Many young girls and boys dream of owning a huge wood doll house. Creative skills can be built by allowing a child to organize, decorate, and furnish a small-scale home. Then family-modeled play involving the doll house people and their lives can truly help inspire a child through decision making and story telling.
A doll house cannot be created unless it follows some model that already exists. So manufacturers look to real houses all around the world, for their ideas. Among the many styles of house construction that can be seen globally, a few have captured the imagination of these manufacturers and are more popular. These range from Colonial-type houses to Victorian and Georgian, from American Farm Houses to English Tudor.
The most regal of all doll houses is that based on the Victorian model. This was Queen Anne's favorite style of construction. She felt that the exterior and interior should look royal, and this type of doll house is truly so. It consists of two storeys. The rooms are large; so it is easy to entertain guests. The upper storey has many bedrooms; so families can stay overnight if necessary. What makes the house have that special look to it? Well, there is an unfinished third storey which contains an attic. Towers can be seen at the upper corners of the house. Fancy and curved wrap-around porches where the open areas have latticed skirting, many large windows, irregular rooflines, exteriors with lattice work skirting and exquisite millwork--these characterize a typical Queen Anne Victorian home. Ask children which is their favorite doll house; the answer is Victorian!
The Eastern area favors colonial-style houses. The house is well worth the money that is paid for it, since the area is large. Two-storied in construction and rectangular in shape, the living space is more than enough for the entire family. While the bedrooms are housed on the upper floor, the downstairs is meant for entertaining. The construction is quite standard.
Similar to Colonial houses are the Georgian homes. The shape is rectangular, but there are borders on either side. These borders consist of very large stone or brick chimneys. The impression one gets is that one side is the mirror image of the opposite side. The living space even here is very large, so there is plenty of space to move around and entertain. Georgian houses are grander colonial houses.
The simplest of them all is the American Farm House! They are in the form of an L or a T. This is so because the main portion of the house is constructed first and then it is extended at the back in the shape of an L or a T. The reason is to get more living space, that is all. Just like in other houses, the bedrooms are situated at the top. The downstairs portion consists of the living room, dining room, kitchen and bathroom. Manufacturers find these type of houses the easiest to construct.
English Tudors are perhaps my favorite house style. Huge stone chimneys, timber lines on the stone walls, narrow windows, cross-hatching near the roof line, and parapets set these homes apart from the typical. Though these wood doll house kits can be more expensive, they are also gorgeous. Generally, in an English Tudor, the bedrooms were upstairs, while guest quarters and living space remained on the main floor.
It is advisable to present the child with the list of doll houses and allow him/her to choose. They get the feeling of being important, and respect you for "respecting" their opinions! The doll house therefore becomes a very special part of their lives.