More Changes Afoot...

Merriman Park has undergone a lot of changes since I first conceived it in its first, crude sketches as a Palladian mansion inspired by the architecture of Thomas Jefferson.  But that's OK.  After all --it's my house!  I can't imagine if it were a commissioned piece for some client and I wasn't free to make any last-minute alterations to the plan as I worked along.  I have decided to implement yet another change: this time to the Entrance Hall, which is the first room inside the house that I plan to decorate.

              Rough sketch for Merriman Park drawn on a napkin.


Thomas Jefferson was not fond of staircases.  He felt they were a waste of space.  When he traveled to France, classical, one-story houses were de rigueur at the time in Paris and staircases were tucked discreetly in out-of-the-way spaces.  Jefferson brought this idea back home with him when he designed Monticello and many of his other American works also feature a "suppressed" stair.  My Jefferson-designed, inspiration house also lacks a grand stair, and so I opted to leave a staircase out of Merriman Park.

But I want a stair!

I mean, do I really want to explain the the whole story above every single time someone sees the finished Merriman Park and inevitably asks, "Where's the staircase?"

So I am going to put a stair where a staircase ought to go in my Entrance Hall.  Jefferson may not approve, but again --it's my house.

So there!
                               
 Joan Crawford (Faye Dunway) on a "Hollywood Regency" staircase, showing how classical design is adapted to contemporary styles --in this case, the Art Deco.   

 

Bricks, Bricks, Bricks!

I just finished two coats of gesso and one coat of "brick base" on the right side of Merriman Park.  (Or maybe instead of saying left-side/right-side I should start referring to it as the West Wing/East Wing)? 

It's cool how the brick color lightens when you etch in the mortar lines.  Reminds me of my former costuming days when a red dress with white polka dots could read as a pink dress on-stage, if the dots weren't large enough.

I'm thinking olive green for the front doors.  As far as hardware goes I'm going back and forth between either brass handles or round knobs centered on each door (which is very Regency). I've got a brass kick plate for the bottom of the doors, but they need to be cut to size and frankly, I'm a little scared to do the deed, lest I bend or scratch the little things.

All in all, I'm very happy with the results so far on my very first dollhouse! (Unless you count the ones I made as a kid for my sisters.  My brother Greg: [spoken with utter contempt] "Yeah, right.  It's for the girls."

Barnabus Doll in Dollhouse!!!

OMG! I want a Barnabus Collins doll/Action Figure!  Did you catch he even has the silver-handled walking-stick and the black, onyx ring?!  Only, I want my Barnabus in 1/12th scale so he can live in Merriman Park.  There IS a small cellar space under my house, but is it big enough to keep Barnabus' coffin?  I LOVE this guys ham-handed version of Josette's Theme played on the piano (at 1:30). His arrangement is much more complicated than mine --though I was only ten or eleven when I made mine up. (No future Mozart here).  I was rather disappointed in the Josette doll --her dress was a little bit Kountry Kitchen, when Josette's trousseau was supposed to have come from Paris, France and NOT from Walnut Grove, Minnesota.  Seriously, she looked more like Ma Ingals than Josette duPres.  I think with all the clothes available in Barbie's closet, we could have done much better than this ensemble,  um-kay? and can we talk about her hair for a moment?  Two words: UP DO!  But I'm pretty sure that some of these dolls were actual Dark Shadows merchandise available in fine stores everywhere when the series aired back in the day, so you KNOW today they're worth a gazillion dollars.  Speaking of which, I so wanted this game but had to settle for a Ouiji Board, instead:

"Milton Bradley makes the best games in the world and the Barnabus Collins Game is the scariest! So get it!" LOL!

One Side Down, One to Go

Finished the bricks on the left side tonight.  Tedious but strangely gratifying work. I mean, how many times do you toil at something for hours with nothing tangible to show for all your efforts?  As mind-numbing a task as etching 3/16th by 3/4 inch bricks into gesso is, I have to say, at least when you're done for the night you can pat yourself on the back and say, "Good job."

I ordered coach lamps to flank the front door today.  They are powered by replaceable watch batteries.  (The center component of Merriman Park  lifts out, so there isn't really a way to wire it --at least not by any way that I could figure how to do without electrocuting myself)!  So when I saw these coach lamps I was pretty excited because I had resigned myself to having non-working lamps out front.  I am a little worried about the bulbs being LED, as I find LED lights to be generally too garish.  I flat out REFUSE to use LED Christmas lights.  They're just, I don't know --tacky.  And NOT in a good way. Of course this is from a guy who still uses wax candles on his Christmas tree.

Early Design Influence: Dark Shadows

When I was a very young, tow-headed boy, the afternoon soap opera Dark Shadows used to scare the living crap out of me.  Vampires, witches, ghosts, werewolves, blood curses and floating, severed hands all made appearances in this campy, schlock-fest.  But the star of the show for me was the creepy, Gothic sets.  We grew up in a cozy, little house on a lake but I forever daydreamed of living in a spooky mansion on a cliff next to the crashing sea!  One of my favorite interiors on the show, and one that left an indelible impression on my young mind was the elegantly-appointed  boudoir of the ill-fated Josette duPres-Collins.

                  Kathryn Leigh Scott serving Regency realness :

I so wanted to live in a room with the haunting  portrait of Josette Collins hanging over the fireplace!  Candleabras burning.  Crystal chandeliers tinkling overhead.  The paneled walls.  The "antique satin" draperies.  Heaven.  I even learned to play Josette's Music Box on the piano (and can still play it).  BTW,  love the Casio "B-Section" in the video!  Geek Alert:  I can also play other monster DS hits such as Quentin's Theme and At the Blue Whale, a veritable classic which my sisters once owned on 45.

I also recall there being a story line involving a haunted dollhouse (I know)! and a ghost played by a very young Kate Jackson, of later Charlies's Angels fame.

I hear they're remaking Dark Shadows starring Johnny Depp as Barnabus Collins. Not sure how I feel about that, I mean, I love me some Johnny Depp, but is he really of Jonathan Frid's acting caliber?  I think not.

P.S.  If anyone runs across a miniature fireplace mantle like the one in the very beginning of the video, please let me know!

Going Up

This is all the further I got last night.  I started making mistakes so I quit early.  Actually had to paint out a few rows and start over.  It's hard not to want to hurry and get it over with but really, what's the rush?  It's not like there's a deadline or anything.

I think I might mount the whole house on a decorative wooden plinth, stained dark.  I thought it could extend out from the house an inch or two and I'd finish this as a cobblestone walk.  The plinth might have drawers for storage.

Flemish Bond

I was chomping at the bit at work today to get home and start etching bricks into the facade of Merriman Park. But after working at it for an hour or so I was all like, "Is RuPaul's Drag Race on tonight?"  (And more importantly, will Miss Changela throw another Absolut cocktail on some other queen's face)?   I do recall how in my Holy Bible of Dollhouses, namely: Magnificent Miniatures (see prior post)  the authors, Mulvany and Rogers,  mentioned that etching bricks was a rather tedious chore and I now realize how right they were! 

S

But they were also right about how magical it is when the bricks emerge and the whole project comes to life!  The photos do NOT do justice, I have to say.  There is a total 3-D effect  in the process that that camera just does not capture.  It will be enhanced when I go back and highlight individual bricks (I hope)! 

In the second photo you can see how much lighter the lower wall is from the unfinished, upper wall.  Which is good, because I was a little worried that the base color was too dark.

I kind of thought I'd get the whole wall finished tonight but --ugh!--  as Miss Scarlet used to say, "Tomorrow is another day!"