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Queen Mary’s Dolls’ house has working electricity and plumbing, a library with books specially written from famous authors, a wine cellar, and a Rolls Royce with a working engine

The largest, most beautiful, and famous dolls’ House is the Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House. It was built for Queen Mary as a gift from her husband King George V in the 1920s. The idea for the dolls’ house came from the Queen’s cousin, Princess Marie Louise.

She asked the renowned architect Edwin Lutyens to build it, and many artists and craftsmen of the time helped with the construction and interior of the house. This remarkable house is the perfect replica in miniature of an aristocratic home.

Queen Mary’s doll’s house. Photo Credit
Queen Mary’s doll’s house. Photo Credit

 

The idea for the doll’s house came from Princess Marie Louise. Photo Credit
The idea for the doll’s house came from Princess Marie Louise. Photo Credit

 

1, 500 artists and craftsmen worked on the doll’s house. Photo Credit
1, 500 artists and craftsmen worked on the doll’s house. Photo Credit

It is famous because of the detail of the objects within it nearly all on the tiny scale of 1:12. Inside, there are models of products of the best-known companies of the time. On the kitchen’s working table there is a tiny Coleman’s Mustard and the famous Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce.

The most remarkable part is the tiny library filled with original works by the most famous authors of the day including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, N. R. James, and Sangorski & Sutcliffe. Many painters made miniature pictures and one of them is Eli Marsden Wilson.

It was built by the architect Edwin Lutyens. Photo Credit
It was built by the architect Edwin Lutyens. Photo Credit

 

The kitchen. Photo Credit
The kitchen. Photo Credit

The house has electricity, working lifts, running water and flushing lavatories. There is also a fully stocked wine cellar with the appropriate wines and spirits and a garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll, a leading garden designer of the day. Beneath the main building, there is a secret garden that reveals itself when a vast drawer is pulled out. Each room is fully furnished and all of the objects are working copies of their real counterparts.

In the garage, there are cars including a Daimler limousine and a Rolls Royce with working engines. Dorothy Rogers, a specialist furnisher, created the carpets for the house. According to Believer Mag, the bedroom of King George V was built by Lutyens himself with the royal arms stitched into the headboard and ostrich plumes growing like exclamation points from the corners of the four-poster.

The bedroom of the queen in the doll’s house. Photo Credit
The bedroom of the queen in the doll’s house. Photo Credit

 

The Garden. Photo Credit
The Garden. Photo Credit

The dollhouse was shown at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley for seven months where it was seen by over a million people. One year later, it was transferred to the Ideal Home Exhibition at Olympia in West Kensington.

Read another story from us: Kokeshi: the Japanese handmade wooden dolls with a colorful history and controversial reputation

Today, the doll’s house is on permanent display at Windsor Castle in Berkshire in a special room designed by Lutyens. Many visitors go to the castle to see this magnificent artwork which is a valuable item of social history.

Marija Georgievska

Marija Georgievska is one of the authors writing for The Vintage News