Big projects from little projects grow!

2004 Oddjob Lane: It is FINISHED!!!

The New Year is starting out with work being done on my dollhouses! I am actually making some progress on all those “unfinished” houses—well, at least those with fairly small finishing touches. The problem always is that even the smallest project becomes larger as it goes, takes longer than expected, takes more money than expected, and something goes wrong along the way … sigh…

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2004 Oddjob Lane
2004 Oddjob Lane was to have a fairly "minor" (but very attractive) upgrade: a mansard roofed attic with two rooms. Why did it take so long? I don’t know, but it went on forever. Every time I saw the light at the end of the tunnel—it was a train coming my way! It is true that due to a rather strange last year, I didn’t work on it steadily, but even when I put in long hours, not very much seemed to get accomplished.

One problem was that it took forever to find attic windows that I liked. Finally I found these on HBS. I think that these have just the right look, and they are for a Mansard roof!

The chimneys are finally finished and are removable since the chimneys are quite tall exterior chimneys, and it is better not to add them to the problems of moving the house.

BUT—it is finished, including the landscaping! Now we all know that a house is never really finished, but this one is at 99.8 % and I reserve the right to add a picture or two, or move a piece of furniture, but that is it. Besides, I was getting to the point of gritting my teeth every time I had to work on it. I am glad I did it and I love the way it looks … time to move on …

Just as a reminder, this is what it was when I bought it:

The Original Look

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MacPherson Farm—
I finished the chimneys and their pots, finally. Bricking the chimneys took longer than planned since the first go-round did not produce good results. The problem was that I was using MBS brick vinyl sheets to cover the chimney forms, and bending the sheets to make the front and sides from one piece (regardless of how easy the instructions sounded) was tricky. I will not use this method again. In some places the brick sheet bent nicely, but most times it just cracked—which meant I had a lot of repairing to do.

Mac Pherson Farm and its "impossible chimneys"

 

The landscaping is still waiting to be done. This should be fairly simple since there is only about 6 inches of land around the house.

 

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 Abigail’s Teashop and Bakery, and adjoining “Petting Zoo”, which is now a Stable for Pony Rides—
Basically removed all the old landscaping (which I was never happy with) and started over. I redid the “packed earth”, and replaced the dark brown lattice fencing (vinyl real house gutter guards) with white ones. I also added low picket fencing in front. Now that looks perky.

I removed the outdoor eating arbor. Now the tables (need another) are out in the open and the eating area looks much more inviting. I changed the flower, shrub, and trees combinations, and I added some benches and a fish pond.  What a difference!

The pony ride area was also completely redone. This was another area we were not entirely pleased with, but now!!

This all took quite a bit of work and time, but we are so pleased with the results that we have already forgotten how it used to look.

The new "look":

Abigail's Teashop and Bakery with ajoining Pony Rides Stable

Teashop with outdoor dining area

Pony Rides for young and old!

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My Basement Workshop –
We are redoing this area. I need a better organized basement. Right now, the work area and the dollhouse area are beginning to merge and everything has gotten messy. It’s time to make, once again, a workshop and a “town”. This time we are putting a wall between them—good fences make good neighbors. 

Some of the mess:

and the mess keeps going ... but you get "the picture"! 

It is tricky to divide one’s time between renovating the area while one is still working on the dollhouses. We are certainly making lots of bags of garbage, bags of no-longer used but good stuff to donate,  and doing lots of shifting things to the attic to make room in the basement—yuk!! It’s a long haul from the basement to the attic.

Of course, organizing uses up an incredible amount of time, first to figure out what should be thrown away and then to find somewhere to temporarily move the good stuff so the area can be neatened, and then one has to move all the good stuff back into its proper place. We have been working on this since January, and I think it will be late spring or early summer before we can sit back and enjoy the results.

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I will try to post more often so you know that I am really doing something positive, things just got a little overwhelming for a while. I have been reading posts even though I haven’t been responding but I will remedy that also. I love reading your posts—it keeps me sane.

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This year I shall finish anything that has to be finished on existing houses before starting a new one. I wonder how long that resolution will last... (hint -- it's broken already)

Abigail's Teashop & Bakery, Williamsburg, Virginia

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Abigail Spencer and Anna Rowbottom: Biographical Information
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The teashop is owned by Abigail Spencer and Anna Rowbottom. The staff, Chef Louis , Sous Chef Arthur [pic needed], Polly and Gerald O’Malley – waitress and waiter, Peggy Jean Jensen who runs the bakery , and host Charlie O’Malley with daughter Jane as hostess, help keep things running smoothly.

Abigail Spencer and Anna Rowbottom are long-time friends. Early in their married lives, they convinced their husbands that it would be nice to own a small “colonial” teashop and bakery just outside of the Williamsburg Historic District, and hopefully, not too far from their homes. Samuel Spencer and Reginald Rowbottom didn’t think it was a bad idea -- but they weren’t sure it was a good idea either.

Anna and Abigail did a lot of research, soul-searching, and financial calculations. They presented their findings to their families, and everyone started to get excited about this venture. It was also decided to offer catering for small events. After many more machinations, they got a loan from the bank and bought property. Fortunately, Reginald owned an architectural firm that would design the building and the grounds, and oversee the construction; while Spencer had a law firm that would kept the project out of trouble!

The teashop and bakery is a small, nicely situated, and nicely appointed building. It is quite popular, including its outdoor dining area, and a petting zoo is nearby [pic]. Through the years, Anna and Abigail have put in a lot of work getting and keeping the teashop running smoothly. Fortunately, they have managed to keep a loyal staff -- some of whom are now junior partners -- who are eager to take on more and more responsibility. This allows Anna, Abigail, and their families to relax and have time to themselves without worry.

Behind The Build: Abigail's Teashop & Bakery. (Octagonal Shop -Scratch-build)

(For a complete pictorial chronicle, see the Webshots album listed on the left.)

I have always been fascinated by octagonal houses, and I had toyed with the idea of building an octagonal dollhouse. About the same time as I was thinking about this, I got an urge to build a shop of some kind. I have always liked teashops, so I merged both interests and set out to design and build an octagonal teashop. This project started around mid-2002.

I wanted a “Colonial” feel for the present-day building. The first plan I developed was based on a regular octagon. Then I realized that for the purpose of this shop, a regular octagon did not put the interior space where I needed it. Thus I elongated the octagon and found that 30” wide x 24” deep was the answer.

After I finished the design, my husband cut the wood, and my sister furnished this octagonal, front opening, teashop and bakery. The front section is held on by a magnet and just lifts off. Amazingly, the two side doors swung open & closed properly on my husband’s first attempt at beveling door edges and my first try at installing hinges! The building is about 31’’ long x 28 ‘’ deep x 28 ‘’ high (without cupola).

The teashop is built of 3/8’’ cabinet-grade birch plywood. The teashop rests on a plywood base, and on that is a Styrofoam layer around the teashop. The Styrofoam makes “planting” easier.

The siding was put on with clapboard sections glued to the plywood. The slate roof is made from 12 x 12” vinyl flooring tiles, cut into 1” strips and then cut ¾” deep to simulate individual tiles. They are glued on with contact cement. The cupola is a Michael’s Lemax Christmas Village gazebo. The front section of the roof lifts off to view the attic.

The teashop and bakery are on the first floor; the office and a “short-order” kitchen are on the second . Obviously, more cooking area is needed and is set up in a large well-appointed basement cooking, scullery, and storage area (not built).The teashop has a ‘dumb-waiter’ and a service elevator to get items from floor to floor. I did install staircases all the way to the attic; unfortunately these can only be seen by looking in the back windows!

The first floor flooring is walnut grained Con-Tact glued onto card, cut into ¼” to ¾” strips, and then glued to the floor to simulate random planks. The kitchen has a cork floor. The windows are Timberbrook Tudor on the first floor & HBS 9/9 on the second. The curtains on the first floor are on bamboo skewer “rods” hung on cinched brass nails. The curtains on the second floor are made from “wired” ribbon cut at the bottom with pinking shears and then folded like Roman shades.

There is also an outdoor dining area . The area around the shop is packed dirt -- coffee grinds, tea leaves, and sand sprinkled onto glue on the brown-painted Styrofoam base. Planting areas are shaped from Styrofoam, painted brown, and covered with coffee grinds. Flowers are made from pieces of silk and dried flowers. The trees are purchased.

The “lattice” fencing along the sides and back is vinyl gutter guard (comes in brown and white). There will also be a waist-high fence in the front.

A petting zoo is adjacent (still evolving)

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The teashop also decorates for Christmas and is open for parties .

At some point, the shop will be electrified with Colonial style lights. It will be electrified by pulling the lamp wires through the wall to the outside back of the shop, and then plugged into a “Power strip with on/off Switch” wired to a transformer.

I had to make some things up as I went along. I had an original plan, but there were holes in some of my ideas and some things just did not work out, so I had to find alternate ways. Abigail and Anna, the owners, are pleased with my results and are happy that they are open for business.