PLANS for "A Dream of a Dollhouse to Build"

FRONT VIEW OF HOUSE

BACK VIEW OF HOUSE

DISCLAIMER FROM ORIGINAL PUBLICATION IN WOMAN'S DAY MAGAZINE, MID-OCTOBER, 1976:
The designs herein are exclusively for the use of the individual purchaser only. Reproductions of the material may be made for charitable purposes, but the purchaser warrants that the articles produced from the use of the designs will not, with the exception noted above, be sold, bartered, traded or otherwise delivered to a third party for a consideration.


Sheet 1:
 Please note that the list of materials and supplies were compiled in 1976, forty years ago. Since that time many new dollhouse materials have been produced for crafters. Please use your discretion in choosing new materials or supplies that would be more suitable for your dollhouse construction. I have taken the liberty to substitute some finished dollhouse products as opposed to making them from larger materials. 

MATERIALS LIST

Platform and Floors:

One 4’ x 8’ sheet ¼” plywood

One 12¾” x 14¾” piece ½” plywood

20 feet of 1” x 2” pine
16 feet of 1” x 1” pine

House:

One 4’ x 8’ sheet ⅜” cabinet-grade plywood
30 feet dollhouse window and door framing sized ⅛” x ½”

10 feet dollhouse window sills sized ⅛” x⅝”

One 3’ x 4’ piece ⅛” plywood for roofs

26 feet roof edging sized ¼” x ½” 

2 feet roof cleats sized ¼” x  ½” 

Skylights:

One 1’ x 3’ piece .10 thickness clear acetate

⅛” wide matte black chart tape

⅜” wide matte black chart tape

Fireplace:

Two 4” x 17¼” pieces ¼” plywood

One 4” x 4½” piece ¼” hardboard

3 feet of 1” x 3” pine

One 3” x 4” piece 1” pine stock

Chimney Top:

2” piece 1⅝” diameter pole
1” piece ¾” diameter dowel

One piece ¾” x 2” x 3½” pine scrap

Stairway:

One 2½” x 60” piece ½” plywood

2½” x 4” x 8” block cut from pine or plywood

Terrace:

One 13” x 15” piece ½” plywood

40 feet of ⅛” x ½” dollhouse trim  stained to resemble redwood

SUPPLIES

(some  supplies are for the furniture; 

  patterns for furniture will be provided at a later date)

White wood glue
¾” and ½” wire brads or small nails
Pigmented shellac primer (i.e. Kilz)
White and green semi-gloss latex enamel (or colors of your choice)
Acrylic paints
Plastic wood filler
½” x ½” brass hinges for front door
Aquarium sand
Site gravel
Miniature white brick



PROCEDURE

Step 1:
Cut ¼” plywood, 1 x 1 and 1 x 2 pine stock for platform pieces and assemble
     with glue and ¾” brads as shown on Sheet 2.
Cut ¼” plywood for floors as shown on Sheet 2.
Attach large floor piece in position on platform as indicated.
The smaller ¼”plywood floor piece for the garage is attached later.
Cut out ½” plywood sub-floor for the terrace.

Step 2:
Cut walls 1-5, 9-16, and 24 from ⅜" plywood as shown on Sheet 4.
Test-assemble walls around floor before cutting out the window and door 
     openings as described in the General Directions.

Step 3:
Assemble garage walls around the smaller floor piece.

Step 4:
Cut pieces 6-8, 17-23 from ⅜" plywood and the staircase assembly 26-31 
     from ½” plywood as shown on Sheet 4 (Note: Do not attach the 
     staircase trim until after painting.)

Step 5:
Cut out all window and door openings and assemble the lower level pieces
     permanently as described in the General Directions and as shown on 
     Sheet 3.

Step 6:
Cut pieces for the chimney as in the Assembly Detail B on Sheet 3.
     Assemble with glue and brads. Do not fasten in place.

Step 7:
Cut floor 31 for upper level from ¼” plywood as shown on Sheet 5.
Cut walls 32, 33, 35, 36, 39 and 40 from ⅜" plywood as indicated. 
Test-assemble parts and position on lower level with chimney standing in
     place. Make certain there is clearance around chimney for the coat of
     sand paint. 
Cut the pieces and assemble them for the removable skylight as in Assembly
     Detail C on Sheet 3 and roof G-G under Sheet 6. 
Test-fit these pieces on the lower level with the upper level in place. 

Step 8:
Assemble the upper level pieces permanently. Remember that the upper 
     level is removable. 
Cut cleats and attach to underside of upper level floor as indicated. 
Fasten chimney in place, using glue and brads through lower level wall 10
     and by toe-nailing into floor.
Cut walls 4, 7 and 8 to fit as shown on Sheet 3.
Cut out doors and install these walls permanently.

Step 9:
Cut and attach vertical cleats on both sides of the lower half of the stairway
     landing window.
Cut pieces 41-47 as shown on sheet 5. 
Assemble gallery permanently but do not attach to piece 42.

Step 10:
Cut the parts for the fixed skylight as in Assembly Detail D, Sheet 3, to fit.
Assemble and attach all pieces.
Do not affix the acetate until all painting is complete.

Step 11:
Cut and assemble all roofs A-A through F-F as shown on Sheet 6. 
Cut and assemble chimney top but do not attach to roof.

Step 12:
Following the assembly details under Sheet 3, cut and install window and door         framing. 
Cut and install the front door frame, sill, doorstop and door as on Sheet 3. 
Cut and install the garage sill 25 as shown on Sheet 4. 
Hinge door to frame after painting, using ½” x ½” brass hinges.

Step 13:
Cut  ⅛” x ½” dollhouse trim stained to resemble redwood for terrace and railing
     as in Assembly Detail E on Sheet 3.
Attach these parts to  ½” plywood sub-floor. Set aside until painting is complete.

Step 14:
Refer to the General Directions to finish the house and do the landscaping.



GENERAL DIRECTIONS

Preparing and Cutting Materials:
     To assure accuracy when cutting the walls and other parts of the dollhouse, 
measure, mark and cut one piece at a time. Use a carpenter's square to check
all right angles. Also, when laying out pieces, be certain to allow for saw cuts 
and make certain to do all cutting just outside drawn guideline, that is inside 
waste area. 
     To cut out windows and doors, measure and mark the positions as 
indicated on the diagrams. Drill four holes close together inside window 
cutting lines to make an opening large enough to insert your saber saw
blade. With a fine-toothed blade, cut out all windows and doors. Sand all 
cut edges to remove splinters. Fine saw marks from the saw blade will be 
covered by window and door frames.

Assembly:
     To test-assemble, use masking tape or wire brads partially driven in so 
they can be removed. If a part is too long, trim it; if too short, recut the part from fresh stock. Use rejected piece for a smaller part. When a portion of the
house is test-assembled and all parts fit, draw match-marks with a pencil 
across adjoining pieces and number both marks lightly with pencil. Vary the positions of the match-marks and their number. This assures correct 
reassembly.
     Sand all pieces to remove burrs along cut edges. To assemble permanently,
align match-marks, then coat with white wood glue and assemble with brads, 
some inserted in the original holes. Use glue and brads to attach walls to 
lower and upper floor levels.
     Check joints with a square before glue sets. If assembled pieces do not remain square and rigid, nail a brace diagonally across assembled pieces to 
hold them until glue sets.
     Always wipe away excess glue immediately with a damp cloth. When dry,
use a fine nail set to set all brad heads slightly below surface.

Finishing:
     Fill all nail holes and surface defects with wood filler; sand smooth and dust.
Apply sealer/primer (i.e. Kilz) to all platform, house and roof surfaces. Do not apply sealer to the terrace assembly. Use a 3"paint roller to apply sealer to larger areas and a brush to work in corners and tight places. Sand and dust all parts again. Paint house with white latex enamel; let dry.
     For colored interior house walls (see asterisks * on diagrams), front door, 
chimney top and fireplace hearth, use acrylic paints.  Dollhouse wallpapers can also be used on the interior walls.
     For roofs and trim, add a brown acrylic paint to white latex enamel to make
tan color. Paint roof edges, window and door trims; let dry. To remaining tan
paint, add a small amount of aquarium sand. Mix well and test consistency on 
scrap lumber. Keep adding sand until you have an evenly applied texture. 
Coat top surfaces of roofs with sand paint, except for small area for chimney 
top on upper level roof. Allow roofs to dry. Glue black chimney top in place.
     For plaster-like texture on fireplace, add sand to white latex enamel as
described above. Paint fireplace. 
     To simulate concrete floor in the garage, add small amount of black acrylic
paint to white latex enamel, then add sand as described above. Paint garage
floor. 

Interior Floors:
     The instructions included here from 1976 will have you doing everything from scratch. Because there are so many wonderful dollhouse paper and wood products to create your interior floors, I have declined from including them. 

Landscaping: 
     To finish yard area, draw guidelines for path to front door and a 3½” 
diameter circle for each tree. And here again I deviate from the 40 year old 
instructions. You may paint yard area with medium green latex enamel, or you may use one of the many "grass" products made specifically for dollhouse/train landscapes.  
     For path to front door, brush glue on and sprinkle with site gravel; or use 
brick or stone pavers found in craft stores. 
     Add trees to your landscape that can be found at your craft store. The instructions recommend to use miniature white bricks (mentioned in supplies) to finish the edge of the circle around the trees.  

     

Sheet 2:

ASSEMBLY KEY FOR FRONT

 ASSEMBLY KEY FOR BACK

ASSEMBLY KEY FOR PLATFORM

DRAWING 1 - Base Assembly

Sheet 3:

DRAWING 2a - Lower Level Assembly

DRAWING 2b - Lower Level Assembly

ASSEMBLY DETAIL A - Front Entry

ASSEMBLY DETAIL B - Chimney

ASSEMBLY DETAIL C - Removable Skylight 

ASSEMBLY DETAIL D - Fixed Skylight

ASSEMBLY DETAIL E - Terrace

Sheet 4: Lower Level Details and Stairs

CUT ALL WALLS FROM 3/8" PLYWOOD

EXTERIOR WALLS:  See Drawing 2a and 2b for placement of  walls

walls 1, 2

walls 3, 4

wall 5



walls 6, 7, 8

walls 9, 11

wall 10

wall 12

wall 13

wall 14

walls 15, 16

walls 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23

(note different thickness of plywood for walls 21, 22)

walls 24, 25

STAIRCASE : DETAIL DRAWINGS 26-30

Stair Assembly

Lower Stair 

UPPER STAIR BLOCK DETAIL and

WALL  28

wall 29

walls 30, 31

Sheet 5: Upper Level Assembly and Details

DRAWING 3 - Upper Level Assembly part 1

(enlarged bottom view of upper level floor above)

Upper Level Assembly part 2

UPPER LEVEL DETAILS

wall 32

wall 33 

wall 34

wall 35

wall 36

wall 37

walls 38, 39, 40

wall 41

wall 42

wall 43

walls 44, 45, 46, 47

Sheet 6:  Roof Assemblies

DRAWING 4 - Roof Assemblies

Assembly Detail A, B, C, D

Roof Assemblies A-A and BB

Roof Assembly C-C

Roof Assemblies D-D and E-E

Roof Assembly F-F

Roof Assembly G-G