Dolls Houses

Barry Skinner made his first dolls houses in the 1970's, evolving from an interest in the traditional buildings of Britain and making small scale models of houses.

During the 1980's he made individual bespoke houses for clients. Some of these are now in America, France, Holland and Germany. It was in this period he became known as “The Doll's House Man”, but the houses he built were much more than dolls houses.

Barry's miniature houses are individually made to the client's personal requirements.

The houses are built to scale from 9mm birch faced plywood or MDF and a selection of hard and soft wood mouldings are used. Roof tiles are individually made from thin plywood and all windows are glazed, producing a proper house, made to last and to be enjoyed by all generations of a family.

Mediaeval timber framed houses are constructed from oak.

Display Models

A small scale model of your house could make an interesting talking point.

Display models can be low relief (only the front half of the building modelled) or three dimensional , and can be boxed or free standing. These can be supplied in several scales: 1/4inch to one foot, 1/2inch to one foot and 1inch to one foot being the more usual this being the International Scale for Dolls Houses. It was first introduced by Lutchens for the building of Queen Mary's Dolls House which can be viewed today in Windsor Castle. 

They are ideal for display in public buildings or private businesses.

Miniature Decoration

"Barry Skinner reckons that the fun of creating a doll's house lies in the painting and furnishing of it. So he builds them in bare wood and leaves the clients to add their own decoration.

He makes all his pieces to clients specifications. All he needs is a drawing or photograph (many clients want replicas of their own homes) and some basic measurements (for example, how large you want the base to be).

Then he'll send you plans of the proposed house, showing architectural features such as fireplaces and beams.

Barry Skinner also makes fully finished doll's houses and models in low relief. The latter are three-dimensional depictions of a house's façade – ideal for displaying in a glass case."

Extract from Home and Gardens