Collecting dolls houses, particularly the plastic accessories for Barbie or Cindy, is a relatively recent phenomenon.How long these injection moulded pieces will last is anyone’s guess, however, recreating houses and their contents in detailed miniature is a hobby that’s been around for centuries in one form or another.
The earliest recorded dolls house - an exquisitely detailed replica of his own fully furnished residence - was owned by Albert V, Duke of Bavaria, in the mid 1500s.Inspired by this example, many other wealthy people began to commission fine miniature pieces made by expert craftsmen.These were not children’s playthings but were miniature monuments to of taste, wealth and social rank.

The fad continued throughout the 17th and 18th centuries and slowly began to be considered appropriate for the children of the wealthy. These were not toys though!  Rather they were used as visual aids to educate young girls about the domestic management duties that any well to do young woman would be expected to perform when she became mistress of her own household.    It wasn’t until the mid 19th century that the concept of “childhood” was really developed and the dolls house became more of a plaything. They were still the product of individual, painstaking, craftsmanship however and still restricted to the children of the well heeled middle and upper classes.No contemporary nursery would be complete without one.

The Victorian era saw the beginning of mass production and it was this development that changed the dolls house from lavish miniature heirloom into a genuine child’s toy.The major innovator in this was Germany, whose factories exported dolls houses and accessories all over the world.

But the upper class fascination with reflecting their lifestyle in miniature persisted.Queen Mary, the wife of King George V of England, was fascinated by dolls houses. n the early 1920’s she commissioned Sir Edwin Lutyens to design and build a dolls house for the queen’s personal pleasure. The finest craftsmen of the day were involved in the production of all the miniature items for Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House, which can still be seen on display in Windsor Castle.
Today, mass production of dolls houses for fashion dolls (and even woodland creatures!) as kids toys runs alongside the adult hobby of miniature collecting.   Arguably, diorama sets for model figures – be they model soldiers or Sci-Fi characters – are dolls houses too in spirit at least.  There are a growing number of specialist shops, miniatures fairs and dolls house publications to cater for adult enthusiasts who like to recreate past eras in whole houses or specific scenes. Some enjoy making the models, while others collect craftsman-made pieces. The aim is to achieve accurate detail to capture the right mood, character and period, raising what is a hobby to the status of a (very lucrative!) art form.