And yet, another Keystone of Boston dollhouse!

 

Yes, another Keystone of Boston dollhouse! Keystones make up a large portion of my dollhouse collection. I have posted about them or mentioned them in 30 of my previous posts. Yes, I was curious and looked that up. My fascination with them probably stems from receiving a Keystone Tudor from Santa in 1948, I posted about it here. 

 This Keystone dollhouse was shown in a Keystone brochure of 1950.

An unusual feature of this house, not seen in other Keystones, is the side "picture" window. 

This model is one of their six room dollhouses without stairs or a fireplace, although there are two chimneys!

The brochure indicated "electric light in each room". Brackets on top of the upstairs walls hold D batteries to power the light bulbs in each of the six rooms. Several of my Keystone houses have this feature, but I have never checked to see if any of them are still functioning.

The living room is furnished with Lynnfield furniture, my favorite dollhouse furniture. I have been told there is a book being written on Lynnfield dollhouse furniture.

Lynnfield furniture is also found in the dining room.

In the kitchen is the unidentified brand of furniture I refer to as Marshall Field furniture. According to a 1957 Grandmother Stover catalog, this furniture was first sold at the Marshall Field store in Chicago. It is often attributed to Chestnut Hill Studios; it was sold in their catalogs, but the maker is still unknown.

In the bedroom is more Lynnfield furniture. I prefer it over the second generation of the Lynnfield line of similar pieces made by Sonia Messer.

The bathroom has more of the Marshall Field furniture.

The nursery is filled with Marshall Field furniture, and a sweet little yellow Strombecker duck rocker.

Classic lines are shown on the Lynnfield living room furniture with the Duncan Phyfe sofa and Queen Anne chairs. Chester Waite started this line of furniture in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, in the 1930s.

Lynnfield pieces include the desk, grandfather clock, and 18th Century end table. 

Zillner and Cooper's Antique & Collectible Dollhouses and Their Furnishings  

indicates a floor model radio was included in the line circa 1940; it is possible that this radio was produced by Lynnfield.

The dining room is furnished with Lynnfield Duncan Phyfe pieces. The candelabra and the items in the corner cupboard are Tootsie Toy. 

In the kitchen, more of the Marshall Field furniture sold in Chestnut Hill Studios, Mark Farmer and Grandmother Stover catalogs.

The bedroom is furnished with the Lynnfield Empire bedroom set....vanity and stool, bed and night table.

The Empire bedroom set included this chifforobe and dresser.

Bathroom furniture first sold at Marshall Field in Chicago. All the the pieces of this popular furniture are so well made and truly reflect the furniture and appliances made from the late 1940s through early 1960s. I am hoping someone will eventually come forward and identify the creative artist that produced this wonderful furniture.

Such a sweet little set of nursery furniture....who made you?

And the little family of Caco dolls that live in my little Keystone of Boston house with the yellow shutters. 

The Ainsleys continue their house hunt.....

Nevil and Annie liked the house they looked at yesterday, but after a good nights rest, they are ready to look at more houses.

Today Maryam has taken them to the Keystone Meadows subdivision on the west side of the village.  "The builder of this house was Keystone of Boston. It was built in 1947 and has 660 square inches of living space.  The seller is asking $130 for it, which I realize is at the top of your budget, but we can always offer a lower price to start. Let's look  inside." Annie mentions that she loves the red shutters and gray roof.

"Oh, what a lovely curved staircase!" says Annie.  

"Cecil, the owners haven't moved their furniture out yet, so I want you to be on your best behavior.  Understood?" says Dad.  "Yes, Daddy, I'll be good." answers Cecil.

Annie notices the fireplace and says, "This will be great for hanging stockings at Christmas...and I think Santa may even be able to get down this chimney, kids!"
Nevil thinks this living room will be a great place to watch his sports and fishing shows on TV...in fact, he may be doing that already. Fiona is looking for a good place to sit so she can  read the next exciting chapter in her book.

Upstairs Mom is checking out the big closet in the bathroom while Cecil checks out the size of the bathtub.

"Oh, Rory, we will have to get you a little duck to rock in," says Annie. Sophie says, "I wanna wock too, Mummie!"

         
"Nice size bedroom," says Annie. "I love the blue wallpaper--we won't have to replace that.  And there is plenty of room in the corner for Rory's crib."

Nevil likes the size of the refrigerator and wonders if the owners are leaving it. 

"This is big enough to hold all the beer I will need for  poker parties with my new friends," he says. 

"Well," says Annie, "let's wait to meet your new friends before we plan a poker party!"

"Maryam, we really like this house!  Let's keep this  one on our list too!" says Annie.

After lunch, Maryam takes them to a house located on the northwest side of the village in the Keystone Woods subdivision.

"This is the newest house of the three, and also the largest at 1084 square inches. It was built by Keystone Wood Toys in 1955. Don't you love this bright blue door?" asks Maryam. 
 "I like  the large windows," says Nevil, "and it is landscaped nicely so the upkeep should be easy for me." 

"Oh, this is a large living area!" Annie exclaims. "I hope it doesn't look big just because  it is almost empty."  Nevil likes the hardwood floors.

"Girls! Girls!" says Annie, "don't snoop in the boxes. The contents don't belong to us."

"Oh, this kitchen is great!" says Annie. "I love to cook and having so much space will make it even more enjoyable. I can even start teaching Fiona to cook.  Look, Nevil, a window over the sink facing the front of the house...just perfect!"  

Maryam tells the Ainsleys that all the appliances stay, including the two portable cabinets.

Upstairs everyone checks out the bedrooms. Nevil says, "I think the children's area will be large enough...a set of bunkbeds for Fiona and Cecil here by the window, and Sophie's little bed there in the corner. That will still leave a little room for playing...upstairs instead of downstairs!"

"And the other bedroom is not a bad size either," adds Annie. "And look, the bathroom is right off the master bedroom."

"Cecil, please stop climbing on everything.  Mummie doesn't want you to get hurt."

 "I'm not going to fall, Mummie, I'm a big boy!"

                                                                 

"Look, Nevil, double sinks.  Isn't that wonderful? Now I can have a sink that's not full of your whiskers everytime I want to clean my face!" 

"Good location for a  washer and dryer, " says Nevil.  "Wonder if they stay? Let's not forget to ask Maryam."

"So," says Maryam, "shall we keep this one on the list?" 

"Oh, I love this house, Maryam.   We forgot to ask what the seller is asking for it!" 

 "It's listed for $84, which is a great price in this neighborhood.  It just came on the market yesterday, and it will probably sell quickly. So, if you are interested in it, you will need to make a decision quickly." says Maryam.

Nevil and Annie decide to take overnight to think over their choices, but early next morning they are in Maryam's office making an offer........

             

and then signing the papers on their new home!

Soon they are back in their Winnebago and headed  home to start packing for their move to a nice little village in the south.

Hmmn.  Wonder which house they decided to make their new home......


The furniture in the first house is 1":1' by Strombecker, 1935-50, with the exception of the pink baby crib which is unmarked, but possibly made in Germany.