Little Rehab (Duracraft Farmhouse)

Last summer we were hired to build and finish a Vermont Farmhouse Jr. kit (I know the title of this post is "Little Rehab (Duracraft Farmhouse)" but this is the back story of how we came to work on the Duracraft. Plus I have to post the pics of the Vermont Farmhouse Jr. now that I found them on my phone again! LOL).  The customer lived in California and her youngest granddaughter had recently moved to Northern VA.  It was to be a surprise birthday present.  Grandma had provided the other granddaughters with dollhouses but the family moved from CA to VA before Grandma had a chance to make one for the youngest granddaughter.

Vermont Farmhouse Jr.

Vermont Farmhouse Jr. Interior

We finished the house to the lady's specifications and it was then ready for the birthday!

I didn't post about it at the time because it was a simple, straightforward project and with everything else going on (Trade Show, school starting, etc.) the pictures were forgotten on my phone.

Until the California Lady called us a few months ago to say that she felt badly that the eldest granddaughter got a "fixer upper" many years ago at a garage sale.  Grandma had promised to fix it up with granddaughter when she was old enough to help; but they moved.  And with the other granddaughters having fresh new dollhouses, she wanted the eldest's to be spruced up to look as new as it could be. So Grandma wanted to know if she could have the house brought to us for fixing up.

The Duracraft Farmhouse #500 dollhouse was in pretty decent shape! (For a tiny bit more info on the Duracraft Farmhouses, read this previous blog post.)

Some window mullions and shingles missing

Up close photo of broken/missing shingles

Some wallpapers were beginning to peel off and some electrical wasn't working

Porch swing held up by velcro

Interior Floors are large laminate tiles cut and glued in place

We had to remove the old flooring and remove the old wallpaper.  Then we checked and repaired the electrical before installing new wallpapers and floorings. We also put the porch swing on hooks (it was previously held up with Velcro) and we put the doors on hinges: originally the front door did not open at all and the side door was on a Velcro hinge.  Missing window mullions were replaced.  And now the house is ready for pick up!

FINISHED: Exterior of house

FINISHED: Interior lights all working again; new papers in

FINISHED: Interior floors all installed

The interior is so much brighter, lighter, and airy feeling!

Replacement shingles are a bit darker than original but we were unable to find an exact match of paint

Up close interior photo

Up close interior photo of stairs

Up close interior photo

Up close interior photo

Last Up close interior photo

Porch swing now on hooks

So now we move on to the next customer's project...which, oddly enough, is another Duracraft Farmhouse #500.