Narrator: This Schoenhut Dollhouse is literally the house that started Pat Arnell’s miniature collection. She purchased this antique to give her childhood dolls and furnishings a home.
Pat Arnell: This house is similar to one I got for Christmas when I was about eight. My mother made a family of dolls and sewed slip covers for the living room furniture when they began to show wear. When I went away to college she gave the dollhouse to my niece but I saved the dolls and the living room furniture she had reupholstered.
Narrator: Look in the living room and you will find the cloth dolls and furniture from Pat’s childhood. This Schoenhut house was in rough shape when Pat acquired it so she freshened it up with a new coat of paint, wired it, dressed the beds, and replaced parts that were missing.
Pat Arnell: I didn’t have quite enough items to fill the house so I decided to purchase some more items. One thing led to another. The rest is history.