I do think that I have talked a lot so far about Victorian dollhouses, but I realized that there was still something missing: Victorian dollhouse plans and how to build one yourself 😉
Although I wasn’t too sure if writing a new blog post on this topic would be worthwhile, I still think that people might find this useful, so here we go!
But First: What Is The Victorian Style Again?
Don’t worry, I am not going to get into detail again about the Victorian-style houses and decoration/furniture, because you want to get straight to building it, right? 😉
Anyways, if you want to refresh your mind, read all about the Victorian homes and area here, it is still quite interesting though :-). Especially the miniature artists working in this style!
How Long Does It Take To Build A Victorian Dollhouse?
That is a very good question, but not easy to answer because it would depend on some factors.
- The choice of the materials used is a big factor regarding the time to build any dollhouse.
It would take a lot less time to build a (Victorian) dollhouse with cardboard, for example, than with wood, for obvious reasons.
Take a look at this dollhouse made from cardboard, it was made in a week.
Doing the same with wood I would estimate it to take 70 hours or more, depending on how detailed and how large you want it. - Do you already have dollhouse building plans or a (Victorian) dollhouse kit? The further “down the road” you are, the less time you will spend on finishing the house. Sounds logical, no?
So, I really can’t tell you exactly how much time you will spend on finishing your Victorian dollhouse.
But as this style has a lot of details and ornaments of all kinds, I would assume when building it from scratch, it could take 6 months or more.
Have a closer look at this Youtube video below where the artist creates a simple Victorian dollhouse from scratch with the help of paper prints:
How To Build A Victorian Dollhouse?
1. You Can Use Victorian Dollhouse kits.
Building a Victorian dollhouse can be quite “simple”, yet take a long time though, when using dollhouse kits.
This would be the quickest way, but maybe not the most “rewarding”, for some people. I can imagine that you prefer to create something completely from scratch?
Anyway, if you do choose a kit, which is something I would do honestly for this style, it is just a matter of following the instructions of the manual and most brands should be quite easy to do.
2. Use Victorian Dollhouse Plans And Go From There.
You could totally do the research yourself on how to design and build a victorian dollhouse and examine the style and get a wider comprehension of it plus come up with ideas.
If you can handle creating your own building plans, even better for you and if you know which power tools to use, then I wish you all the luck with that, and please, do take pictures of it and show it off on social media so I can admire it, haha!
But don’t forget to determine dimensions and measurements and make sure to be able to fit all ornaments and such.
But there is “a but”. This kind of style is an architectural style that gets quite complicated for beginners.
So I did some research on where to get Victorian dollhouse plans and make it a bit easier for you.
1. Repair Manuals PDF
This store has 29 Victorian House Plans in the form of an E-book with PDF files. Click on the picture below or here for more info.
This store also has sewing plans for Victorian dresses, you might want to use them to sew Victorian miniature clothes?
2. Melody Jane
Here you can get your own dollhouse plans to build your own 1:12 Victorian mansion basement.
3. Boutique Hobby
Boutique Hobby is selling 150 Victorian house DIY plans, perspective views, and floor plans.
4. TbThreadsCo
In this Etsy store, you can get a paperback booklet with a guide to Assemble and decorating die-cut dollhouse kits by Sandy Thomas from 1985. Of course, it includes Victorian dollhouses.
5. FashionDollPlace
This is something peculiar, as the pdf file sold in this store contains instructions with charted color graphs to guide you along a stitching journey for a pattern to stitch a Victorian dollhouse. I haven’t seen anything like this before!
6. The Woodworkers Workshop Store
This store is selling Victorian dollhouse woodworking plans on Amazon.
The dollhouse plans are for a 4 ft tall Victorian dollhouse, so quite large, and is designed in the USA.
FULL COLOUR 4 Page Booklet of Detailed Photos, Exclusive to Woodworkers’ Workshop.
7. William T. Comstock
A paperback book of Victorian domestic architectural plans and details: 734 Scale Drawings of Doorways, Windows, Staircases, Moldings, Cornices, and Other Elements from William T. Comstock.
Also available on Kindle.
8. A. J. Bicknell & Co
A paperback of Victorian architectural details by A.J. Bicknell & Co: Designs for over 700 Stairs, mantels, doors, windows, cornices, porches, and other decorative elements.
3. Decorate Nearly Finished Victorian Dollhouses.
And then finally, if you don’t feel like assembling a Victorian dollhouse from scratch at all or even use dollhouse kits, you could buy of course a nearly finished Victorian dollhouse, that you just need to paint/wallpaper and decorate fully with Victorian furniture.
Of course, this can be as much fun to do!
Like, take a look at this cutest little Victorian Nob Hill’ House in French Empire Style and built ready on a scale of 1:87.
Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
My Final Conclusion.
I hope that you could figure out how to go about crafting your Victorian dollhouse and if you have any more questions, please feel free to ask them below or join me on my social media channels below or Facebook group.
I wish you happy crafting!
Kind regards,
Lizzy
Hi Lizzy,
I’m a civil engineering technician and I’ve always loved making house models. There were several that I designed myself and made from plywood. I once received a wooden Victorian dollhouse and furniture kit as a gift. It was easy to assemble and my kids loved playing with it. Making house models is a stress-relieving, creative hobby that I recommend to everyone. It can also be a fun educational program for our kids.
Kind regards,
Debora
Hello Debora!
How nice that you are a civil engineering technician and that you loved making house models, that sounds like a dream come true to me!
I wish you happy crafting and playing with dollhouses for your kids, thanks for your comment!
Kind regards,
Lizzy