the red color was favored almost everywhere). About the same time, the sod roofs were replaced by clay roof tiles.
The interior of this house is based on photos of furniture used in peasants' homes during the 19th century, plus some Swedish source books on restoring old houses.
Construction: I built the entire house from 2 mm (5/64") plywood. I glued 2 mm thick sheet of balsa to the exterior, and treated them with a wire brush. Then I glued on 3/32" to 1/8" wide strips of 1 mm balsa, and used the wire brush bring out the grain on the strips too. The paint is FolkArt's Barnyard red.
The "stone" foundation is made from Paperclay - I tore small pieces and applied edge to edge. When dry, I painted it with diluted FolkArt paint. I used natural colors like black, ochre, iron oxide (red) etc.
For the roof, I used a 1:50 scale molded plastic sheet of tiles. It came in terracotta color, but was so shiny and plastic-looking that I had to paint it. I basecoated it so the paint would stick, then used terracotta paint toned down with a bit of brown.
The hidden entrance hall: I wanted to build the house with an open back for easy access, but that would mean the entrance hall was completely enclosed. Changing the floorplan was not an option, as I wanted to depict a traditional type of house. Instead, I made a removable panel that covers part of the front, from the right corner to the left of the door. And in the hidden hall, there's a "hidden" closet under the stairs.
The attic was unfurnished and used for storage only. Each grown-up family member had their own chest for keeping their clothes and other personal belongings in.
The main room: The door in the corner leads out to the hall. To the left is a fireplace. The splinter light (here placed near the window) provided additional working light on evenings and in the winter.
The clock and chest of drawers are faux grained. Furniture was made from softwood, and sometimes faux grained. At this time, chests of drawers were beginning to replace chests in peasant households.
The extending bed and gate-leg drop-leaf table were extremely popular in 19th century peasant homes. The table was placed by the window and the beds were arranged symmetrically along the walls.
During the day, the beds were piled high with mattresses and pillows covered with a bedspread. At night, most of the mattresses were placed on the floor so everyone had somewhere to sleep. Most familys were very large by today's standards, and there were seldom enough beds for everyone.
The kitchen has a fireplace that's typical of the 18th and 19th century. The gap in its back wall is the baking oven. It was heated with a fire or glowing embers before the bread was baked. A three-legged pan with a wooden spoon in it stands on the hearth.
The wall shelf holding dinner plates and some coffe cups is a typical feature of old Swedish kitchens. In the back of the room, shelves are holding a sieve, a copper pan, a mortar and pestle, a wooden bowl (actually made from a seed pod), a coffee grinder and a three-legged coffee pan. Below the shelves, mangling utensils are leaning against the wall. Linen items were rolled around the dowel, and then you put it on a flat surface and ran the flat tool back and forth on top of it, making the dowel roll and eventually pressing the cloth flat.
In the left edge of this pic, you can see the logs that make up the walls of this house. I needed to finish the edges somehow and faking the logs that would have been inside the walls seemed neat.
The family: Eventually, I made a family to live in the cottage. Here they're depicted in front of their home (Photoshop trickery, really). Of course a real-life family would have several more children in the coming years. Maybe that's why the mother's dress doesn't quite fit in the stomach area?
You can read about their clothes on my Swedish dolls page.
