Beatrix Potter's Dolls' House but not Lucinda's!

I've just returned from a week of climbing hills in the beautiful English Lake District and, as mid-week respite for my tired limbs, I went to see Beatrix Potter's dolls' house at Hill Top near Ambleside. Hill Top was Beatrix's favourite place to be and the 17th century farmhouse is now owned by the National Trust.

Hill Top - Beatrix Potter's Farmhouse in Near Sawrey

In her will, Beatrix asked that Hill Top remain untenanted and furnished and therefore the interior is wonderfully authentic.  For those of us who love Beatrix Potter's books, the house (inside and out), gardens and furnishings are instantly recognisable from many of her illustrations. 

Me being me, however, I made a beeline for the dolls' house which is upstairs in 'The Treasure Room'.  This is the dolls' house described by the National Trust as "the very dolls' house used to conjure up The Tale of Two Bad Mice". 

Apart from the fact that the house looked somewhat trussed up - presumably to stop visitors from opening it up, or perhaps the catch no longer works - the first thing that struck me was what a beautiful old house it is.  The proportions, carpentry, paintwork and patina of age are wonderful.

The second thing to strike me, however, was how little it resembled the illustrations of the dolls' house in 'The Tale of Two Bad Mice"!  Apart from the red brick exterior there are very few similarities. Where were the bay windows, the balconies, the square tower to the left-hand side, the protruding bay corner to the right-hand side, the pitched roof and the little dormer window?

Winfred Warne and the dolls' house built 

by her uncle Norman Warne

A quick Google upon returning home, soon threw up this image on the Wikipedia page for 'The Tale of Two Bad Mice'.   It is explained there that Beatrix took her inspiration for the tale from "two mice in a cage trap in her cousin's home and a dollhouse being constructed by her editor and publisher Norman Warne as a Christmas gift for his niece Winifred". HERE were the bay windows, the balconies, the square tower..etc This was clearly the house that inspired the illustrations for 'The Tale of Two Bad Mice'.

So, now I'm left wondering where the beautiful but mysterious house at Hill Top fits into the picture.

Further reading confirms that 'The Tale of Two Bad Mice' was completed from photographs of Winifred's dolls' house, sent to Beatrix by Norman Warne in 1904, and I've seen nothing to indicate that Beatrix owned a dolls' house herself at the time that she wrote and illustrated the book. Warne, did send her a "glass-fronted mouse house with a ladder to an upstairs nesting loft built to her specifications so that she could easily observe and draw the mice" (which she'd rescued from the cage trap), however, that sounds nothing like this lovely house.

Whatever its origins, the dolls' house at Hill Top certainly contains many of the items used by Beatrix to illustrate her book.  In this photo you can see the kitchen stove. 

The exact one seen here and, one of a number of dolls' house items that Warne bought and sent to Beatrix for use in her illustrations.  In a letter to Warne, she mentions, "...I shall be very glad of the little stove and the ham". 

   

And of course the plaster food itself is there in the kitchen.

Unmistakably the same food that so incensed Tom Thumb and Hunca Munca. The food was bought for Beatrix by Warne from Hamley's toy shop in London, together with some "miniature furniture".

  

Maybe the miniature furniture included the kitchen dresser and chairs, as they match closely to the book illustrations too.

 

As does the birdcage.  Sadly, I couldn't see  the lovely gilded bookcase, which Beatrix bought for the project herself - maybe it was out of sight at the front of the house.

  

The wicker cradle matches up too, though the metal bed doesn't match the wooden one in the book illustrations

The NT website for Hill Top urges you to "Bring a copy of the tale with you to play a game of I spy" and I can certainly recommend that - though you might get less funny looks than me from fellow visitors if you take a child with you!

So where did the magnificent dolls' house at Hill Top come from I wonder?  Did Beatrix, having accumulated all of these miniature items for her book, have it made or buy it to house them? Did she add the other items over the years? The book was published in 1904 and Beatrix died in 1943.  

I suppose it's also possible that the NT acquired the dolls' house to house the miniatures after Beatrix's death.  

However, as I say, whatever its origins, the house is certainly very interesting. Unusually, the single large room upstairs [though there are no stairs] has two fireplaces on the black wall - I wonder if it originally had two rooms upstairs as it does downstairs.

The glass chandelier and the ceiling paper are stunning.

In between the fireplaces is this gorgeous little painting. 

The wallpaper and border in here are fabulous too.

 

The room is crammed with fine miniatures.

I have to say, however, that the bedroom is awful - a ramshackle, cold and unwelcoming room and I cannot imaging either Lucinda or Jane (who were out when I visited) being very happy sleeping in here!  Oddly, the back wall seems to have wood-effect sticky-back plastic on it - yuck.

I wonder if this room was originally the kitchen and for some reason - maybe because Beatrix's little stove didn't fit the chimney breast - it was swapped with the bedroom. The wallpaper in the kitchen is certainly more suited to a bedroom.

Beatrix's real bedroom in Hill Top is much better and was my favourite 'real' room.  The gorgeous little fourposter bed would be a great item to replicate in a dolls house. The tester and drapes were made and embroidered by Beatrix herself and go beautifully with the William Morris 'Daisy' wallpaper.

Another item in the bedroom caught my eye too - the mirror above the fireplace was, I thought, pure Judith Dunger!

Mr McGregor's Vegetable Garden

So, I had a wonderful time at Hill Top and ticked another item off my Dolls' House bucket list by seeing the dolls' house there 'in the flesh', though I would now love to know a bit more about it since it's clearly not the one made for Winifred Warne and used as inspiration for the 'The Tale of Two Bad Mice'.   So where did it come from? When did it arrive at Hill Top? And, I wonder too, where is the dolls' house Norman Warne made for his niece Winifred now?

There is a 'Contact Us' facility on the National Trust website  which says "Got a question? Get in touch, we're here to help" so I have sent them a message asking if they can answer any of my questions and I will keep you posted!

Until next time,
Zoe