Also in my garage: handbuilt dolls’ houses

Features

| 3 Apr 2024

Classic & Sports Car – Also in my garage: handbuilt dolls’ houses

Tim Hartnall was browsing in Covent Garden with his daughters when he was stopped in his tracks.

“There was a dolls’-house shop,” he says. “And I just ogled these things.

“I thought I’d quite like to make one and see if I could sell it.

“So I did, a huge thing; I took it to a show and, blow me, I sold it on the first day.”

This Series One Land-Rover has been in the family for more than 40 years

Two more followed, but work and parenting got in the way, as well as the restoration of his first car, the Series One Land-Rover he has owned since 1980.

But in ’08 he decided to make dolls’ houses for a living, creating them in the garage alongside the much-loved off-roader.

After exhibiting at a show in London, Tim and wife Angela found themselves approached by the “filthy wealthy” asking for models of their own homes.

Tim Hartnall was inspired to build his own scaled-down buildings after spotting a dolls’-house shop in London

“We’ve done quite a few, some names you’d have heard of,” says Tim. “But we usually sign a non-disclosure agreement for security reasons.”

The most expensive models cost an eye-watering £29,000.

“Alan Titchmarsh is a collector and had one of our standard models,” continues Tim.

“He was charming, and he got soaked helping us unload it in the pouring rain.”

Stately homes are recreated in miniature by Tim Hartnall

Other notable commissions have been for the National Trust, with a model of Peckover House in Wisbech, and one for a Georgian mansion in Dorset, as a present for the owner’s musician wife.

“The National Trust approached us out of the blue, and the area manager came to see us with the house manager, who lives on the top floor,” says Tim.

“You could tell the house manager thought it was all a bit of a waste of time, but by the time we had finished he was severely on side, and he loves it.”

Tim’s incredible dolls’ houses are coveted by collectors

“It’s an 18th-century Georgian house with about 15 rooms,” continues Tim.

“It’s on display in the house with some library steps, so visitors can climb up and look inside.”

The dolls’ houses are built using birch plywood, with wafer-thin acetate for the windows, and each large house, such as the one pictured, takes up to 23 weeks to complete.

One-off commissions can cost up to £29k

“They tend to be bought by adult collectors – they are very much not toys,” says Tim.

“They are often used to showcase people’s collections of miniature furniture, made by artisans and sometimes very valuable in themselves.”

Orders began to come in from America, and Tim and Angela had an order book 18 months to two years ahead.

A large dolls’ house takes Tim up to 23 weeks to build

They moved from a single-garage operation in Soham to their current home in west Norfolk, with a much larger workshop – still shared with the Land-Rover.

The magnificent, fully furnished house shown here was constructed as a competition entry for the Perfection in Miniatures Award, held each summer in Kensington.

The couple recently retired, with Tim, 67, delivering house number 101 to a customer in Wales.

The restored Series One Land-Rover is kept in the same garage that Tim uses to build dolls’ houses

“You get on a bit of a treadmill,” he says. “If you work out the hourly rate, you’d be better off doing something else, so you’ve got to do it for the pleasure.

“But I’ve kept all the templates, and I might make one or two more as a hobby.”

The Land-Rover 86-incher has served as a daily driver, Arctic explorer, off-road trialler, prom car and dog carrier, and now has a little more room in the garage.

And it is still giving Tim as much pleasure as ever.

“I still get a thrill from driving it,” he says.

“It’s a connection between the family growing up, the fun I had with it as a young man when I trialled with it, and today going out with the family and dogs.

“There’s a continuity, which I’ve now maintained for 43 years.”

Words: Matt Ware

Images: Simon Finlay

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