The Centennial: a Magical Dolls House.

On a rainy evening in September, I set course to Amsterdam to pick up one of the most magical dolls houses I've ever seen. It was huge, one hundred years old, and it was being offered to me for free!

'The Centennial' sitting on my drawing table.

The friendly couple welcomed me in their beautiful apartment, and there it was, sitting on the floor, ready and waiting to be picked up! I couldn't believe my luck to see such a one-of-a-kind dolls house 'staring' at me! And to think that I might just as well never have seen it, were it not that I learned of its existence only through my curiosity!

'The Centennial' sitting on the living room table, shortly after arriving in her new home. I hardly managed to get it through the front door!

The lady of the house, Mrs Lona, was selling the dolls house's furniture, and had put some pics of the items online, but there was no mention of any dolls house. Yet, looking at the pics, I was actually drawn more to the background, than to the furniture on sale! This background revealed a bit of what appeared to be an mysterious, weathered room box. So I inquired further, and the lady said that it wasn't a room box, but an entire house, and that I could just come and pick it up if I wanted it! I had not seen any pictures of it at that point, so all I knew was that it was very big, and very old, a century old, to be precise!

So I took my car and off I went to Amsterdam, not knowing what was in store for me! Crazy as I am for old, weathered dolls houses, this one was like a dream come true! I didn't know where to look, or how to feel... and as 'cherry on the cake', Mrs Lona knew the interesting story of the house's origins...

At the beginning of last century, a man with three young daughters made this house for them to play with. That is the reason it opens up on three of its sides, so they could play with it all three at the same time! A very smart solution to keep the three little scoundrels busy! I could picture them playing with the house so long ago, and found the thought very endearing.

Later on, back home, I studied it in more detail, and saw that the house had been through some changes during its long life. Someone, at some point, had added things to it, like drawing pins to uphold some of the curtains, a few pieces of furniture of a later date, including a plastic shelf, and maybe new wallpaper in some places on top of the original one. But even this 'new' paper had faded and grown old with time, just like in a real house!

Needless to say that 'm totally in love with the house, which I called 'The Centennial' for obvious reasons! I have several other houses, vintage ones, some of them in their 80's, and I love them all like children, but none of them is as old as this one, nor give me the feeling of awe that this one does! It's all wood, cardboard perhaps, and glass: basic, natural materials which I love to work with myself! And although it's not 'fancy' or posh or anything, it definitely has a soul that makes it beautiful!

And it was born out of the love of a man for his three little darlings, so it has a certain 'aura' around it which I can literally feel, but not describe.. 

None of them are alive today, yet I really hope that they come to visit their house from time to time, while I'm asleep, and play with it as they did a century ago...

The images you see here are but a beginning. The house will surely feature in future photo shoots! There is so much to see and photograph! By the way, it's shown here with its side panels removed, to allow you to look inside, but the panels are there, the house is complete!

I cannot thank Mrs Lona and her husband enough for this wonderful and generous gift! They know that I'll take very good care of mister Willemsen's beautiful creation, for that was the name of the dolls house builder: mister Willemsen.

An engraved glass panel above the front door.

Above image: the house has ancient light switches in most of the rooms, so you can lit them individually. Having no switch of its own, the bathroom is lit with this one, which also services the kitchen.

Thanks for visiting, and see you next time!

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