Last year I agreed to build a doll house for the Morgan County Historical Society that would be a typical Victorian house. The house I used for a model is in my hometown of Laurens, SC, and is an 1890 Queen Anne Victorian landmark in the area.

The doll house is built to the 1 /12 scale, or 1" = 1' so it ended up being over 4-1/2' long x 3' wide and over 31/2' high and weighs about 60 lbs. It really was a labor of love but took nearly a year to complete. I worked approximately 1,500 hrs on it, 6 days a week - sometimes 8 to 10 hrs a day.

I gave up most of my outside work, even my garden. My wife Myra was very supportive of the project because she always knew where to find me. I started out with no patterns, just the measurements I took from the real house, and made cardboard patterns as I went along. Some items such as roofing, siding, windows and doors were purchased, but each porch post, each railing spindle and the spires were all hand-turned on a lathe.

It is now on display at the Historical Society Museum in McConnelsville, in the building where the dolls are displayed. Strangely enough, it is called "The Doll House." It is furnished in period furniture. Go check it out.

Bernie Porter