Found and bought

inside the bogey hole

Dalton House has a large under-stair cupboard where useful 'junk' is being stored.  I have just been on a rummage in there and discovered a couple of things for Parkside (maybe).

few bits and bobs

I also went through my 'for sale' box but not much pickings in there

companion set kit

My first purchase has arrived - found on EBay - I once had four of these!  I promise that's the last time I say that - just got to 'let go'.

bedroom fire surround

Just a pointer

Some of you will already have found your way to the Pages at the top of the Blog; this is just a nudge to any other readers who might want to know what rooms I will be having in my project and who 'lives there' which should give you a flavour of where this is heading.

Most of the stuff I am buying I already owned in the Bentley project as that too was set in 1911 so there are moments of real pain when I have to buy the same again or, worse still, remember the perfect object which was a one off and that I will never have again.

So.... it begins .....

Here we go again.

A couple of days ago I had a mad late night moment when trawling EBay.  I saw this:

Parkside by Honeychurch

How can you not love it.  So.... for the first time ever .... I will have two projects on the go at the same time.

I live in a smallish house and don't have anywhere for numerous dolls houses so every time I finish a house (hoping it might be my last one) I have to sell it or give it way so I can move on to the next one.  Earlier this year we added a dedicated 8 x 11 workroom to work in, so this one is being 'squeezed' in.

I saw it late on Friday night and by early Saturday evening Parkside and I were back home getting to know each other.

At this stage I am distinctly nervy of it as it is totally a different build to anything I have done before - no slot and slide and glue MDF kit this one.  Made of ply and all the pieces will need gluing and pinning (I hate pinning).  Imagine you had a dolls house plan and had cut your own (with skill) this box of bits is what you would have.  

the scary moment

I like Honeychurch interiors; by cutting off a chunk of the room as they do it means you can make an interesting and nicely finished fourth wall.  This can be a challenge with a flat fronted house.

basically five rooms

The small 'hut' goes in upstairs - presumably a lavatory.  Around 1900 houses in towns and cities were built with upstairs lavatories (no wash basin).  The bathroom would be above the kitchen and always separate from the lavatory to be 'hygienic'.  (Think houses in France)

This little sketch shows how it looks (No, I didn't do it, not that talented)

My 'concern' at the moment is that I do like realism and always have to tweak a dolls house to make it work as it would in real life.  This one lets you into a hall and staircase but no access to a kitchen or any rooms behind this sliver of a house.  Things like that are not usually a problem as I can often devise some means of suggesting this or that exists elsewhere.  I am not sure how to do that here and am twitchy about having to re-cut loads of floors and walls in ply to make that happen.  Also every time I do this it wastes such a lot of the kit.

I am doing my very best to accept the little cutie as it is and think of it as a way of displaying rooms rather than actually being able to walk through the door and live in it.  Mmmmm that's tough.

Here's a layout of a similar house in real life - imagine we are looking at the front slice just cut off behind the first rooms on each floor:

what I want v. what I've got

Here's a house that looks a bit like mine just to demonstrate that balaconied Edwardians are out there:

Parkside came from York and you can see a ton of them with balconies around the edge of the race course and you often see them at the seaside and, of course overlooking parks (Parkside!)

Never having done two houses at once before I am not sure how I will feel about my time and money being spread more thinly across each house.  That will be an interesting 'tug of love'.

I hope some you sign up and join me for the ride.