My doll house was built by my dad from McCalls pattern No.150W. I can imagine Dad working hard in his workshop to get everything just right so he would have a very happy daughter when it was presented. Frustration would have let the occasional swear word slip but he would have gotten quickly back on track. For the finishing touches he would ask for an expert opinion from Mom before painting or finishing the decorating. McCalls included a photo on the cover of the pattern.
Dad's version was very true to the pattern. Made from plywood, the house size was 51" long, 11 1/2" deep, 18 1/2" high. Built to 3/4 scale. A little girl's paradise world. Of course my furnishings and decorating was quite different. My kitchen/dining area had tan woodgrain contact paper "linoleum". Cabinets were not built in, and no curtains on the windows. Going upstairs to the living room, I remember the steps as well as the floor covered with Terry Cloth forest green "carpeting", The fireplace was painted black while the "brick" was a dull shade of red. I don't remember wall coverings, but I know Mom would have chosen light tans or grays. "Carpeting" in the bedrooms was again terry cloth (probably an older towel from the cabinet) while the bathroom had "linoleum" again. None of the windows had curtains. Of course the outside was painted also. It sat on a long older dark varnished table that seemed perfect in size for this use.
Ready to move in. The family I had was several hard plastic dolls with no clothes on and immovable arms and legs. Reminded me of clothespin dolls but in my imagination they could do everything that real people did. The furniture was again heavy colored molded plastic. I remember the beds as being blue with a white coverlet on top. The dressers even had drawers that opened! The dining room set was brown, a table and 4 chairs whose fragile legs eventually got broken. The kitchen appliances were separate and in the most modern style of the day. There were some cabinets which included the none working kitchen sink. The living room had an overstuffed easy chair with couch to match and a small oval coffee table. My memory is fuzzy on other chairs for the living room but I seem to remember at least one. I can't remember the color of the bathroom fixtures but I know they were not white. Pink seems to come to mind. I loved having the storage drawer, as sometimes in my rearranging, the furniture I wasn't using or the family went in there when I was finished playing. I wish I had a photo of me playing with it.
As we moved, my doll house came with us, and was set up in the basement playroom though I was almost getting too old and my sister Julie was beginning to spend more time with it than I. Years later, it was redecorated and put to use by the next generation but alas it eventually met its demise and a potential family heirloom was discarded.
Researching on the internet came up with many photos how others had elaborately decorated their dollhouses with self created furniture miniatures, photos for the walls, curtains, and furnishings. Some even gave it a Victorian look though the house design is decidedly a modern 1950's tri-level. Almost makes me want to find a copy of the pattern and build another one.
