Customer Reviews

Educo Welcome Home Balcony Dollhouse

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

We bought this house for our daughter (almost three years old) and she is not easy on her toys. This dollhouse has taken a beating without any scars to show for it. The detail on the furniture is adorable and durable. The house and its accessories make it fun for her and me to play together without either one of us losing interest. Great buy!

Just want to note that the main pic of the above house is the one I am reviewing...not the one with the balcony. They are fundamentally alike. When we were in the market for a dollhouse, I compared the following brands with Educo; facts about dollhouses/reasons for not going with the other brands follows the name brands (whew!):

Voila: At the time had no customer reviews. I loved the not-so-bright colors, but not the limited side-access. My husband nixed this one for unknown reasons.

Maxim: Great accessories, liked the fact that it had a flexible floor plan. I was concerned that if it wasn't in highrise mode that it would take up too much space in our living room (we were at the time downsizing from the "Den of Dora"). Another concern was that there was the possibility that one of the interlocking nubs that connect the rooms could get broken off.

Plan: Too expensive. I know that it can take a beating, but it's not like my kid is going to use any dollhouse as a substitute for a UFC opponent.

What you get:
-Fridge w/freezer
-Hooded range w/sink and two hidey-holes
-Dining room table w/four chairs
-Coffeepot
-Four placemats/towels
-Floor lamp
-Coffee table
-Two easy chairs w/cushions
-One sofa w/cushion
-Entertainment center w/TV and cool shelves
-King-sized bed w/mattress and two pillows
-Wardrobe
-Shower
-Toilet w/toilet paper holder (even has a bit of "paper")
-Sink w/awesome mirror
-One hand towel; one full size towel that can double as a shower mat
-Four peeps that can take a beatin'

The Good:
-Sturdy yet light frame w/handle to make relocation of the house easy.
-Sturdy furniture.
-Large openings from all sides.
-Space efficient.
-Has sunny, citrus-inspired colors; it is not garish in the least.
-Has stairs (This was not a total biggie for me...I know that it bothers some kids to not have stairs in a dollhouse. We have just always teleported our play people to the upstairs of our old dollhouse, and we are still continuing to do so!).
-Great value.
-Easy to put together (have electric screwdriver handy, and small Allen wrench that is included will be used).
-Included mattress/cushions easy to clean. One of kids already used the mattress as a dry-mop on my less than pristine kitchen floor. I surface-cleaned the mattress with an old washcloth and it came out beautifully.

The Bad:
-The alignment of our top floor in the bathroom area against the wall/room divider was a little off, thus, the floor is slightly crooked in that area. This does not bother me, but it might bother others. Please note that warping can occur with wood products. Our "Dorahouse" had straight floors, but was made of plastic (ugh).
-Our oven door would not stay closed, so I solved the problem by cutting out a small piece of bandaid that included the absorbant cotton area. I then placed it on the side of the door and it now stays closed.
-Our entertainment center door would not stay closed as well. I used the above method with a furniture-protector sticky dot (knick-knack-sized) with great success. (You might have to experiment w/different thicknesses of different materials in order to solve these problems.)
-Our toilet does not stay upright. I think that the base of the toilet is too narrow and tall (i.e.base should be wide and short), and that is what causes it to always tumble over. I am thinking of just eventually removing the base. In the meantime, I have tried to fix this problem by cutting a small box to fit the dimensions of the toilet, and then bolstering this little creation with extra cardboard on the inside. It has not met with great success, and my kid just destroys my little foray into the tinkering world. (Please note: we do not place our toilet in the crooked floor zone.)

And the Ugly:
-Well, if I had to pick something I would say that the little TV can use some jazzin' up. Ours just had the brand name printed on a silver(?) screen, so I just taped a little pic that I cut out of a mag on it for now. Our pic has lasted so far; in the future I might experiment with tougher materials.
-Oh, and anybody in the character of "Tuco" playin' with this dollhouse.

This dollhouse was purchased for my 3-year-old and it is wonderful! Very sturdy, simple construction and all wood (which I love). The furniture is basic, but quite cute and leaves a lot of room for a child's imagination to run freely. My daughter loves this toy and it has been her favorite thing to play with since it arrived. The open sides make it perfect for playdates as everyone has the same access to the house. Great product!

When the dollhouse first arrived it was missing the linens set (blanket, towels, pillows, rug) and when I called Hape toys to inquire about these pieces, I don't think I have ever had a more pleasant and efficient exchange with a manufacturer. The pieces were sent immediately with no hassle.

I had to drill an extra hole to get the stairs to fit. That was a little disappointing. Other than that this is awesome. Also a great value. All of the accessories that came with it are very neat and modern. Bottom line is my daughter loves it and our parent friends have commented on how cool it is.

This is an easy item to put together, I recommend using wood glue just for added strength. The house is complete and very easy for a 3 year old to play with. SHe loves it!

This is a cool dollhouse and looks really modern in our living room. I like that it's all wood and the furniture is realistic, yet simple. When assembling the balcony part was hard to wedge in and got cracked, only compliant though.

Our children at Endeavor Learning Center use their imagination and creativity while playing with the Educo dollhouse.
Several children can play at once with the open sides.

I purchased this dollhouse for my daughter and am exceptionally dissatisfied. I had hoped this would be good quality, non-toxic and fun for her to play with. Within a week to 10 days of playing with this, she developed a burn-like rash on both of her hands. We saw the doctor twice. She was put on daily Benadryl and we had to apply hydrocordisone cream to her hands. The rash did not go away, and continue to get worse until we removed this dollhouse from her playthings. What gives? When the dollhouse arrived, we also discovered that the inner wall was warped. I should have gone with Plan or Ryan's Room.