A Warren L Thiessen handcrafted dollhouse.
Glass windows topped by copper flashing, fish scale shingles original clapboard siding hand inlaid floors motar chimney original vintage wallpaper staircase and banister are all hand carved by the maker Warren L theisen the stone on the edges of the house is real the top is removable and it has working lights throughout the only exception is it's missing the front door that is it.
40 in wide by 36 inches tall by 21 inches deep
Garage / Yard Sale
Yes
Hi Harry,
Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.
Warren L. Thiessen (often seen spelled Thiessen, not Theissen) is a craftsman who made custom dollhouses and was a private artisan rather than a widely known commercial manufacturer or public figure; the brass plaque seen on this doll house is characteristic of the brass plaques he put on the doll houses he made. While he is not a widely famous figure in dollhouse history like Bliss or Marx, his signed works can be recognized and documented in collector circles.
The detailing on this dollhouse is exemplary; it's all the more impressive if one considers that this was probably handmade, by someone who didn't make these for a living
The market for dollhouses widely varies, with collectors being willing to pay more money for those with either noteworthy provenance (once owned by a person of historical significance, or from a museum) or ones made by premier dollhouse makers, such as Christian Hacker (Germany, 19th Century), Moritz Gottschalk (Germany, late 19th – early 20th Century), Ernst Plank (Germany, 19th Century); Silber & Fleming (UK, late 19th Century) or Lines Bros / Tri-ang (UK, early to mid-20th Century). Also collectible are dollhouse replicas of famous houses (Buckingham Palace, the White House, etc).
Dollhouses of this size that retain furnishings usually sell for between $250 and $500 when offered at auction.
Based on the photos and information provided, and subject to examination, this is:
A vintage handmade Second Empire style dollhouse
made by Warren L. Theissen, undated
The three-story yellow-painted center-hall style house with mansard roof with gray embricated tiles, dormer windows with copper flashing, the corners with stone block, the back opening to reveal 8 rooms, two staircases, parquet floors in four room and wallpaper to all the walls. Electrified. Each room with furnishings and six dolls, including tables, beds, dressers, couches and a piano, among smaller objects in the 'attic'.
Height: 36 inches; width: 40 inches; depth: 21 inches
CONDITION: This dollhouse appears to be in very good original condition
PROVENANCE: Acquired at a yard or garage sale
$250-500*
*represents a fair-market value for auction purposes; retail or asking price may vary.
Please let us know if you have additional items to appraise, or questions/concerns, and thank you again for using Mearto.
~ Delia
Hi Harry,
Most dollhouses of this era were electrified - and it's assumed they would be - but I've added that to the appraisal.
If you can take photos of the house that include the furnishings, I will update the value of the house. There would be no additional cost to you to do that.
Or you can create a separate appraisal of just the doll furniture if you wish to have them valued separately...though that would be at an additional cost.
Thanks for calling my attention to this - I look forward to seeing photos of the furniture at your convenience, either in this appraisal or in a separate one.
Delia
Hello Delia, my apologies for misspelling your name but sometimes I can't find my glasses when they're not readily in front of me I tried to read without them. Anyway I'm going to include a full back picture of the dollhouse with the furniture out I'll do the best I can to show all the furniture some vintage some porcelain some pieces are not included because they're broken I don't want to include those till they're fixed and then I'll get those appraised separately but this last picture should give you an idea of what to appraise the whole house at given what we know already about the house so I greatly appreciate this I can't tell you what it means to me. I do love the house so much I first saw it and I had to have it. Thank you in advance, Harry
No worries - I've updated the appraisal to include the furnishings, which aren't very valuable on the market but will, I know, have sentimental value to you.
Have a great weekend,
Delia
Hello Dalia, why does my appraisal not mention the house being electrified does that up the price? And also there were two boxes of furniture I didn't include because I thought that might get in the way of the details of the house. So I did not include that those in photos. , would that have upped the price most of the furniture is antique I didn't think that I was able to send that with the house but I still have one more picture I sent three pictures and I'm wondering if I can send the last photo of the furniture and proof that the house is electrified at the same time? If not that's okay I'm very happy with the appraisal... Thank you, Harry