(Debbie Walker -  The Grand Victorian House)
A Victorian Masterpiece  
by Pam North
Debbie Walker’s miniature focus has been dollhouses, roomboxes, furniture, beds.
In her late 20s she found a 1:24 scale Victorian house in a clearance sale, which she made as a Christmas gift for her mom as a venue for her Avon polyresin Victorian furniture collection. It started from that first desire to build a dollhouse, and it has only grown since.
Debbie’s cherished piece, The Grand Victorian House, was an acquisition. Barrie Appleyard, the miniaturist who created it, tracked her down via Pinterest and a newspaper article to see if she would be interested in purchasing it for her collection, and her answer was in the affirmative. The house, made by Barrie in the years from 1981 to 1984, was 100% custom-made, including the entire exterior and interior walls, floors, windows, wall coverings, staircase, and wired lighting. The main shell of the house was made of 3/8” plywood. The siding was cut from solid cedar, ripped on a table saw, cut to length as needed and then stapled on to the house. The doors and windows were built from scratch (some using Northeastern scale lumber), and the shingles were cut from solid cedar. The fish scale shingles were made from wooden tongue depressors, cut to length, and the staircase was built from scratch, using wood formed on a table saw. The floors are hardwood, handscribed on 1/8” birch Baltic plywood., and the porch trim was done using a scroll saw.
Barrie had used Victorian real-life architectural design books, from which he constructed a cardboard model from scratch, followed by the wood house being built from that model. The staircase was the most difficult aspect, as it cuts around a tight corner to go upstairs, but with patience it turned out perfectly. 
When the house came to Debbie, it had only a few of the original furnishings, which she removed to redo the interior. Much of the new furniture she made from House of Miniatures kits, and she also purchased Reutter furniture for the kitchen and bathroom. A few other pieces were added, such as the porch wicker furniture, the artwork, and additional battery-operated lighting.
Debbie’s reaction to owning it was enthusiastic. “I simply love actually having something this beautiful, and I can’t imagine ever owning anything that would exceed this. It’s wonderful having a house that was fully complete, so that all I had to do was give new life to the interior. I left everything original in place, not ripping anything out, just adding new furniture, artwork, lighting, accessories, and dolls.” She plans on keeping the dollhouse, saying, “I will never sell it, but I would love for it to be on display in a museum someday.”
Debbie enjoys the world of miniatures.“I love building, creating and making things beautiful! I like to add new things that I haven’t tried before to each successive project, each growing in size and complexity. I can’t keep up with the ideas in my head!” With no miniature store or club in the area where she lives in Canada, she often gets her inspiration and ideas from photographs in miniature magazines or online. She has no formal training in her hobby, but has learned skills with tools, citing her gluer’s jig and mitre saw as essential to her craft. Lack of work space and display space is a problem. “Like many others, I am space- challenged. My workplace is my dining room table, which tends to be covered end-to-end with projects such as room boxes, along with other smaller things such as shingles or flooring. It seems there’s never enough room for all of it. Also, with the dining room table so cluttered, we can’t ever have anyone over for dinner!”
Debbie has some concern about the future of miniatures. “I hope the future is bright, but it seems that as the older generations starts to pass away, stores are closing and shows are at risk of ending.”
In her collection she has a few very prized pieces that she will never part with. “The first is a set of miniature wine bottles made of real glass and filled with real wine. I purchased them from a seller from Italy at the Chicago International a number of years ago. Other prized pieces include a group of hand-turned miniature wooden bowls and vases that were made by a local fellow that I happened to discover through a local market.”
She continues to create. “I am in the homestretch of finishing my Real Good Toys Victorian house that I have been working on for the past five years, and also my Sewing Room room box. Another room box is done for a purple/burgundy Victorian Bedroom; I just need to make the furniture and bedding and add the accessories, lighting and artwork.”

Contact information:
Name: Debbie Walker
Email: dbajfal@accesscomm.ca
Website: www.pinterest.com/debbiew120
Phone: 306-545-3823
Address: 1135 McIntosh Street, Regina, SK., S4T 5B8, Canada