It was Christmas, 1987 and I was hoping for a dollhouse. When I tiptoed out into the living room early Christmas morning I realize that the enormous cloth covered mound near the tree was probably it! I lifted just one corner and saw what seemed to be plastic. Putting that together with the size, I thought Grandma was giving me a big plastic Barbie house. This wasn't what I had anticipated, but I knew my reaction would mean a lot to her. Quickly getting back in bed, I planned a whole dramatic scene; hand to forehead, a gasp of surprise and several planned exclamations to express my gratitude and amazement.
When I was officially allowed out and the cloth was removed, my pretend amazement routine was officially forgotten. I had a wooden Beacon Hill Dollhouse complete with Christmas wreath on the door. I was genuinely stunned and the exclamations were real. It became more that just a toy but a whole other world for me. I spent hours arranging and playing and fantasizing that I was living in the victorian era.
Fast forward 22 years and picture that well loved dollhouse sitting dusty in storage several states away from my home. Then just 2 days ago, my wonderful husband helped make a miracle happen...my Beacon Hill is home! I can't express how ecstatic I am! There is so much happy work to do as you can see in these pictures:
See all the dust? Yikes! The greasy marks on the walls are from the wax I used to put up wallpaper in this dining area. The picture below is of the bathroom just the way I left it. The "valance" is a cupcake wrapper! I painted a frosted effect on the lower pane with glue. At least that effect is a keeper!
Here's an overall view of the house below. I evidentally wasn't afraid of color!
You can tell it was the 80's! Teal blue and seafoam green?! And why did I paint the bays 2 different colors? :)
You can see that I tried to paint a panelling effect on the side of the stairs. The wax spots on the stairs were for holding the red corduroy carpet runner into place.
Pink and white below in the little girl's room:
This is the brightest yellow ever. Again, I must have loved the blue and yellow color combination. The painted triangles on the window were a great touch though!!
