Inspiration: Real-Life Southern Plantation Houses

I'm currently experiencing technical difficulties with my computer and thus can't post pictures of anything I've been working on lately. While my computer guru (aka my husband) sorts through my computer's various issues, I thought I'd post a few pictures of my inspiration for Myrtlewood.
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Oak Alley Plantation, Vacherie, Louisiana:


Houmas House, Darrow, Louisiana:

Dunleith Plantation, Natchez, Mississippi:

Drayton Hall, Charleston, South Carolina:

Belle Mead Plantation, Nashville, Tennessee:

I have long been enamored with these southern beauties. When I decided I wanted a dollhouse, I knew it would have to be a southern plantation house. There just aren't many kits out there in this style, though, which is one of the reasons I decided to build my own. My plan is for Myrtlewood to look very similar to the first three homes pictured above, except that it will have columns and porches across the front only, rather than all the way around (wrapping them all the way around would greatly impede access to the interior, unfortunately). At some point, I'll try to post the plans I've drawn up.

Hopefully, my computer will be "cured" in the next week or so, and then we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Inspiration: The Thorne Rooms

I am a perfectionist by nature, so of course as soon as I decide to do something, I have to do it as perfectly as possible! I hadn't been researching miniatures too long before I stumbled onto the Thorne Rooms, incredibly detailed 1/12 scale miniature rooms designed by Mrs. James Ward Thorne and built by master craftsmen in the 1930s. Many of them are on display at the Art Institute of Chicago. They are absolutely breathtaking.


Of course, once I'd seen them, I knew I had to try to achieve their level of perfection. I never will, of course; I don't have Mrs. Thorne's resources and will be doing almost all the work myself, rather than hiring master craftsmen. But this is the level of realism I'm striving for when building each room of my house. The challenge lies in seeing how close I can get to perfection!