Collecting dolls houses, particularly the plastic accessories for Barbie or Cindy, is a relatively recent phenomenon.Just how long these injection moulded products will last is anyone’s guess, however, furnishing and recreating houses in detailed miniature is a hobby that’s been around for centuries in one form or another.
The earliest recorded dolls house - an exquisitely detailed replica of his own fully furnished residence - was claimed by Albert V, Duke of Bavaria, in the mid 1500s.  Following his example, many other wealthy people began to commission fine miniature pieces made by expert craftsmen.These were not children’s toys but were intended as a conspicuous display of wealth and social standing.

The craze for dolls houses grew throughout the 17th and 18th centuries and gradually these miniature creations began to be considered appropriate for the children of the wealthy. Not as a toy though!  Rather they were used as visual aids to educate young girls about the domestic management duties that any well to do young woman would be expected to perform when she became mistress of her own household.    It wasn’t until the mid 19th century that the concept of “childhood” was really developed and the dolls house became more of a plaything. They were still the product of individual, painstaking, craftsmanship however and still restricted to the children of the well heeled middle and upper classes.   No contemporary nursery was considered complete without one.

The Victorian age saw the beginning of industrial mass production and it was this development that changed the dolls house from crafted heirloom into a genuine child’s toy.The major innovator in this was Germany, whose factories exported dolls houses and accessories all over the world.

But the upper class fascination with reflecting their lifestyle in miniature persisted.Queen Mary, wife of King George V, had an abiding interest in dolls houses. n the early 1920’s she commissioned one of the foremost architects of the day, Sir Edwin Lutyens, to design a dolls house for the queen’s personal pleasure. All the miniature items for Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House were made by the finest craftsmen available and their work which can still be seen on display in Windsor Castle.
Today, mass production of dolls houses for fashion dolls (and even woodland creatures!) as toys for children runs alongside the hobby of miniature collecting by adults.   Arguably, diorama sets for model figures – be they model soldiers or Sci-Fi characters – are dolls houses too in spirit at least.There are a growing number of specialist shops, miniatures fairs and dolls house publications to cater for adult enthusiasts. Some enjoy making the models, while others collect craftsman-made pieces. The aim is to achieve accurate detail to capture the right mood, character and period, raising what is a hobby to the status of a (very lucrative!) art form and creative expression.