Miniature Buildings

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House Portraits

I first came across the label 'House Portraits' in the website of Ben Taggart, Modelmaking and Design. I have no idea if he coined the phrase but thanks to him for taking me down this particular alleyway in the world of Miniature Buildings.

We are talking here of models of individual houses - made generally as commissions for the house owner by professional craftsmen - or artists. Sometimes just a facade displayed in a frame and sometimes a 3D model of the whole house.

So let us begin with the work of Ben Taggart. As good a place as any to start from. These are proper professional architectural models.

Another maker who caught my eye a long time ago was Jeremy Collins of Gable End Designs.   Although I only saw his work featured in the dolls-house magazines, it seemed to me that he was a perfect example of a modeller of buildings for their own sake; something Miniature Buildings is of course committed to promoting.  A more recent web search suggests he is no longer active. Which is sad.  .

Although a lot of Jeremy Collins' work was 1/12th scale, this special commission of a Georgian style vicarage was in 1/24th

At the time of writing I could only find two other examples. If you know of of other examples of Jeremy's work please do write to miniaturebuildingscomment@gmail.com  .

These pictures come from Sally Wallace's Magical Miniatures site. Sally took a 1/12 building from Gable End Designs and imaginatively fitted it out as a a factory producing dollshouses - hence the 1/144 model in front of the factory. Her project is documented at magicalminiatures.net  .

She notes that Jeremy Collins "builds lots of structures that replicate old buildings in England. He had a replica of a factory from the Gun Quarter and Jewellry Quarter of Birmingham England. I immediately knew that this would be my dollhouse factory. It has two floors and 4 large rooms total (with a small storage room. So, while Jeremy began building the factory, I began work on the interior."

The second example is also a collaboration between Sally and Jeremy. A recreation of St. Anne’s church in Kennebunkport, Maine. There is much more on Sally's site We are straying a little bit here away from House Portraits but the thread of recreating specific actual buildings remains. This same thread can be followed in another of my articles on exhibition pieces featuring models often displayed in cathedrals and other large churches.

   

St. Anne’s Kennebunkport by Jeremy Collins and Sally Wallace

Returning to more conventional house portraits, another UK based producer is William Davis of .

    William Davis with a selection of his work.

An interesting twist on this theme is the work of Lee Robinson who trades as LNR Models. The big difference is that Lee works in 1/76 scale - the scale associated with 00 gauge model railways, otherwise known as 4mm.

As well as individuals' houses, which clearly make lovely presents, Lee also has a speciality of sheds and prduces railway themed items. It is good to see a modeller with such a range of themes.

If you take a look at Lee's own LNR site you will see a focus on a very special recreation of a long demolished cinema.

As always, please e-mail Miniature Buildings if you have something to add. Comments, criticisms, extra thoughts, pictures, or even complete articles for inclusion in the Miniature Buildings site are all welcome. Or if you would like to be added to my mailing list to hear when a new article is published.

David, Sept 2021