The Sybil House and the Dottie House: Two Miniature Dollhouses

In 1976 I purchased a magazine with the title The Miniature Magazine which was published by Harold H. Carstens, Sybil C. Harp, editor. I purchased the May issue and planned to complete a project offered by Barbara Mott titled: Inspired by Bliss/A dollhouse. I had two small children at the time, and the magazine, and the project, were stored for use at a later time. Well, here it is 2010, and, I just completed the project featured in the May issue of the 1976 The Miniature Magazine.

I am so glad that I found, and kept, that magazine. The little dollhouse that I just finished is precious. The dollhouse is an original design by Barbara Mott which was inspired by a lithographed house made in the United States by R. Bliss, Converse, Whitney-Reed, and others during the 1830's to 1900. This house, number 11 in the series, is called The Sybil House. The completed house is 6 ½ inches high from the roof peak to the bottom of the house, 4 inches wide and 2 12 inches deep, with two floors. The outside walls are printed, as is the chimney. The instructions in the magazine include the print, a list of materials needed, instructions for cutting the wooden pieces and tips for finishing the roof and interior of the dollhouse. The dollhouse is colorful, a nice size and a great historical replication of a common house of that period.

A few years after buying the magazine, I discovered, and also purchased The Mott's Miniature Furniture Workshop Manual, published by Fox Books of the Fox Chapel Publishing Co., Inc. I purchased this book in 1995, and was pleased to discover plans for building The Dottie House, a reproduction of an antique lithographed doll house, which The Sybil House was based on. This tiny doll house was purchased from Dottie Von Fliss by Allegra Irene Mitchell Mott, Barbara Mott's mother. As you can see in the picture, this house is much smaller, being only 3 inches tall from the roof peak to the bottom of the house, 2 inches wide and almost 1 ½ inches deep, with two floors. This tiny dollhouse has a hinged front so that you may open it. The outside walls are printed, and the original doll house interior was also lithographed, however this tiny house needs to be finished by the builder.

I built The Dottie House the day after I built The Sybil House. And, it was easy to build them both. The instructions were clear, the prints were easy to apply, and the interiors were easily finished too. I like them both. Both are attractive and will add a great touch to my miniature collection.