Dollhouse facts for kids

A dollhouse from around 1930, built in the Tudor style.

A dollhouse is a miniature toy home. These tiny houses have mostly been made for children to play with. However, many adults also enjoy making and collecting them as a hobby! In countries like the United States and Canada, people usually call them "dollhouses." But in the United Kingdom, they are often called "doll's houses."

Early dollhouses were first seen over 400 years ago in Europe. They were called "baby houses" and were more like display cases than toys. Smaller dollhouses that looked like real homes from the outside started to appear in Europe in the 1700s.

At first, dollhouses were all made by hand. This meant each one was unique and often very special. After the Industrial Revolution and World War II, dollhouses began to be made in large numbers. This made them more common and cheaper to buy. Many mass-produced dollhouses are even made to go with popular dolls, like Barbie.

Queen Mary's famous dollhouse at Windsor Castle.

Some dollhouses are very famous! One of the most well-known is Queen Mary's dollhouse. It took four years to build and is incredibly detailed. Another amazing dollhouse belonged to Colleen Moore, an actress. Her dollhouse took seven years to create!

Images for kids

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  The Nostell Doll's House in West Yorkshire, England. This one-of-a kind miniature house was handcrafted in the 1730s. At that time, doll's houses were not considered to be toys; rather, they were called "baby houses" and used to teach girls how to run a household.

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  A 17th century Nuremberg, Germany dollhouse.

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  The Dutch cabinet dollhouse of Petronella de la Court, from Amsterdam, 1670-1690.

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  From left: 1:24 scale, 1:16 scale, 1:12 scale, 1:10 scale. These show different sizes of dollhouses.

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  A wooden children's dollhouse with plastic furniture, made in the Netherlands in 1974. It is in 1:18 scale.

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  Many tiny items for a dollhouse, all in 1:12 scale.

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  The outside of the Astolat Dollhouse Castle, built between 1976 and 1986 in the USA.

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  One of Sara Rothé's 18th century Dutch dollhouses.

See also

In Spanish: Casa de muñecas (juguete) para niños