Chapter VI: Another Doll-House and a Stable

Photographs of another style of doll-house are shown in Figs. 96 and 97. This house was built by the author for a little relative some ten years ago, and is still in perfect condition, as the photographs show.

=Packing-cases= were used for its construction, with cut-up cigar-boxes for window-casings, door-jambs, finished floors, etc., and small mouldings for the outside trimmings.

The inside arrangement and the general construction of the house is so nearly like the design in the preceding chapter, that most of the details and the mode of construction may be followed in building it. If boxes are used, the dimensions will have to be figured out to suit, unless the boxes are pulled apart and the boards cut to the sizes shown in the illustrations of this chapter.

=The Floor Plans=, which will be found in Figs. 98, 99, and 100, give the sizes of the rooms, and the patterns for the making of

=The Partitions= are shown in Figs. 101 and 102. In cutting out the second-floor partitions (Fig. 102), mitre one edge of _E_ and _F_ to allow for the bedroom door opening, shown upon the plan, and mitre the edges of _G_ to fit between them above the door. The mitring is shown in the drawings (Fig. 102).

Besides cutting a stair opening in the second floor, make an opening three by five inches in the second and third floors for

=The Elevator-shaft=. Care must be taken to have these openings exactly over one another. Make the opening in the second floor six by eight inches in the place indicated upon the plan. This will allow for the elevator shaft and stairway. No stairway has been built to the third story, as the elevator serves the purpose, and one would take up too much of the ball-room space.

=The Side Walls= should measure nineteen inches wide by twenty-four inches high, and the other two walls thirty inches wide by twenty-four inches high. That portion of

=The Rear Wall= enclosing the kitchen and bath-room is hinged to open (see Fig. 98), and

=The Front Wall= is made in two sections, each hinged to a strip of wood an inch and one-half wide nailed to the two edges of the house, as shown in Fig. 96.

=The Windows= are four by five inches, so four-by-five camera plates can be used for the glass.

=The Roof= had best be made in two sections, each measuring twenty-eight inches long by twenty-four inches wide. Fasten the boards together with battens on the under side and, after mitring the upper edge of each, nail them to the house so that the ridge is fifteen inches above the third floor. Then nail a board nineteen inches long by ten inches wide in the peak of the roof (_D_ in Fig. 104), and a narrow strip three inches from each side wall (_K_ and _L_ in Fig. 100). These cut off the triangular shape of the ball-room and give it a better appearance.

=The Chimney= is made the same as those for the other house, with the exception of the cap, which is built up of strips of cigar-boxes to represent corbelled brick (see Fig. 103). These strips should be three-sixteenths of an inch wide, and fastened in place by means of small brads.

=An Elevator= is something which is found in but few doll-houses. It was built in this house, thinking it might please the young mistress, and proved such a success that the scheme has been worked out carefully in Figs. 104, 105, 106, 107, and 108, that you may include it in the house you build.

The cutting of the elevator-shaft has already been described. For material, procure two small pulleys, such as are shown in Fig. 106, four feet of brass chain, six feet of No. 12 wire, half a dozen double-pointed tacks or very small screw-eyes, a short piece of lead pipe, and a cigar-box. Make

=The Car= out of the cigar-box, cutting it down to two and one-quarter inches wide, three and three-quarters inches deep, and seven inches high (see Fig. 107). Place two of the double-pointed tacks or screw-eyes in each side of the car for the guide-wires to run through and another in the centre of the top from which to attach the brass chain.

=The Guide-wires= are made of very heavy wire that will not easily bend. Cut two of a length to reach from the first floor to the ball-room ceiling, and after running them through the tacks in the sides of the car, stick their ends into small holes bored at _E_, _F_, _G_, and _H_ (Fig. 104). The upper holes should be bored through the ball-room ceiling, while the lower ones need be bored but part way through the first floor. Care must be taken to have these holes in the correct position, so the elevator will run up and down upon the wires without striking the sides of the shaft. The easiest way of fastening the wires in place is to run the upper ends through the holes, until the lower ends can be set into their sockets, and then drive two double-pointed tacks over the top of each wire, as shown at _E_ and _F_ in Fig. 104.

Now run the elevator up to the top of the shaft, and mark upon the ceiling where the screw-eye in the top of the car strikes. At this point bore a hole through the ceiling and two inches back of it bore another hole, through which to run the weight-chain. When this has been done, cut a short block of wood to fit the peak of the roof and

=Screw the Pulleys= to it two inches apart (Fig. 105). Fit the block in the peak of the roof, centring the front pulley over the top of the car as nearly as possible, and drive a couple of nails through the roof boards into it to hold it in place temporarily. Then

=Attach the Chain= to the tack in the top of the car, slip a piece of lead pipe about an inch long over the chain, allowing it to set on the top of the car to make the latter heavier (Fig. 107), and run the chain up through the first hole in the ceiling, over the pulleys, and down through the second hole. To the end of the chain attach a piece of lead pipe for

=The Elevator-weight= (see Fig. 108).--This should be just heavy enough to make a perfect balance between it and the car, which can be obtained by whittling off the end of the pipe until the weight of the two is the same. Make the chain of sufficient length so the weight will rest upon the first floor when the car is at the third floor. You can now tell whether or not the pulleys are in the right positions. When they have been adjusted properly, nail the block firmly in place.

=The Gable-ends.=--The front gable-end consists of four pieces (_A_, _B_, _C_, and _D_, in Fig. 109), the dimensions for the cutting of which are given in the illustration. After preparing these, nail _A_, _B_, and _C_ in their proper positions in the gable of the roof, and trim the edges of _D_, if they need be, to fit between. To prevent the movable section from pushing in too far, it will be necessary to nail a narrow strip of wood to the roof and third floor just inside of it. The rear gable is made in one piece, and is fastened in place permanently.

The movable gable and all hinged portions should have

=Spring-catches= with which to shut up and lock the house (see the illustrations).

=The Stairway= is shown in Fig. 104, and the details for its construction will be found in Figs. 110, 111, 112, 113. This stairway is made in two parts, with a platform between. Cut a block of wood the shape and size shown in Fig. 110 for the platform, with notches at _A_ and _B_ for the tops of the lower stringers to fit in. Then

=Prepare Two Stringers= of thirteen risers similar to Fig. 111 and two stringers of five risers similar to Fig. 112, laying them off as described in the preceding chapter by means of a pitch-board similar to Fig. 113. After cutting out these pieces, fasten the tops of the lower stringers in the notches _A_ and _B_ in the platform, and nail the platform in its proper position in the corner of the hall. When this has been done, nail the bottoms of the upper stringers (_E_ in Fig. 112) to the sides of the platform at _C_ and _D_, and set the tops in notches cut in the edge of the second floor.

=The Treads and Risers= are made the same as in Fig. 74 (Chap. V), except that the depth of the risers is increased to five-eighths of an inch. Cut another platform from a cigar-box to fit over the rough one.

=Build a Balustrade= up the side of the stairs and around the elevator enclosures, using the scheme shown in Chapter V (Figs. 71 and 75).

=All Other Details= not mentioned here will be the same as described in