Dolls house dilemma

They are beautiful. Wish I had the room for them!

I have always wanted a dolls house (am now 66) so feel slightly envious of you.
Donating to a museum sounds a lovely idea or perhaps auction them and either put the money towards a great holiday or even think of donating to your favorite charity. x

I sold mine on eBay after the GC grew tired of it. I sold it to a lady who wanted it for herself - so I knew it would have a loving home!

I have the same problem. I have two massive houses and three boxes of furniture. Since having a stroke last year, my enthusiasm for anything has gone. It was a lovely hobby, but I am unable to use my left hand now and everything miniature is so delicate, I would be frightened of damaging things. The whole lot is worth around 1k to an enthusiast. But finding that one person is difficult and I don't want to lose so much money.

My goodness, Willow, they are wonderful. You really shouldn't part with them unless to a museum or for a fortune.

You could sell them for adults. There are lots of grown ups who love dolls' houses. A friend got one from her partner for Christmas. She is very creative and has been making tiny items and little dolls, 1:12 scale. She showed me very proudly and I was amazed at her skill.
I think she said her partner bought the dolls' house and all the accessories as a job lot on eBay.

Bit of an odd dea maybe but what about a dementia care hone. Folks with dementia frequently ‘revert’ to childhood and might well love to play with them and they can be real talking points.

Or you could try an auctioneer. A lady I used to work with found some antique dolls' house furniture in the loft after her parents died. She was told they would probably reach £200 at auction but there was a massive bidding war and they went for £4000!!!

I would contact your local hospice. Ours, St Francis, has a dedicated person who sells high value items. The children’s Hospice in East Lond also do the same.

Honestly, from the photos they look like they would be worth about £500 each as they are fully furnished. Try ebay, gumtree or an auction room if you do want to sell them but an enthusiast's magazine might be a better place to advertise. It would be lovely to see them on display in a museum setting though. Are you sure your family can't be persuaded to keep them; they look like they are a real family heirloom.

Willow, I could have written the post myself, I have a lovely dolls house my DH made for our twin daughters when they were 5years old, he made it with an open side each end so they could have half each to play in, My granddaughters then played with it when they came for a sleepover, they are too old for it now, I can't give it away , I am sentimentally attached but it sits gathering dust on top of an attic cupboard complete with furniture bought over the years,

When I downsized I Freecycled my fully furnished doll’s house, and my regrets in giving it away were wiped out by the delight shown by the grandfather who collected it for his granddaughter.
Why don’t you choose your favourite house to keep, and move the contents around between all your houses so that the Keeper house has all your favourite things in it?

When I was at a table top sale someone had donated a beautiful dolls house for someone to try and sell for a very worthwhile charity. Someone who collected them paid £150 - just a thought.x

WILLOW

Wow!! They are absolutely stunning.
Roseberrys is an auction house which specialises in toys. I sold a large collection of Meccano and Matchbox vehicles through them although they take a percentage.
Somewhere like a museum of childhood where they can be viewed would be nice, as some others have suggested.
They really are remarkable and I hope you find the right place for them.

I used to have a shop that sold dolls houses and miniatures

As beautiful as they are, based on my experience of selling my step fathers houses, gumtree, eBay even face book people want something for nothing. I even tried selling individual rooms and smaller bundles. I won't even tell you what happened to the three sorry Georgian house it will upset you. Good luck whatever the decision.

I am having the same problem with donating my coachbuilt pram to maybe a film or TV company. My father-in-law was a pram designer and, of course, gave us the pram for my daughter when she was born in 1975, although it was made some years before that and stored in a wooden case. It's a proper wooden bodied pram (similar to what you see in Call the Midwife) in excellent condition but I can't find anybody who will take it off my hands. Every time I look at it I despair!

I think that if I didn't feel these items would go to a good home, I would (if I had time) maybe take them along to local care homes, and spend a couple of hours allowing the residents to 'play' with them.
People with advanced dementia often come into their own when something sparks a memory, and childcare seems to stay engrained when other skills have been lost.

Don't do anythhing hasty; check out the site called "dolls houses past & present" :
www.dollshousespastandpresent.com/

Many members are serious collectors and have great knowledge, so you will get specialist advice on there and then you can make a decision.

I sold mine at auction after it had been used by two generations but if I remember rightly it went for very little, modern houses often don't have the space or storage.

Museum of Childhood in Edinburgh. I think it's closed just now for renovation. Lots of people could enjoy them

Google Miniatura, official site, worth a look, at least you might be able to see if they can help you, Good Luck. Such a shame though!

Have you thought of donating them to a charity shop and asking them to raffle it off. When my step father was alive he made dolls houses and my sister used to be a manager at a Marie Curie shop and they used to sell raffle tickets to win the dolls houses they used to make a lot of money for the charity.

I sold my 60 year old Triang dolls house on EBay a few years ago and it sold for £600 to Ireland.
Willow Keep framed photos of them, thank them for the happy memories, advertise them and kiss them goodbye.
Use the money for something you'd really enjoy.

What about Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood? It's now part of the V&A and has all kinds of wonderful things including dolls houses.