Chapter 5 HOW TO MAKE A DOLL-HOUSE

The average store doll-house is made of thin wood, which is full of defects and likely to warp, besides being put together in such a flimsy manner as to soon fall apart. The majority of these are imported houses, designed and planned in foreign styles, the exteriors being covered with clumsy ornament and gaudily painted, while the interiors are very poorly planned and proportioned. Americanized doll-houses are seldom seen in the market, and the few there are will generally be found very expensive.

There is probably nothing more interesting for a boy to make than a doll-house. It is like building your own house on a small scale, the details and proportions having to be just as carefully worked out to make a good-appearing house. Try the construction of a house for one of your girl relatives and see how much she will appreciate it. Then having completed one and learned the many little tricks there are in doing this work, you will find it quicker and easier to turn out others to sell. Neatly made houses are always salable, and it should be an easy matter for you to make arrangements with a toy dealer in your town, to place some of your work in his store to sell on commission.

The doll-house designed and detailed in this chapter is easily constructed and

The Materials Required do not amount to very much. Boards ten inches wide and one-half inch thick are preferable for the general construction, with a few four-inch boards one inch thick for the base and a few other details. Basswood probably will be found the easiest wood to work with, as it is soft, straight-grained, and free from knots. Packing-cases may be used to advantage when they are of the right size, but they are generally made of a cheap grade of pine, full of knots and other defects that make it difficult to do a good job.

Cigar-boxes make the nicest material for the interior finish, and a number of all sizes should be procured for this purpose. Prepare the boxes for use as described in Chapter VIII.

Fourpenny nails should be purchased for the rough carpenter work, and brads and glue for attaching finishing-strips and all light wood. Paints and other material are specified as required.

As shown on the plans (Figs. 65, 66, and 67), the house described in this chapter is of three floors, containing nine rooms, and is in size, thirty inches wide, twenty inches deep, and three feet high.

Figs. 65-70.-Plans of Doll-house and Patterns for the Partitions.

The Base, or false basement, should be made first. It consists of two four-by-one inch boards thirty inches long and two twenty inches long, with the ends mitred and fastened together in the form of a frame. Upon this

Lay the First Floor, allowing but one-half inch of the boards to bear on the frame on all sides. Then lay off the first-floor plan (Fig. 65) upon this floor with a pencil and square, locating the partitions by means of the dimensions given on the plan.

Make the Partitions A, B, and C, the shape and size shown in Fig. 68, and nail them to the places marked out for them on the floor.

The Stairs from first to second floors (Fig. 71) should now be constructed as described later under the head of "Stairways," as it would be difficult to set them in place after the walls are up.

Make the Front and Rear Walls twenty-nine inches wide and twenty inches high, and nail them to the edges of the floor. The outside surface of the walls should now be in line with the base. Leave the cutting of the windows until the rest of the house has been put together. The walls may be prevented from spreading by means of temporary braces nailed across the tops.

Lay the Second Floor, cutting a three by ten inch stair opening in the place indicated on the plan (Fig. 66), and fasten the boards to the front and rear walls. Draw upon this the second-floor plan, and

Cut Out Partitions D, E, F, and G, as shown in Fig. 69.

Fig. 71.-Details of Inside Stairs.

After nailing these partitions to the places marked out for them, and building in the stairs,

Lay the Third Floor (Fig. 67), cutting a three by seven inch stair opening, and fastening the boards in place as you did those of the second floor.

Stairways.-While each stairway should be built before the floor above is laid, in order that the work can more easily be done, they have been left for description here, that they might be spoken of in a general way. In Figs. 71, 72, 73, 74, and 75 will be found complete details for these.

The first things to prepare are

The Stair Stringers, or supports for the steps (treads and risers). Cut from a piece of cardboard what is known as

The Pitch-board, the pattern by which to lay out the steps (Fig. 73). Then draw a line lengthwise upon a thin strip of wood (AB in Fig. 72), and lay off the pitch-board on this as shown in Fig. 72-sixteen times for the first to second story stairs and fifteen times for the second to third story stairs. Draw the line DE parallel to AB, and the lines CD and EF as shown. Then cut out the stringer along the lines CDEF, being careful in doing so not to split off the corners. Prepare two stringers for each flight of stairs.

The Treads and Risers should be cut as shown in Fig. 74, and the

Newel-posts and Hand-rails as shown in Fig. 75. Make a small groove in the bottom of the hand-rail as shown in the drawing. Toothpicks are of just the right size for

Figs. 72-75.-Details of Inside Stairs.

The Balusters.-As brads are likely to split the thin cigar-box wood, the staircases should be put together with glue. First fasten the stringers in place, cutting a slot in the edge of the floors for the tops to set in, as shown in Fig. 71. Then glue on the treads and risers, and cut the bottom of the newel-post to fit over the second step. The lower end of the toothpick balusters are set into slits cut with a knife in the treads, and the upper ends fit in the groove cut in the hand-rail.

The Balustrades around the stair openings on the second and third floors are made in the same way (see Fig. 71). As finished floors are to be laid in the halls, as described later, it will be well at this point to fasten a strip from a cigar-box around the stair openings, upon which to fasten the newels and in which to stick the ends of the balusters.

Fig. 76.-The Front Steps.

The drawings give every detail and measurement necessary for the making of these stairs, and everything will work out correctly if the directions are closely followed.

Fig. 64. A Colonial Doll-House.

The Front Steps are made as shown in Fig. 76. Cut out two balustrades the shape and size shown in the drawing. Then prepare two stringers of five steps, cutting them exactly the same as for the other stairs, and glue them to the inner faces of the balustrades. The treads and risers are the same as for the other stairs, except that they are four inches in length. Cut the top platform two and one-half inches wide.

The Rear Steps may be built similar to the front, or may be made simpler by leaving off the risers and balustrade.

The Ends of the House should measure twenty inches square. Fasten the boards together with battens at top and bottom, and hinge them to the rear wall (see plans and Fig. 64). Small hooks on the ends of the house will make it possible to fasten them shut.

Fig. 77.-Make Gable-ends like This.

The roof is what is known as

The Gambrel or Octagonal Roof, and consists of two eight and two nine inch boards thirty-four inches long. Before fastening these in place, it will be necessary to make

The Gable-ends, which are cut out as shown in Fig. 77. Make the partition between the nursery and ball-room (H) in the same way, with a door cut in it, as shown in Fig. 70.

Fasten the partition and gable-ends in place, after which nail the roof boards B and C (Fig. 70) to the top, allowing them to project over each gable. The lower boards A and D should be hinged to these, so they may be raised to get at the upper story. The edges of the boards must be bevelled in order to make perfect joints.

When the work has proceeded thus far, cut

The Door and Window Openings in the places indicated upon the plans and Fig. 64, first boring holes in the four corners of each window and door space; and then connecting them with a compass-saw. With the exception of the front and rear door, and the windows in the basement and gable-ends, make all openings three by five inches, and two inches above the floor. The casement window openings in the gable-ends are to be four by five inches and extend to the floor. Cut three-by-seven-inch openings for the doors, and make the basement window openings two by three inches.

Figs. 78, 79, 80, 81, and 82 show the construction of

Figs. 78-82.-Details of Dormer Windows.

The Dormer Windows. These are made from cigar-boxes. For the three dormers, you will require six pieces the shape of A for the sides, three of B for the gable-ends, and six of C for the roof (see Figs. 80, 81, and 82). With the different parts cut out, it is a simple matter to fasten them together on the roof, by means of glue and small brads. The glass is bound to the ends of the side-pieces at D and E with strips of linen, as shown in Figs. 78 and 79, and the gable-end sets on the top edge. The dormers should be placed directly over the lower windows and in line with the front wall (see Fig. 79).

Old four-by-five camera plates may be used for

The Window Glass, by cutting them down to the required dimensions-three by five inches for the first and second stories, and two by three inches for the dormer and basement windows. Four-by-five plates are the right size for the casement windows.

As the basement is to represent stone, there will be no finish around the openings, and the glass will have to be held in place with cigar-box strips on the inside and putty on the outside, as shown in Figs. 83 and 84.

The glass should be fastened in the first and second story windows by means of putty and strips of cigar-boxes (see Figs. 85, 86, and 87). We will make the inside and outside trim the same to simplify matters; so cut two sets of strips for each window, making them the shape and size shown in Figs. 85 and 87. Fasten the outside strips in place first, then slip the ends of the glass into the centre of the wall and nail on the inside strips. Fill in the spaces between the glass and strips with putty to hold the glass firmly in place.

The Casement Windows (Fig. 88) are made similarly, with the addition of a quarter of an inch strip of a cigar-box glued up the centre of the glass, to give the appearance of double windows hinged to swing in.

Figs. 83-91.-Details of Windows.

Narrow strips of paper glued to the glass, as shown in Figs. 78, 83, 85, and 88, will produce the effect of

Divided Glass and upper and lower sash.

The Door Trim (Figs. 89, 90, and 91) is put in place the same as the window trim, but instead of placing the door in the centre of the wall, it should be set flush with the inside trim (see K, L, and M in plan, Fig. 90), and is hinged by means of a linen strip glued to the edge of the door M and strip L. The door-jambs are cased with strips I and J.

The rear door may be made simpler than this by using a plain strip for a cap.

Make the Door out of a piece of cigar-box.

The drawings give all the necessary measurements for door and window strips, and you will find it a simple matter to cut them out with a sharp knife.

After putting the trim upon all of the windows and the doors, cut a number of strips of wood an eighth of an inch thick and half an inch wide for

Outside Trimmings, and nail them to each corner of the house, around the edges of each gable-end, and around the top of the basement. Purchase some narrow moulding for the cornice and nail it to the edges of the roof boards, being careful to make neat mitres at the corners.

The house can more easily be moved about if mounted upon

Casters. To put these on, cut four pieces of two-by-four about three inches long, fasten a caster to each, and nail one block inside each corner of the foundation frame.

Fig. 92.-Construction of Chimneys.

The exterior of the house is now complete with the exception of

The Chimneys. These should be made up of four pieces, two of which should have bird's-mouth cuts made in the end, as shown in Fig. 92, to make the chimney fit over the top ridge of the roof. The side edges of the pieces should be mitred and fitted together. Nail a strip of wood, half an inch wide, around the tops of the chimneys for caps. You will find it easier to

Paint the Chimneys before fastening them to the roof. Make the brickwork red and the caps white, and with a small brush and ruler stripe off the mortar joints. When the paint has thoroughly dried, nail the chimneys on to the ridge of the roof in line with the front windows (see illustration of completed house).

You will want

A Mantel and Fire-place in the living-room of the house, and it had better be built in at this point. Figure 93 shows about the simplest form of mantel you can make, and one that presents a very neat appearance. It is made out of cigar-box strips painted to represent brick, with stone hearth and mantel-shelf. It measures seven inches wide, four and five-eighths inches from the base to the top of the shelf, and has a fire-place opening four inches wide and two and one-half inches high.

Fig. 93.-The Living-room Mantel.

Figure 94 shows the patterns for the cutting of the various pieces required to make up the mantel. A, the front piece, has an opening cut in it for the fire-place, as shown in the drawing. Cut two strips similar to B for the ends of the mantel, one the size of C for the back of the fire-place, two of D for the sides of the fire-place, and one of E for the mantel-shelf. These pieces, with the exception of E, should be painted red, and striped off, when dry, with white paint to represent brick. It will be much easier to do the painting before fastening the pieces in their proper places. First divide the length and breadth of the pieces into about the number of spaces shown in Fig. 93 with a lead pencil. Then with a small brush, and straight-edge for a guide, trace over the pencil lines with white lead. Be careful in striping the brick to get the courses the same upon each piece so they will correspond when the pieces are put together.

Fig. 94.-Construction of Mantel.

The Hearth is made out of a strip seven inches long by two inches wide. Upon this the mantel should be put together with the pieces prepared. Figure 93 shows the location of each piece, and with the aid of glue and some small brads it will be a simple matter to complete the mantel. The edges of the strips had best be mitred to make neat joints. Paint the hearth and mantel-shelf white.

The mantel should be fastened to the centre of partition B in the living-room (see plan, Fig. 65).

Andirons should, of course, accompany the fire-place. These may be made as shown in Fig. 95. They consist of two pieces of cigar-boxes cut the shape of A and B (A an inch and one-half by an inch and one-quarter, and B an inch and one-half long), with the end of B glued in a slot cut in the lower part of A. The feet and the top of A and the foot of B are small brass-headed upholstering-tacks driven into the wood, which give the andirons a trim appearance. Paint the strips black.

Set the andirons upon the hearth with the ends projecting into the fire-place, and pile several nicely shaped twigs upon them for logs.

The Interior Woodwork remains to be put on. Cigar-boxes make excellent imitation hardwood floors, for the halls, the ball-room, and nursery. Select as large pieces as possible, and fit them on the floors with close joints. Nail them down with small brads.

Fig. 95.-Andiron.

Make the door casings from the same material, cutting the strips the shape and size of those used for the outside doors (Fig. 89). It is not advisable to hang inside doors, as they are easily broken off, and seldom work satisfactorily.

A chair-rail should be made in the dining-room of quarter-inch strips fastened to the walls three inches above the floor.

Make baseboards in each room out of three-quarter inch strips, and picture mouldings out of strips an eighth of an inch wide.

After completing the carpenter work of the house

Set all Nail-heads with your nail-set, putty these holes and all others resulting from cracks and defects, and sand-paper the rough surfaces. If the woodwork is to be finished in its natural color, by varnishing or oiling its surface, color the putty to match the wood.

Paint the House a cream color, with white trimmings and a green roof, using yellow-ochre and white lead (mixed) for the walls; white lead for the trimmings, balustrade of front steps, chimney-caps, and striping of brickwork; dark olive green for the roof, and treads and risers of the front steps; and lamp-black for striping the stonework of the basement. The painting of the chimneys and fire-place has been described.

Paint the front door on both sides with white enamel or white lead, with the exception of a panel in the centre, which should be oiled as shown in Fig. 89. This will give the appearance of a white enamelled door with a mahogany panel set in it.

Fig. 96. Another Style of Doll-House.

Fig. 97. Interior View of Doll-House.

* * *