My Very Own Keystone!

 Well, as I hinted about in my previous post, I now have a "new" dollhouse (there may be more, but this is just the story of one...!).  As I've mentioned, ever since receiving this for my birthday a couple months ago,  I've have really become obsessed with vintage dollhouses and furnishings.  I loved them before, but I REALLY love them now!  

Anyway, I particularly love the ones by Keystone of Boston and by Rich Toy Co., both popular in the 1930s and 1940s.  So when I went on my little vacation in North Carolina earlier this month, I was on a mission to find a cool vintage dollhouse.  I'd already exhausted all the antique stores around here, and there are lots more up there, in addition to Craigslist, so I was hopeful!  But no luck!  I was bummed, because although they're available on Ebay, the prices are always high, especially with shipping added.

So on my last day there, I took a look on Craigslist for a town that was about thirty miles away, and what do you know?  The very first listing said, "Antique Dollhouse- $10".  I looked at the listing, and it was a Keystone dollhouse!!  Amazing!  The very kind I'd been searching and searching for!  I was on that phone in about ten seconds flat, and we were on our way in another five minutes.  We pulled up to this site below:

 A rundown, messy, filthy thrift shop with my dollhouse sitting front and center!  I was squealing in the car!  I told the man I'd take it, then browsed around a bit.  There were other treasures to be had there as well, but I'll show you those in another post...   As I checked out, the guy said, "And what did I have that marked at? $5?"  "Oh, I can't remember, $5 or $10," I mumbled...  "OK, $5 it is then!"   Holy cow!  Can you believe that?  These go for at least $100 on Ebay, and I was able to score one for $5! 

Here is a little better view once we got home.  

 The inside was pretty nasty- cobwebs and bug carcasses and gross astroturf carpet... But it all cleaned up pretty well.  The biggest flaws are that it's missing the staircase, the door, and the chimney.  However, I think I can probably manufacture all of those things myself.  The wallpaper and floors are all in pretty good condition, which is the most important.

Here's a view on the shelf in my studio.  I may repaint the trim pieces so they're not so dingy at some point.

 And here's the inside again. I've put some random extra furniture in here for now, but I'll intentionally decorate it at a later point.  I'm still working on my big house for right now, so I'll have to show you pictures of how that's going as well.

So there's another dollhouse story for you!  Still a couple more to go....as well as some of the other goodies I've found recently. 

Hope you're all having a great summer!  It's gone by fast for us- I can't believe school starts again in less than a month!    Oy!  In some ways I'm glad the summer's almost over, but boy, I am not looking forward to carpool lines and packing lunches again anytime soon!!


P.S.  Oh, and don't forget the auctions for my other dollhouses on Ebay!  They are ending in three days!