| Tracing the history of the modern dollhouse starts with | | | | impressive and one of the oldest existing houses hails |
| items that bore little resemblance to the toys and | | | | from Holland. The Utrecht House, built in 1680, |
| collector pieces of today. | | | | resembled a cabinet with fifteen separate rooms and |
| The earliest known miniature replicas date back to | | | | a garden. Dutch artists spared no expense in adding |
| ancient Egypt, found within the tomb of Meketre. | | | | gemstones and creating miniature replicas of paintings |
| These wooden replicas of buildings, boats, animals, and | | | | and furniture for some of their creations. |
| people capture a glimpse of life in Egypt four thousand | | | | The oldest Colonial-style dollhouse in North America is |
| years ago. Some of these highly valued miniatures are | | | | located in the Nursery at the Van Courtland Museum. |
| located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New | | | | Built in 1744, this impressive house is a replica of a |
| York City, and the miniatures have spawned many | | | | New York City mansion. It is the only dollhouse in |
| copies of the originals. | | | | America that is older than the US itself. |
| Moving forward, most doll "houses" built before the | | | | Until the advent of the Industrial Revolution, dollhouses |
| invention of the modern dollhouse took the form of | | | | were mostly exclusive to the rich and royal. When toy |
| religious artefacts detailing Christ's Nativity scene. | | | | factories began mass-producing dollhouses and |
| These original doll "mangers" are still created today | | | | suitable wooden furniture, the items continued to be of |
| and can often be found in churches and homes during | | | | good quality but with lesser focus on detail. To the |
| the Christmas Season. | | | | excitement of girls in middle-class families, these toys |
| However, the first recorded proof of a modern | | | | became affordable for everyone. |
| dollhouse turns up in 1544, the house created by Duke | | | | By the end of World War II, toy factories stopped |
| Albrecht V of Germany for his daughter. This opulent | | | | making houses out of wood in lieu of plastic because |
| dollhouse was said to have had four floors, sixty-three | | | | of cheaper production value and a recovering |
| windows, and seventeen doors. Sadly, the house no | | | | American economy after the war. |
| longer exists, presumably destroyed in a fire. All that | | | | Today, we live in a time where new dollhouses come |
| remains of this creation was its inventory list. | | | | in the many forms: mass-produced plastic, plywood |
| After this time, dollhouses were made for royalty, seen | | | | and fibreboard, even some classic artistic |
| more as collector's items than toys, but enthusiasm for | | | | accomplishments that rival those made in the sixteenth |
| these exquisitely detailed houses spread throughout | | | | and seventeenth centuries. The popularity of |
| Europe's middle class. Skilled craftsmen, cabinet | | | | dollhouses hasn't waned but instead has been |
| makers, and other artisans were employed to | | | | increased by the variety of toy choices in the world. A |
| construct these beautiful dollhouses. | | | | walk around any large-scale toy store can prove that. |
| Germany produced some of the best and most | | | | What can be made today is only limited by our own |
| detailed dollhouses during this period, yet the most | | | | imagination and pocketbook. |