Mindy Thorpe can still recall the afternoon in the 1970s when she, then 11, went to a friend’s house for a playdate and saw the childhood toy that would set off a lifetime hobby.
“She had a dollhouse,” Thorpe recalled. “I never wanted something so immediately in my life.”
She ran home and told her mother that the model — the front of the Yield House-brand dollhouse lifted off to show the rooms inside — was exactly what she wanted for her upcoming 12th birthday. But it cost $39.95.
“That was too much money for a 12th birthday,” Thorpe said.
Instead, her mother said Thorpe’s grandfather would build her one.
“He built me the same thing, only better,” said Thorpe, of Newport.
She and her mother then primed and painted it, setting off a love of dollhouses and creating — and recreating — the rooms in the small structures.
Thorpe’s dollhouses are currently on display in an exhibit called “Dollhouses: Obsession on a Small Scale” at the Library Arts Center in Newport. They are also for sale, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the nonprofit organization.
Thorpe’s work is incredible, and it’s hard not to be charmed by the tiny houses, tiny rooms and even tinier items inside them. But what’s even more incredible is Thorpe’s memory and attention to detail, the research she puts into each project, and the results that come from that dedication.
Due to her father’s career, Thorpe moved around a lot as a child, attending many different schools. Whenever the family landed in a new home, the first thing Thorpe would do would be to set up her dollhouse, the little home that she was able to pack up and take everywhere.
Thorpe’s love of dollhouses became reinvigorated after she took a job with a tech company in Massachusetts. She started buying dollhouses online to refurbish.
“EBay was a revelation,” Thorpe said during a tour of the exhibit.
She would buy lots of dollhouse furniture on the popular auction website, searching for treasures. Her interest in dollhouses stems from her interest in architecture and the creative process. There are no dolls in any of the rooms, although photographs of dogs are a common theme.
“I envision a life inside these things,” Thorpe said.
In one house, a three-story fixer-upper Thorpe found in Bristol, R.I., she sees it as belonging to a wealthy French couple and a brother-in-law who lives in the attic.
“He drinks but also plays a lot of cards,” Thorpe said.
This level of detail, this level of connection, makes Thorpe’s work so engrossing. While there may not be people (or dolls) occupying the dollhouses, it’s easy to imagine who could inhabit these spaces. Thorpe’s dollhouses, while beautiful works of art, look like they could be lived in.
In recent years, Thorpe has begun to incorporate photographs in her designs. She scours magazines for outdoor scenes, putting images of windows that the occupants of the dollhouses could theoretically look out upon. The advent of 3D printers has also been a game-changer.
“The possibilities have exploded since I started,” Thorpe said of 3D printing. “Now anything you can think of, you can make.”
Thorpe also makes many items on her own from repurposed materials. A tray that sits on a vanity in a bedroom contains bottles Thorpe made using neglected post earrings and stray beads. These details are common in Thorpe’s dollhouses. Lace doilies become bedspreads. Coasters become window blinds. Stray pieces of fabric become the top of a canopy bed.
“You can get to a level where it isn’t just a chair, it’s the chair,” Thorpe said.
Depending on the scale of the renovation and how long it takes Thorpe to find items, each house can take three to six months to complete.
While hunting on eBay, Thorpe came across the Yield House saltbox dollhouse she had coveted as a child. The cost was 99 cents, and Thorpe decided to go with a 1960s theme, including a replica of a stereo her sister received in 1967. She used an old jewelry box as a base.
“I have never forgotten it,” Thorpe said. “I had so much fun building this thing.”
But as Thorpe created more and more dollhouses, her thoughts have never been far from the gift that started it all.
“The only thing I really wanted was the dollhouse my grandfather made me and the furniture people made me inside of it,” Thorpe said. “That’s what matters to me.”
Editor’s note: “Dollhouses: Obsession on a Small Scale” will be on display until July 18 at the Library Arts Center, which is located at 58 N. Main St. in Newport. For hours and more information, visit libraryartscenter.org or call 603-863-3040. Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.
