Sagamore Hill Library Room Box

Although I have loved miniatures and dollhouses since I was a child, I got back into them seriously about three years ago.  Because of space constraints, I started building half scale (also known as 1:24 scale, where one half inch equals one foot in real life).  So far, I’ve built three houses--a Real Good Toys craftsman bungalow, a Greenleaf Fairfield (Victorian), and an Earth and Tree Merrimack (mid-century modern), as well as three smaller projects—a greenhouse/conservatory, a front porch that was a gift for my mother, and a train car modeled after the Orient Express. 

Each of those builds started with a kit.  For my latest project, I decided to build a room box from scratch.  I hope to do a complete house from scratch, but starting small seemed a good idea.  Having been inspired by “Teddy’s Campaign Room” in an exquisite (1:12 scale) build based on Arsenic and Old Lace and a recent escape room experience based on Theodore Roosevelt, I started looking at his real-life studies online.  I ended up choosing the library at his summer home, Sagamore Hill.  Since it will likely end up on a bookshelf (the finished dimensions should be around 9½” x 12½” x 6”), what better room box than a library?  It also has a lot of interesting elements that will challenge me when trying to recreate them in half scale.  I don’t expect 100% faithfulness.  I figure it’s going to be more like those shows on HGTV where a designer tries to recreate a high-end room on a budget:  I want the same look and feel, and I want it to be recognizable, but it won’t be absolutely identical.  Finally, it’s so complex and has so much in it, I figure it will take me at least a year to build, and keep me busy and out of trouble.

I’m used to building a lot of my own furniture, since ready-made half-scale options are limited.  During the build of my most recent house (the Merrimack), I had a lot of fun finding real life mid-century modern pieces I liked and trying to recreate them in half scale.  I’ve also spent a lot of time studying the pictures I’ve found online, as well as a wonderful exhibit from Google Arts and Culture on the Art of Sagamore Hill. This exhibit allows me a 360-degree view of the room and close-ups of some of its features.

I started with three pieces that I thought would be most challenging—a blue floral upholstered chair, Teddy’s desk and his lion-skin rugs.