Christmas Parties - Toad Hall, Badger's Hollow, Wells

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I finally finished decorating the interiors for Christmas and New Year's parties -- just in time -- my little people like to party! The pictures for Westerly will be in the next post.

And don't forget, more pictures for all homes on Webshots!

****Badger's Hollow - the home of Iris March and Roderick Alleyn:


****Toad Hall -- the home of Max de Winter:




****The Wells' Home (the "Original Rowbottom Manse") -- the home of Martha and George Wells:

Christmas and my little people

In 2001, We decided that it would be fun to decorate the dollhouse for Christmas. Of course, in the beginning this was easy since there was only one dollhouse (The Original Rowbottom Manse)! In 2002 though, we added Badger's Hollow to the Christmas party. Now that there are eight houses, we do a selection, trying to decorate a different group each year. Although since 2004, Toad Hall and Badger's Hollow are always included--I just like that grouping! Maybe it's because it looks like a neighborhood: This year, besides of aforementioned two, it will be The Original Rowbottom Manse (now the home of Martha and George Wells) and Westerly, the vacation house of Sarah Spencer and Franklin Wells.

(The years when the "Big G" (real name, Sunnybrook Farm) hosts the partying, anywhere from 75 to 100 little people gather there! Now that's a holiday bash!)

Even though MacPherson Farm is not completed yet, I decided to let them have a small pre-Christmas gathering.

So far, I have decorated the exteriors of all the chosen houses, and the interiors of Toad Hall and Badger's Hollow. It is slow going--my big fingers get in the way!

Toad Hall- the Tudor Revival Home of Max deWinter, Williamsburg, Virginia

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Professor Maximillian (Max) Paul de Winter: Biographical Information

Toad Hall, a 1922 Tudor Revival, is located in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was bought by Max’s late great-uncle Jacques deWinter in 1935. Jacques named it “Toad Hall” since he shared an affinity with Mr. Toad (Wind in the Willows) – fast cars. (In fact, Jacques participated in a couple of Gran Prix races.)

Jacques was born in Aix-en-Provence, France to a French father Alain and an American mother, a southern belle named Madeleine Edwina Hughes . (The Hughes family became friends with the deWinters during WWI when family members were stationed in France.) At her suggestion, Jacques went to William & Mary. He was so taken by the area that he bought a house there and eventually settled at “Toad Hall”. His family remained in France but visited him often. During a visit to Williamsburg, his brother’s son Pierre fell in love with LauraAnne Wilkes , the daughter of one of Jacques' neighbors. Pierre and LauraAnne married and returned to live in the Provence region of France. It was there that their only child Maximillian was born in 1963. Jacques never married.

After Max’s parents tragically died in a train crash, Jacques asked his great-nephew to live with him in America. Thus Great-Uncle Jacques became Max’s Aunty Mame. Max had an incredible childhood – including learning to love sport cars-- but most-importantly, to make the most of his life. He followed in his great uncle’s footsteps and majored in Botany at William & Mary.

During college, Max kept up his friendship with fellow car enthusiasts and lifelong buddies Roderick Alleyn and Iris March .

After graduation, they all went to Cambridge for graduate studies. At the university they added British friend, Harry Holbrook --an archaeology student--to their close group. After their Cambridge studies, Max, Rory, and Iris returned to Williamsburg. Max is now a professor at William & Mary and is also head of the Herbarium. Harry continued his studies in Britain and became a lead archaeologist at an important site in the Middle East.

Max inherited Toad Hall when Great-Uncle Jacques died in 2003 at the age of 93. Max was devastated but with the support of his friends and students he carried on. Max loved his Toad Hall but realized that it needed a bit of restoration. Max wanted to preserve the Tudor Revival style but give it a somewhat minimalist and lighter look. He had the exterior re-surfaced in brown sandstone stucco. Only a few lighter-colored timbers were put back. The heavy dark ceiling timbers and paneling were removed and replaced with an airier style. The slate roof was repaired.

Max lives at Toad Hall with his dog Henry (every Tudor should have a "Henry") . His housekeeper Agatha comes in daily to make sure that Max has a good evening meal and a clean house (Max can be a bit absent-minded). He is fortunate to live next door to his best friends, the recently wed March-Alleyns (house on right)

Their college chum, Harry Holbrook is a visiting professor of Middle Eastern Archaeology at William & Mary and will be Max’s houseguest for a couple of years. Also a frequent visitor is Max's girlfriend Emmeline di Pietro an Assistant Professor of Architecture at William and Mary.

Max has a big bash at Christmas time and his Uncle Louis and Aunt Simone often come and bring great wines from the family vinyard Chateau Neuf de Winter. Of course, Max always adds some Virginia wines to the table .

Max loves teaching Botany and chronicling the economic and sociological importance of plants from Colonial times to the present. He is actively involved with the plantings and studies at Monticello and Mount Vernon, and with those closer to home in Colonial Williamsburg. Max grows many plants around his house and in his greenhouse. His plantings are an eclectic mix: a vegetable garden, a formal English garden, and romantic groupings of any plants that appeal to him. Max and Henry are a welcome sight everywhere and his house is always open to his friends and students.

Behind the Build: Toad Hall (GL Glencroft)

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

This dollhouse was built in 2004. It was a "surprise" build to me. On Labor Day weekend, my sister arrived with this kit. She had bought it a couple of years back but had decided that while she loved the house, she could not contend with Greenleaf’s 1/8 inch plywood. Therefore, it was now mine and “we” would now build it. Fortunately, I have always liked this house and I already had a person in desperate need of a place to live, Professor Max deWinter.

Max teaches Botany and is head of the Herbarium at William & Mary. He is a bachelor and is looked after by his housekeeper Agatha Smith. She insists that Max would never have a neat house, nor eat a decent meal without her (probably true).

This dollhouse was built without very much bashing. We decided to do a minimalist-look Tudor Revival exterior and interior, since the story is that the house was originally built in the 1920s and is now being rejuvenated. We left out most of the outside “timbers”. The house was spray painted with Fleckstone “Santa Fe Sand” as stucco. We made our own leaded glass windows: leading tape on acrylic. The chimney is spackle “stucco” impressed with red quartzite chips on a Styrofoam form. The roof slates are made from vinyl tile flooring.

In the interior, we decided that we wanted a larger living room so we left out the fireplace wall with its bookcase and built-in stairs. We left out the door to the kitchen. We added a den addition off the living room. We decided to forego a visible bathroom and “put” it on the forth wall instead.

We made our own living room and bedroom corner fireplaces, and covered them with the same “slate” as is on the roof. We added a standard staircase at the viewer’s end of the living room. This connects to an upstairs hall to allow separate entries to two bedrooms. (The original house has the staircase come up into a room and has another room off of that- no privacy for the little people!) The hallway has a wall with a door to a guest room and a longer wall with a door to Max’s bedroom.

This wall is removable so that one can view the hallway as “hallway” or remove it and have a view of Max’s bedroom.

The wood floors in the house are Con-Tact glued to cardboard, cut into strips, and then glued to the floor.

Since I love to landscape, and since the owner is a Botany professor, he had to have a property with gardens and greenhouse. Also, he likes to entertain, so he had to have a patio. The house was placed on a 2’ x 4’ base and we landscaped every inch of it -- in fact, we had to add a piece for Max's vegetable garden!

Since Max and Iris and Rory (Badger's Hollow - very bashed Ashley+Buttercup) are friends from childhood, we decided that their houses should be next to each other so we made a "neigborhood"! We just love the look and we since discovered that someone thought our idea for the Glencroft and an Ashley-similar house was a good one, but gave the greenhouse to the "Ashley".