Making Dolls' Houses in 1/12 Scale [Hardcover]

Brian Nickolls (Author), Jonathon Bosley (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1991

Intended for anyone with ordinary woodworking skills, this book offers complete plans and instructions for making five dolls' houses. A simple three-roomed Victorian shop, suitable for beginners, is followed by a Georgian house, a thatched cottage and a quayside fisherman's cottage. The final project, a more complex three-storey Tudor house complete with beams and timber framing, is for the more ambitious craftsman. The author makes dolls' houses professionally. He was the British Toymakers Guild's "Toymaker of the Year" in 1987.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Nickolls provides complete instructions for six projects of increasing complexity: a workshop, Victorian shop, Georgian house, thatched cottage, fisherman's cottage, and Tudor house. He emphasizes construction, describing tools and materials in detail, listing sources, but only mentioning furnishings and decoration. Some 132 diagrams supplement the text. The photographs are excellent, showing sparsely furnished rooms in contrast to the cluttered Victorian look usually seen in recent American books. Nickolls's advice is sound, e.g., he recommends a trial fit before beginning assembly. Though the terms used are British, measurements are in feet and inches. A good book to recommend to the hobbyist wanting a slightly different project. --Patricia B. Brown, Navistar Corp. Lib., Melrose Park, Ill.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: David & Charles UK (September 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0715398482
• ISBN-13: 978-0715398487
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #584,793 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Neophytes beware!, April 17, 2000

By 

"emato" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Making Dolls' Houses in 1/12 Scale (Paperback)

Following the authors instructions may have you pulling your hair out. There are quite a few mistakes and vague instruction in this book.

I would not recomend this book to the inexperienced for it's plans, as it may prove to be quite frustrating and perhaps discouraging. It is however, a great book for inspiration.

If you are fairly experienced or really like a good challenge, then you will enjoy creating these designs. (Hopefully you will spot the errors 'before' making them!)

I would give this book 5 stars if it were not for the errors. A web site from the author and/or publisher for errata would be very useful.

All that aside, I did manage to buid 2 of the projects so far. (More like 10 if you count the times I did parts of them over and over and ...)

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars R.Zahdeh a computer programmer and wood crafting expert, January 12, 2000

By 

Mr.R.Zahdeh (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Making Dolls' Houses in 1/12 Scale (Paperback)

Very good book excellent ideas, could be a bit more detailed, but overall very good. Not always very accurate eg the ladder for the fishermans cottage should have 10 not 9 steps according to the measurments, but things like that are easily adapted

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat helpful...., October 10, 2001

By 

"hoop3344" (Olympia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Making Dolls' Houses in 1/12 Scale (Paperback)

I checked out this book from the library and used it for my FIRST EVER miniature project - the Georgian dollhouse. The narrative instructions are a little hard to follow, (perhaps because the authors are British and I am not), and there are only a few basic diagrams. But after a few months of mild to moderate frustration, I had a beautiful product! I wouldn't recommend this book to someone who hasn't done any woodcraft or miniature projects, but for someone with a little experience, the end results can be worth the effort.