Just Like Bea's.....well, almost!

I first saw this  French dollhouse on Bea Dassonville's wonderful website Chez BEA several years ago. Bea dates the house to the 1950s and shares that it was manufactured by a company named Thomas in Mureaux, France. She calls her house "La maison de Virginie" because it once belonged to a little girl named Virginia. Bea also has 3 other houses on her website  made by this same firm.

I say mine is almost like Bea's because mine is missing the window panes, the curtains, the original flowers in the window boxes....and the front door! I've added flowers, and the other items are on my "to do" list...which gets longer and longer everyday.

I call my house La Maison de Lorraine Aubuchon....it's her country cottage and she loves to spend weekends and holidays cultivating lovely flowers in her window boxes and creating colorful displays in tubs and old pots.  This weekend  she is hosting a  gathering of her favorite people....

Here we see her showing off her latest creation to her friends Guillaume and Laurent...hmmn, are they each holding a bottle of ketchup...or are those long-necks?

Back in the kitchen, Lorraine discovers that chef Gaston and his partner Julien have set out a scrumptious looking spread for afternoon nibbling....which is the main reason they were invited.  Lorraine has difficulty managing other than her wine glass because her arms have been replaced with pipe-cleaners. Guillaume is eyeing the food with delight...one  reason why he has a small problem with his weight. Laurent heads for the fridge for another bottle of beer....or ketchup.  Lorraine wonders just where Gaston and Julien have disappeared to....

Oh, here they are in the living room.....all comfy and cozy and looking at a design book for ideas on how to decorate their new apartment in the city. Looks like they are also partaking of the beverage that France is famous for!

Lorraine, wondering why her friends Etienne and Elise haven't arrived, heads up stairs to give them a call.....but discovers...... 

"Elise! Wake up! Wake up! Please remove your glass from my good furniture before it leaves a ring!"

Lorraine Aubuchon is a soft cloth body doll with solid plastic/celluloid head and legs...sadly she lost her arms somewhere along the years and they have been replaced with a pipe cleaner. I don't think her clothes are original either; her beret is made of a red pipe cleaner wrapped circular and glued to her hair.  The other dolls are light weight plastic/celluloid and have an embossed fleur-de-lis trademark on their back.

Furniture is by Barton and Lundby, green wooden items Strombecker, mantle clock is Kage, and the bathroom furniture is Fairylite. Champagne is courtesy of Trader Joe's in Illinois....

Don't forget to visit Bea's wonderful dollhouse site
at Chez BEA ,

....guaranteed enjoyable!!