Thursday, July 7, 2016

Mindolton Manor and Lynnfield furniture

I found this wonderful big dollhouse on Craigslist, back June of 2009. It was fully built when I got it. It is made from a kit called the Bay Mansion #520 by Walmer which was available in the early 1980s.

The house is skillfully built. The exterior is beautifully finished. I love the colours the original owner used.

I have furnished the house exclusively with Lynnfield furniture (except for the grandfather clock in the library).

Chester Waite of Lynnfield, Mass. started making doll house furniture in the 1930's and marketed it as "Lynnfield". The furniture was elegantly and finely made and reflected several different periods of furniture design. The company changed hands several times over the years and the production moved to Columbia SA in the 1960's when Sonia Messer took over. Production ceased in the early 1980's. The furniture was marketed by Block House throughout its history and it is sometimes referred to as "Block House". The period styles remained the same over the years as did the nice quality and it continued to be made of genuine solid mahogany and mahogany veneers and assembled with tiny nails

The left wing (when facing the house) contains the Dining Room, Library, and Master Bedroom. There is a kitchen behind the dining room, but it is almost inaccessible and I have no pictures of it.

The butler is ready to serve dinner. Where is the family?

The library


All set for a chess game in front of the fire

The master bedroom has a nice sitting area

The middle section contains the stair halls. This is the entrance hall on the main floor.

The hall on the upper floor has a nice TV area for the family

The third floor hall has stairs leading to the attic which is not finished, so I have no pictures of it.


The right wing opens from the side and has 4 rooms

The living room is very elegant.

I love the Lynnfield furniture designs.

The lady of the house is a lovely Joan Benzell doll

I took a part a petit point evening bag to make the matching carpets

The bay windows in the door are great for extra furniture.

I love the veranda outside the living room

One of my favourite Lynnfield pieces is this large breakfront.

The right wing has a lovely big bedroom. The chaise lounge is a very rare Lynnfield piece.



A friend made this wonderful needlepoint rug. It is perfect in this bedroom

The vanity is also a rare piece

The nursery is above the blue bedroom

The large dollhouse is a Hallmark Christmas ornament

The small room that adjoins the nursery was shown on the dollhouse plans as the bathroom, but the builder of this house moved the door from the hallway to the nursery and made it the nanny's room. At the moment this large house has no bathroom.

I hope you enjoyed to tour. This is a very special dollhouse and I am happy to have it and the lovely Lynnfiield fruniture in my collection.

12 comments:

  1. Hello Susan,
    What a treasure! The house is not only a beautiful design, but it is very well made and beautifully detailed. It is a grand house and the furniture is gorgeous! I especially love the breakfront and the sofa in the right wing bedroom.
    Big hug
    Giac

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    1. Thanks Giac!! I really enjoy this house. It was quite a find.

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  2. Oh my! it looks just lovely. I think the blue bedroom is my favorite in the house. And the exterior is completely gorgeous.

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    1. Thanks Sheila!! I had such fun finding and arranging the furniture and accessories.

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  3. Hi Susan! This house is Huge, and you are right in saying that it is skillfully built and beautifully finished. Your collection of Lynnfield furniture is Astounding and wonderfully displayed in this Beautiful house!

    elizabeth

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    1. Thanks Elizabeth!! The house takes up a good part of my dining room, but even so I love it! Who needs to eat in a dining room when you can have a mansion in there?

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  4. This is such an amazing house! And to have all the furnishings be Lynnfield pieces is really remarkable! I agree with you that they are very well made period piece furniture! What a great collection! Thank you for sharing it!

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    1. Yes, I love their furniture. I see it come up on eBay quite often, but, alas, I don't have any more room for it, so I have to pass.

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  5. Hello Susan, A wonderful house, I especially like the panel work in the dining room and the inviting library. You have created a lovely color palette throughout.
    Philip

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    1. Thanks so much Philip!! I love the dining room too. The colors are so soothing.

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  6. Susan...Florine suggested I contact you. I'm down-sizing my antique dollhouse collection and she thought you might be interested in some of the things I'm parting with. Feel free to email me at teaqueen123@gmail.com and we can talk about what is for sale and what you might be looking for. Thanks, Louise

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  7. What a great collection. I do not think that I have seen so many Lynnfield pieces all at once. You have a wonder collection in a great vintage house.

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