Progress Update on Southsea Villa - Inside

My last post was about the restoration of the outside of my C.E. Turnbull house so this post about the inside.

[You can also see the post I made when I bought the house as a restoration project back in June 2017 here and the progress report I made six months later here.]

So here is the [just about] finished interior. 

I have to say that, having put my heart and soul into decorating and furnishing this, I absolutely love it!

A very useful tips I was given regarding decorating a dolls' house is to constantly keep in mind the view of the whole of the interior which will be seen when the house is opened up, rather than concentrating solely on individual rooms.

Great advice, but frustratingly I find it's not quite as easy to follow as it perhaps sounds and often a paper or a floor covering looks like it will be just right, but once in place, it really isn't! So there was a lot of chopping and changing in this house before I was happy with the overall 'picture' I'd created - the top right room got its third and [thankfully] final papering less that two weeks ago!

 

Here is a little reminder of the blank canvas it was when I bought it.

Given that there was literally nothing except the original stairs and doors in the house, I think the interior work would probably be better termed 'refurbishment' than 'restoration'!

Of course the best bit of all is furnishing a dolls' house and this one has certainly filled up over the last few years.

A rustic but homely look developed in the kitchen and I've thoroughly enjoyed gathering together all the little accessories which seem to have taken on a bit of a pewter and bisque theme!

As the dining room has filled up, it's become ever more blousy and bling - the flash does actually make the room look much more bling than it does in natural light, but it's never going to be a room you'd hang around in if you felt a headache coming on!

What the occupants really need is a nice big display cabinet for their growing collection of glassware.

To my mind, this gentleman's study/smoking room really improved when I found the right wallpaper border. I used a strip of a plain white anaglypta for the border itself and the blue and red lines around the bottom of it were cut from a length of striped wallpaper. 

The parlour has acquired a new rug (the latest of many I've trialed in here over the past couple of years), some nice old lithographed furniture and some gilded accessories.

It took me ages to find a wallpaper I was happy with for the bedroom and eventually found this vintage one in Belarus!

This was the most difficult room of all. Having papered all the other rooms, I just couldn't find a paper that looked good with all the others. Thankfully, just a couple of weeks ago, I found this vintage paper in Germany and I'm finally happy.

Oddly, without the decor decided upon, I was finding it impossible to settle on a theme for this room, however, as soon the decorating was done, the furnishings started to come together and it's now well on its way to being a room for serious study - maybe the children of the house will be tutored in here.

The hallway, first floor and second floor landings.

I've made a few repairs to the stair banisters and balustrades and added a narrower border to the wallpaper on the second floor where the ceiling hight is much lower than on the floors below it.

Apart from the elusive 'perfect' paper for the top right room, the last part of the house to be decorated was the opening front.

The gorgeous old wallpaper I used there had been reclaimed and was in many pieces which had to be patched back together - well worth the effort though as I think they look just right.

I used lengths of antique lace as curtains for the smaller windows and gold Dresden paper trim as valances in the absence of anything more suitable, though I might actually leave them as I like they effect (again, the camera flash makes them look a lot more shiny than they actually are!)

I made the curtains for the bay windows from some very fine antique silk trimmed with old lace. A lovely old lace collar was used for the nets.  Fancy antique-look upholstery tacks came in useful to pin some lovely old trim in place as valances and curtain tie-backs.

Only this week, I boxed in the lower part of the bays and installed wooden window sills. Now I'm on a quest to find just the right ornament to place in each window.

I've left the window sills in the bays loose so that there is a little storage area under each one and I've placed the little plastic nameplate that was affixed to the house when it came to me in one of them so it will, hopefully, be kept with the house going forward.

I also plan to add a page of notes detailing the few bits of information I've gleaned about the house and outlining the work I've done to it.

Until next time,

Zoe

Progress Update on Southsea Villa - Outside

I can hardly believe it's almost three years since I posted an update on the restoration of Southsea Villa, my C.E. Turnbull dolls' house from circa 1900.

You can see the post I made when I bought the house as a restoration project back in June 2017 here and the progress report I made six months later here and then nothing for nearly three years!

 

Well no posts that is, the restoration has slowly been progressing.

And my goodness has this restoration been a challenge! The following is the tale of my 'journey'...

The Outside Papers

When I originally bought this house, I wrote in a post:

"The previous owner had made a start removing the paint, which apparently comes off quite easily with acetone, to reveal the original brick and stone papers underneath; brick at the first- and second-floor levels and stone at the ground-floor level."

Well, I soon discovered that while the paint did indeed come off fairly easily from some areas but, for some reason I can't explain, it was much harder to remove on the left-hand section and it was virtually immovable on the middle section.

There were also areas of immovable white gloss around some of the windows and sections of the papers were missing altogether. In addition to this, all of the papers had absorbed the pigment from the dark red over-paint.

So, after a huge amount of time and effort removing paint, this sorry facade is what I ended up with!

Anyone who has ever attempted this sort of restoration themselves will recognise this stage in the process where you pretty much loose heart and wonder if your efforts have been completely in vain since overpainting or papering seem to be the only sensible options.

Luckily, I didn't do either since I actually couldn't face doing anything more with it at all! So I simply put the front of the house in a cupboard and tried to forget it existed for a while as I got on with the far more rewarding job of restoring and furnishing the interior.

The Missing Bay Windows

Over a year later, I dragged the disheartening facade back out of the cupboard and still couldn't see a way forward. So I decided to turn my efforts to replacing the missing bay windows instead.

All I had to go by were some photos of two other similar C.E.Turnbull houses with bays.  Since I had no measurements and no knowledge of how to build such things, I did what I always do in these situations, I cobbled something together the best I could.

I started by drawing myself a very basic diagram of what I was aiming for, with measurements based on the size of the window apertures and guesstimates of the depth and angles of the bays made by scrutinising the photos of the other Turnbull houses.

It was clear that there were two horizontal sections missing from the bottom of the facade, upon which the bays would sit. So my first task was to make those sections by simply drawing the footprint of the bays onto wood of the appropriate thickness and to the size outlined in my diagram, and cutting them out with my mini handsaw.

Next I measured and cut out wood to form the bases of the bays and glued those in place on the horizontal sections I'd made. I had to acknowledge the limits of my meagre wood-working skills and not worry too much about angles and their joins, deciding that I would simply fill in any gaps with wood filler once I'd finished!

Next I cut out and glued wood for the tops of the bays, in the double-layered style I could see had been used on other Turnbull houses.

Then I realised it would be useful to add a third piece of wood to the underside of the tops so that the upright parts of the bay could be attached to it and add stability to the whole bay both before and after it was attached to the dolls' house frontage.

 

Next I made some upright pieces to join the bases of the bays and the tops together and, as the two photos above show, I constructed the whole bay and glued it all to dolls' house facades all at the same time as it was too tricky to construct the bay without bracing it up against the facade.

This whole process was completely improvised, with much of the contents of one of my kitchen cupboards being employed to achieve the placement I wanted while the glue dried!

 

After constructing the bays, I added little triangular pieces to the insides of the top corners of the windows to get the same angled effect I'd seen in my reference photos. 

The final step was to cut out and glue on a window ledge around the lower part of the bays.  I then filled all of the gaps in my dodgy woodwork, sanded down the whole piece to get rid of any new-looking sharp edges and did a bit of wood-bashing with various heavy objects to age it further (not too hard or the whole thing might have dropped to bits!)

I have to admit to being really quite chuffed with the final result, since I have never attempted to make anything as complicated (to an amateur like me at least) as this before and, whilst the symmetry and standard of construction certainly doesn't bear close scrutiny, it's good enough for me!

Restoring the Front Door

Before and after photos above. At some point, the original front door had been replaced by a very plain one, cut with a curve at the top to fit the original aperture. The new door I made is as near to the reference photos as I can manage.

As you can see, I've added a piece of wood at the centre top of the door arch. There was a mark in the paint where something had been attached and I found a photo of a Turnbull house with a piece of wood there, unfortunately it was a very poor photo and I couldn't quite make out exactly what it was, so this is my best guess. I'm thinking it's supposed to represent a lamp above the door, or maybe just an architectural feature. One day I hope to find a better photo and be able to reproduce it more accurately.

I also replaced two missing 'supports' below the little door canopy.

Eventually, I will add a new 'Southsea Villa' nameplate and place the home-made modern-ish one that came with it it in a hiding place in the house that I'll show you in my next blog post.

 

Inside view of front door. It was clear from my reference photos and the visible evidence of where the original hinges had been, that the original door would have been a larger rectangular one which sat behind the arched aperture (visible from the front) rather than in it, so that's where my new door sits.

The door is simply made from a fairly thick rectangular piece of wood with two thin panels glued on the top half and one on the bottom, with a further elongated diamond shape glued to the bottom panel per my reference photos.

In the absence of original door furniture, I've used a very small antique-style drawer handle or jewellery box handle as a door knocker (I think the original one would have been a lion head with ring through it's mouth similar to those found on Lines and Triang houses), and an old earring as the central door knob. The reverse side of the door is left plain.

Sadly, all the while I was building and replacing the bays and front door,  the awful spectre of the dreaded facade papers was hovering and still to be tackled...

The Outside Papers Continued

The state of the papers on the facade was still making me want to weep. So I made a decision to have a go at trying to make them look better, on the basis that anything I did could eventually be covered up if necessary. My reasoning was that at least I would know that I'd tried my best to keep what remained of the original papers on display, even if I failed, which I fully expected to do!

My first task was to tackle the various patches where the paper had been lost. I've seen other restorers simply paint in these sections to good effect. However, after attempting to do this myself,  I decided that the bald patches on my facade were too big and I wasn't going to achieve a good enough result.

I decided that the patches needed to be filled somehow to level up the surface, reasoning the at I could then paint and blend them with the paper around them better.

 

So I created a templates of the bald patches by rubbing over them on a sheet of paper with a pencil and tearing around the edges of the shape produced - always tear rather than cut paper when patching as the edges blend in better (I was given this tip by a fellow collector who has restored his own dolls' houses beautifully).

I was very pleased with how well the shapes fit and blended in the holes in the original papers. I was then able to mix some paint and blend in the patches with the paint around it - a burnt sienna acrylic was very close and only needed a little mixing to blend in well.

As I'd been unable to remove the dark red paint from the narrow central section of the facade, I replaced the entire section with new paper and painted the whole of it.

Since one side of the house facade still looked much lighter that the other side, I gave the lighter side a thin wash of colour to even it up a little.  This also served to blend in the areas around some of the windows where I'd been unable to remove the white gloss paint without removing the surface of the 'brick' paper.

I then repeated this whole process on the lower, 'stone' section of paper.

The last step was to continue the black 'brick' and 'stone' lining over the patched sections and this really did help to blend the patches in and create a more coherent facade.

So this is how it eventually ended up and, overall, I am a lot happier with the facade than I was and I'm certainly glad that I didn't paint or paper over it in the end. I'm not one for restoring old houses to 'factory fresh' condition, as I've heard it termed. In my eyes at least, this house is now better to look at than when I bought it but it also retains much of its history, including its battle scars.

Disappointingly, I had a bit of a disaster with the lining on the lower 'stone' paper when I decided that it was too dark - I decided to try to wipe it off and ended up making a mess which you can seen on the righthand side of the photo above. I will get around to rectifying this one day...

The Exterior Woodwork

As the exterior woodwork had been painted over in white gloss, I sanded it all down and repainted it using Farrow & Ball's 'Lime White' Estate Emulsion. I then gave it a very thin, messy wash of burnt sienna to age it - the camera flash makes it look whiter than it does in natural light.

One of the notable characteristics of Turnbull dolls' houses is that some of the edges of the exterior woodwork are highlighted in a pale blue colour, so I added those touches in the appropriate places.

Still To Do

Yes, there is still work to do!

I have yet to repaint the roof, chimneys and the base of the house. I don't think I'll change the colour of the these much as they seem to match the photos of other Turnbull houses I'm using for reference, but I will use matt paint instead of gloss.

And finally, there are the sides of the house. This has been another problematic area. As you can see from the photo above, I have been carefully removing several layers of white gloss paint from the sides and revealing the original bright orange paint underneath.  I've been doing this chip by chip of gloss paint using only a scalpel as the original paint is very chalky and is, I feel, likely to be damaged if I use a paint stripper.

However, since I've only recently re-attached the front of the house, it has only just dawned on me that even if I persevere with this painstaking work, the original colour I'm revealing no longer blends harmoniously with the rest of the house.

The photo above shows where I removed a piece of the wood on the facade and the colour of the original brick paper has been revealed. The brick colour was originally a bright orange (much like houses commonly associated with Silber and Fleming). This would have blended very nicely with the orange paint I'm revealing on the sides of the house. However, the facade has been discoloured by pigment from the dark red paint I've removed and it doesn't look at all well with the orang sides.

So, I've recently taken the decision to stop removing the gloss on the sides and to cover them over with a paper which can be painted to match the front. The paper will be easily removed by any future restorer who wants to continue to restore the original paint. I must admit that I'm not a bit sorry to have found this brilliant excuse to stop the mind-numbingly slow paint removal!

So, that's how I got on and were I'm at with the outside. My next blog post will be a progress report on the inside of the house which, whilst not without its own challenges, was much easier and far more fun to restore, decorate and furnish.

Until next time,

Zoe

Progress Inside Southsea Villa

In June last year, I posted about my newly-acquired C E Turnbull house Southsea Villa which was in great need of restoration both inside and out.

Restoration of the outside progresses slowly but surely, however, inside I've recently made a lot more progress:

This was the inside when I got the house in June last year.

And this is the inside today.

In the kitchen, I papered the walls with lining paper and painted them with a Farrow & Ball emulsion called 'Cook's Blue'.

The Farrow and Ball description for this colour is as follows:

Cook's Blue was inspired by the rich and poignant finish in the cook's closet at Calke Abbey where the walls had been untouched for many decades. This bright and deeply pigmented colour is perfect for use both in kitchens and exterior eating areas, as this vibrant tone is said to deter flies!

The room has a very high ceiling so, to add some height to the furnishings, I installed some shelving. Above the shelves, I painted the walls with Farrow & Ball's 'Lime White' which is described as:

... an off-white named after the chalky pigments used in original distempers.

The flooring is a copy of an original old dolls' house flooring, kindly given to me by the fellow-collector from whom I bought the house.

I installed a chimney breast in the room and added a tin range.

The simple fire-surround was made using pieces of old moulding.

You can see in this photo that I aged the newly painted walls. I followed Celia Thomas' (of KT Miniatures) tip to apply a weak wash of burnt umber acrylic. They look more aged when viewed without the flash which bleaches the wash a bit, especially on the white parts.

I got the dresser very cheaply on eBay as it had cupboard doors on the bottom part which looked slightly incongruous. I took them off and discovered that they had been added to this nice old dresser at a later date. It's a great height for this very tall room.

Across the landing from the kitchen is the dining room.  'The owners' have gone for impact in this room with this bold vintage french wallpaper!

The gold border is metallic trim from an old ecclesiastical garment and I chose it to give the room a bit of a lift since the black background on the wallpaper and the deep burgundy flooring make it quite dark.  The gold is not quite as shiny and looks older when viewed without the camera flash.

The flooring is a relatively modern wallpaper but I think it works well and have used it in all three of the reception rooms.

I have also installed chimney breasts and fire surrounds like this one (again, made from old mouldings) in each of the reception rooms and have inserted three of these useful little cast iron fireplaces.

Above the dining room is the ladies' parlour.  There were no clues on this vintage wallpaper to say where it was made. The border is relatively modern but hopefully the simple pattern is fairly timeless and the roll was old enough (maybe about 20 years old?) not to look brand new.

I have used the same flooring as in the dining room and the Bargello/Florentine work rug is from a cushion I bought in an antique shop in Melrose last September and mentioned in a post back then - I knew it would find a good home.

Across the landing from the ladies parlour and directly above the kitchen is the gentleman's study or smoking room. The vintage wallpaper is french. I hope to happen across a suitable border for the room eventually.

The rug is from an old cushion I bought in an antique shop in York a couple of years ago and the flooring is the same one as I have used in the dining room and ladies' parlour.

Directly above the ladies parlour is a bedroom. Again, the wallpaper is vintage and french.

The rooms on this top floor have considerably lower ceilings so I might not bother with a border in here, although, if I see a nice antique lace I might be tempted.

I haven't found a suitable flooring for up here on the top floor yet.

Directly above the gentleman's study/smoking room is this room which might be or a bedroom or might be a nursery, I've haven't decided yet.

I have a vintage wallpaper on order for it but I am on the lookout out for a floor paper, which I will use for the whole of the top floor, i.e. for the two bedrooms and the landing. I envisage something along the lines of parquet.

In the central part of the house, I have yet to refurbish the staircases and I intend to put the same black and white tile down on the first floor landing as I used in the hallway.

So, while I plod on with the painstaking work on the outside of the house, at least now I can enjoy looking at the inside.  I will continue to put the finishing touches to the decor and of course, keep my eyes peeled for suitable furnishings!

Until next time,
Zoe

An Afternoon at Jenny's

Such good intentions of catching up and here I am three and a half weeks later without a single post in between!

Anyway, three and a half weeks ago, I went to see my friend Jenny for the afternoon. She has an utterly fascinating collection of vintage dolls' houses that I could look at and discuss with her until the cows come home. (And I've done just that with her on several occasions now!)

This time we were focusing on Grecons and I wanted to share these photos that I took of one of Jenny's houses (a Triang No. 50) that is 'peopled' by a large family of Grecons - my favourite dolls' house dolls of course!



The house belongs to grandma who, as you can see, adores chintz.  I particularly love the rug and bun case light-shade. Oh and the tiny tube of Polos on side just reminds me of visiting my own grandma who always had a tube of Polo mints on the go.

This is grandma and I think she's possibly the prettiest, most chintzy looking Grecon grandma I've ever seen! The house is so her!

And this is grandma's handsome grandpa!  With his strong eyebrows (matching his wife's), healthy beard and smart waistcoat, this chap probably wows all the Grecon grannies.

And look at the outfit on this lovely young man from the 1940s, presumably the grandson. What a bobby dazzler!



The younger children are all in the room next door where grandma's own brand of chintz continues.  Isn't this a fab room? The paper door just makes me smile, the rug is gorgeous and the two lamps are wonderful.

Upstairs in the bedroom, grandpa apparently put his foot down when it came to chintz and we have a much more subtle wallpaper. Grandma has managed to sneak in a few chintzy accessories though, so grandpa didn't get his own way entirely.  (Is there actually a bed in there? It's hard to see for all grandma's dressmaking fabrics and paraphernalia!)

Changing baby's nappy is this lovely Grecon lady who must surely be Little Miss Muffet or Little Bo Peep!  I've never seen another Grecon like her - what a little cracker!



And in the other bedroom we have this trendy young miss who is into all things 'flower power' - I LOVE her crazy room!

She's great too, with her trendy psychedelic nylon dress, black fishnet tights and upright pony tail!

And finally, a quick glimpse at the bay windows and more of grandma's chintz - go grandma!

Many thanks to Jenny for letting me share these photos of her fab house and its habitants, and for yet another thoroughly enjoyable and absorbing afternoon of dolls' house delights!

Until next time,
Zoe