My Own Personal Victorian Painted Lady

My favorite architecture has always been that of the Victorian era--the lines, the detail--true beauty all for the sole purpose of providing us with shelter. Based on this love of mine, I was nearly beside myself with excitement when my daughter received the Fisher Price Loving Family Twin Time Dollhouse as a gift. Living vicariously through play time her, I was going to be able to have my own Victorian Painted Lady.

Appearance

There is, of course, that dollhouse spin to the Victorian style. While the “painted lady” homes were known as such for their color schemes, I’m not so certain in reality the soft yellow and creamy pink exterior would have been joined with lavender doors and floors. Honestly, though, I’m not complaining. I find the color palette quite pleasing.

The house boasts four floors and eight rooms, including the attic room. There are also 2 balconies, one on either side of the centered room of the third story, and a fold-out patio connected to the middle room on the main floor.

As with any self-respecting Victorian home, the windows are large and varied in design--bay, 12-paned, beautiful oval-shaped designs, dormers, and more. The best is the window seat on the interior of the third-floor dormer--complete with cushion, valance and curtain. Besides the front door, there are three sets of French doors, one which opens up onto a small balcony directly above the front stoop. Only the second level has interior doorways, but they are large arched openings.

All floors, interior and exterior are molded to appear wooden, tiled or pebbled. The walls are similarly formed to look as though they have wainscoting, or they have sticker borders.

The exterior is, above all, my favorite. Each window on the second level has a window box with once-piece soft moldings of flowers that sort of rest on them, and two of the windows even have green-and-white-striped awnings. (Note: The awnings and flower boxes have to be snapped into place when purchased.) You don’t notice, at first, the details. Once you start really looking, you can’t help but be impressed with the cornices, the window caps and the scrollwork. For quite some time, I had the house set up on the coffee table in my living room just so that I could enjoy looking at it. It became a sort of conversation piece and invited room rearrangement by visitors.

The fact that it took up residence on the coffee table by no means indicates this is a tiny dollhouse. When open, it measures approximately 2½ feet tall x 2½ feet wide x 14 inches deep (including the folded-out patio, front stoop and windows). Once of the features of this house, however, is that it folds up into more of a rectangular shape for storage purposes. When folded, it’s measurements are approximately 2½ feet tall x 17 inches wide x 10 inches deep.

The mechanics of converting the house is made easy for even the youngest owner. Each of the lower two-story sides fold up flat to the house, then the coinciding front portions fold back and clip into place. Also, the patio folds up and “snaps in.”

In this position, the appearance is more that of a townhouse, and play is still possible if you have not yet purchased any additional furniture besides that which came with the dollhouse. The fun part is that with the patio folded, you are afforded a very pretty (albeit completely pink) one-piece molded view of windows, bird houses, a bird bath, flowers and a trellis--even birds, dragonflies, brickwork and detailed cornices.

Accessories

As a benefit to both the child and the pocketbook of the adult who does the purchasing, the Fisher Price Loving Family Twin Time Dollhouse does not come empty. Along with a mother, father, and twin babies (one of each sex), other furniture and accessories are included. There are 2 dining chairs, a living room chair and sofa, 2 cribs with blankets, a rocking horse, ride-on train toy, and a one-piece kitchen counter/cabinet. This last piece resembles a Victorian sideboard except it has a green “tiled” countertop with small sink, and an inset microwave with a door that really opens. And, what house would be complete without a family pet? An orange and white kitty also lives here and has his own pet bed to sleep in.

But That’s Not All

If you happen to purchase your house at a Toys “R” Us store, you will be rewarded with a bonus accessory pack--a 9-piece playroom set. I am ever so grateful that the person who bought this house for my daughter does her shopping there because these pieces are absolutely wonderful. Besides a big sister, this pack comes with an easel, a spinning globe, a computer desk and swivel chair (computer is permanently affixed as is keyboard on drawer that slides out), a book (two-paged and plastic), a bookcase (drawers at bottom slide out to reveal non-removable toys and craft items), a snack tray, and a small radio (aka “boom box“).

Pros. . .

Details, details, details. I cannot speak enough on this aspect. They are what make this house worth the price. Everything about the dollhouse and its accompanying accessories are pleasing to the eye and fun to play with. Because this particular house is manufactured for ages three and up, most of the details on actual furniture pieces are simply part of the mold. I have already mentioned the computer and its keyboard, along with the toy drawer of the bookcase. The snack tray and the items it holds (cookies, strawberries and two mugs of cocoa) are also one solid piece. The kitchen cabinet has spices and such that are given some dimension but are also part of the piece itself. These all make play much less complicated for small hands and provide fewer pieces that can be lost or be choking hazards.

One of the most important positive things to note is that clean-up is so easy. A damp rag and all things dusty (or somehow dotted with soda) are quickly put to rights.

. . .and Cons

I do believe I have thoroughly gone on about all the things that I am fond of, but what about the cons? As much as I love this house, I did find some negative aspects to it.

The rooms are pretty sufficient in size for the included accessories, but once you begin to add on the many wonderful sets that can be purchased separately, that changes. With the large arched doorways and the many windows, placement of additional pieces can become frustrating if you don‘t want to block anything off. It’s made easier if you can pretend that the entire open side actually has walls and treat the rooms as such when furnishing, but once the small hands start to get in there and play, it’s easy to knock pieces over and children subsequently get a bit annoyed.

The folding feature, while a bonus on one hand, can also be bad once additional sets are added. You must bear in mind that any furniture you do have will need to be crammed into the space that’s left if you are going to fold the house for storage. As I have already mentioned the aggravation that can result from setting things up will be repeated each time the house is unfolded for play. We have gotten to a point that we don’t even bother closing it anymore, but carefully set it against the wall when not in use.

A small pet peeve on my part is the kitchen counter. While I absolutely adore the piece in general, I’m not fond of the back of the countertop being curved outward which makes placing it flush against a wall impossible. In a house that can eventually seem a bit cramped, this is not a good thing.

Another small point to make is the absence of a table. I have a difficult time understanding the reasoning behind providing two dining chairs but no table to go along with them. One would think this is to force the parent to spend more money in order to acquire the table, but pieces are not bought individually. They come in complete sets; therefore, when purchasing the dining set, it comes with its own chairs, making the original ones obsolete.

I also have to make note of the fact that my daughter wishes there were stairs inside the house. She doesn’t mind pretending that her family members are walking up phantom steps, but she would much prefer the real thing.

Final Thoughts

Because the majority of the cons I listed have to do with separately purchased sets, I cannot take points away from the house as it stands. The Fisher Price Loving Family Twin Time Dollhouse has provided many hours of fun for both my daughter and myself. As I stated earlier, the beauty of its details and the benefits of its features make it worth every penny.

And although the price goes up with each new set of furnishings, the choices available are just too good to ignore. They are as beautiful (sometimes even more so) as what‘s included, and they increase both play options and length of time spent with the house.

We love this dollhouse, and each trip to the store is a joy because we get to pick out something new from the many available add-ons. And with that said, I will leave you with just an idea of what you can choose from . . .

* Parents’ Bedroom
* Living Room
* Kitchen
* Dining Room
* Kid’s Room (Two choices - boy or girl)
* Bathroom (Two different designs)
* Laundry Room
* and much more!

Note: A special thank you to sblaydes for adding this product to the database for me.