October 20, 2014

Housekeeping Through the Years

Once upon a time a loving father crafted a dollhouse that would be treasured for a lifetime - or even longer.  His name was Charles P. Nicholas, and he took great care in building the house, lavishing it with his woodworking skills to the best of his abilities.

Each window was fitted with glass, the red chimney was carved to simulate the best brick mason craftsmanship, and the front steps were carved from a single block of wood.  It was truly a work of art and labor of love.  

Nicholas presented it to his two daughters on Christmas morning in 1896, and they delighted instantly in the miniature replica of their own home.  

The dollhouse was equipped with all manner of tiny furnishings that each of the girls fashioned and contributed.  Walls were papered with left over scraps from the farmhouse.  Curtains crafted from tiny pieces of material gathered from their mother’s sewing basket.  Rugs and other items were added by re-purposing things such as ladies hankies and crocheted doilies.  “Artwork” was hung on the tiny walls.  The fireplace mantle and other surfaces were decorated with minutiae care. And of course a family was moved in to inhabit the home. 

Countless hours were spent in make believe as the children imagined themselves living in the miniature rooms.

Through the years, the house aged much the same as the old farmhouse where Nicholas and his family lived. Floors grew scuffed with use and wallpaper sagged somewhat in the corners, but the simple, sturdy dollhouse that he constructed out of wood nevertheless provided hours of joy for the girls. 

The dollhouse has since been owned by no fewer than 15 girls representing four generations.

When we were youngsters, my two sisters and I when we were fortunate to inherit the dollhouse and so came to be the next generation of girls to love and treasure Nicholas’s gift as keepers of the house.  Much like his daughters, we three sisters spent hours renovating the somewhat bedraggled, sagging house, crafting furnishings and decorating the walls and interior of the little home.  

Our little brother, though not officially a keeper of the house, often would take part in dollhouse antics and he delighted in rearranging it on the sly.  Hiding the baby, placing the pets in the oven, putting the cook in the parlor where she most definitely did not belong were only a few of the antics that he pulled.

We all enjoyed the special treasure for years.  But little girls grow up and their interests change as they do so, sadly, the dollhouse eventually was relegated to a lonely corner of the basement where it gathered dust and sat unused for years. 

There’s a touch of little girl in every woman’s heart, though.  One day my oldest sister reclaimed Nicholas’s dollhouse and elevated it to a place of honor in her own home. It would there share space with the other houses that she herself had collected and constructed through the years.

The story doesn't end there though.  Recently my sister and I became great-aunts to a darling little niece.  But long before the child was born, my sister began crafting a brand new, colossal three story dollhouse for the little one.  Built from the ground up, the structure was lovingly pieced together in what would amount to countless hours of labor.  For interior decoration, she strayed from the traditional, opting instead for lively, colorful walls and furnishings.

It is indeed a work of art and one that will be treasured for years to come.

The day finally arrived recently to present the dollhouse to its new owner, our four month old grand-niece.  She stared intensely at the bright walls and her approval was evident as she kicked and squirmed in delight.  It was a gift of love, much like Nicholas’s all those many years before was to his daughters.

With our niece being a little young for dollhouse playing presently, her older brother has happily taken on the role of house keeper. He has commandeered the dollhouse and is making plans to move Luke Skywalker and some of his friends into the house soon. 

Like they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same.