Want to build your own dream home? And do your own exterior and interior decorating for about $300 or less? You can at Dolly's Dollhouse, which allows you to buy the entire house "shell" and add all the furnishings, to build a miniature prototype of your dream house.
FROM BUYER TO SELLER
Joyce Clifford (Dolly) has owned the business, 5821 Phinney Ave. N., for more than 30 years. Clifford and her two daughters had a dollhouse at home, and they would buy the furnishings at a particular store until they found Dolly's Dollhouse.
"I told the owner, 'If you decide to sell the store, let me know. I want to buy it,'" Clifford said.
Clifford bought the store in January 1977, but she worked at night as a waitress for the first five years to support herself until the business started to make money for itself. Now she keeps the business afloat by catering to people who are interested in dollhouses.
"It's like any hobby store. I sometimes wonder if I can stay in business. The best you can do is be there and hope that people will come in," Clifford stated.
SOMETHING FOR EVERY HOME
Dolly's Dollhouse offers five different miniature house shells, which are the already-built miniature houses of wooden walls and a roof, minus the furnishings. All shells are three stories high and have nine rooms to work with. Vic Hutchison, Clifford's friend, makes the shells for the store.
Dolly's also has the extras that go with the house: the siding, flooring, wallpaper, doors, windows and furnishings for all the rooms, including tiny chairs, sofas, tables and beds.
There are also items for the kitchen and bathroom, like tiny china plates, tiny towels and tiny toilet-paper rolls. There are also miniature people, children and tiny food like cakes, pies and pizza.
"I have everything for a real house that I get from catalogs and trade shows," Clifford said.
Clifford said that she used to have a fully furnished dollhouse on display in the back, but she took it down due to theft.
She only has a fully furnished half-house at home, and she is not interested in decorating the dollhouses anymore. "I'm just content to be around the items in my store now," she said.
Of the five shells, there is the "Southern Mansion," the "San Francisco" shell, a "Wall House," the "Victorian" and the "Plum Pudding" shell. All shell houses average about $150 apiece; all the extra items are about $10 or less apiece.
Clifford said that customers buy up to 10 items at a time, depending on what they need.
"Customers of all ages, kids and men come into the store," Clifford said. "The kids especially love the store - age 6 to 18. It's the first place they come to after school."
A SMALL WONDER
On one visit to Dolly's Dollhouse, an older woman, a regular customer who refers to Clifford as "Dolly," browsed around the store for a while and finally bought a red sofa for her own shell house. She also picked up her Avon order from Clifford, her Avon Lady.
How does it feel to be surrounded by so many small things? "It feels great!" she said. "It's such a neat thing to be a part of."
Eydie Eskridgeof Lake City, can be reached at needitor@nwlink.com.[[In-content Ad]]
