(Anita Waters – Muddy Waters)

Life in A Houseboat

by Pam North

Photography by Hilary Cassada

In addition to always being interested in dollhouses and miniatures, Anita Waters inherited the love of small things from her dad, who was a mechanical engineer and an avid train lover. “He had a Lionel train set,” she recalled, “ and I remember always taking a special interest in the various buildings that were part of his train layout. Then my oldest brother became a fan of trains, and I would look at his HO train layout for hours, admiring all the different buildings. Growing up in Northern Virginia, I loved trips to the Smithsonian Museum of American History, since they had a 23-room dollhouse on display. I could spend hours looking at it! I started building my first one around 1987/88.” 
Professionally, Anita was in the graphics/marketing industry for over 35 years, but is currently retired,  making it easy now to combine home life and miniature life. Inspiration comes from her artistic background, which she credits as being a major factor in the houses she builds and furnishes. “My fine arts degree was a combination of painting, drawing, and sculpting, all helpful. I always am using the design elements and coloration, learned in art classes, in the dollhouses. A friend once said that each of my dollhouses is a work of art.” 
Anita’s projects are for her own enjoyment, as she hasn’t parted with any of them yet. “I don’t sell them because I am fearful that something may come unglued, fall apart, or break. I have made two for charity events, but since I knew that from the start, I did not get attached to them.”She shared what she loves most about miniatures. “I love the detail that can be created in a dollhouse. I view my dollhouses as being very neat and uncluttered, which I think was my escape when raising two boys. For those who have children, especially boys, they know what I mean!” She has 16 dollhouses - 14 that she has built, and 2 needing renovation that were given to her. They are on display throughout our house. “Fortunately, we have a lot of corners and open walls!” she remarked. 
Her latest creation is called Muddy Waters, which was one of the winners in the First Time Entrant category in the Hobby Builders Supply 24th Annual Creatin’ Contest in 2017, featuring the #92017 Craftsman Cabin kit as a basis. “Every time I saw the Craftsman Cabin contest kit, I envisioned a houseboat. Maybe that can be attributed to our semi-annual trips to Hilton Head SC over the past nine years. While I haven’t found a houseboat or yacht that looks like mine, I am sure I drew a lot of inspiration from those I have seen. Plus, my son’s nickname from his college days is ‘Muddy’, so I thought what a perfect name for a house boat! I did a lot of online research of houseboats, and also kept mental notes from what I would see in the Harbour Town Yacht Basin. I raised the roof on the kit to add more natural light into the living space, so the ‘dollhouse people’ would have a better view of sunrises and sunsets. The houseboat itself and the rails were handmade. The furnishings were purchased or borrowed from one of my other houses. In furnishing it, I looked at a lot of online images of houseboat interiors to know that items had to be easy to maintain while on the water (tile floors and wood panel walls). and also compact or multi-usable because of limited space. The houseboat materials are from the kit, and I added Plexiglas windows (frames with basswood) to the upper portion, and the lower deck is also basswood. The lower railing is made from metal rods, and the upper deck railing is made from basswood posts with plastic rails. The top of the wheelhouse is foam core board. For all the railings (the hardest part), I made paper templates to follow so the spacing would be even. The metal rods are hollow and very fragile. There is very little surface to glue, and finding the right glue was hard. I had to rebuild the rails at least three times. I bumped into it, my husband bumped into it, and my brother bumped into it. I think even the dog may have run into it once! Other favorite parts besides the railings are the use of the sliding glass doors, the decks, the wheelhouse, and the upper level Plexiglas windows. The upper deck with the wheelhouse was fun to create. One of my three brothers is retired from the Coast Guard with a degree in marine engineering, and he wanted me to be certain to include a wheelhouse, binnacle, radar, exterior lights (the illusion at least ), and an American flag. This was my first time for entering the contest. The final piece turned out just as I had originally planned.” 
Anita plans to display Muddy Waters and several other pieces at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens GardenFest (Richmond, VA) in November, December 2018 and early January 2019.
Asked what’s next for her, she replied,”I have an arts and crafts bungalow kit to build. Plus, what started me on this journey is the home I live in now. It will be 100 years old in 2021. When we moved in 33 years ago, my goal was to make a dollhouse of this house. I started experimenting with different types of kits and different styles of dollhouses, which has created the collection I have today. I could create a village with all the houses I currently have - general store, diner, gas station/garage, lighthouse, and cottage, beach house, several modern houses, log cabin, colonial, Victorian, and a greenhouse. The village will need to be on the water due to the lighthouse, beach cottage, and new house boat! Plus, I have two huge houses so I can have a ‘gated’ community too! Ha!”  
 
Contact information: 
Email: awa5308864@aol.com
Phone: 804-262-7783
Address: 2810 Mountain Road, Glen Allen, VA 23060