You may be wondering why the site is called cameronhouse.org.uk?
Well, Cameron House was the name I gave my first miniature project, a house in the style of Charles Rennie Mackintosh (see left). The website was originally put online in 2001, to show details of how the house was progressing. Then I added a section on my vintage Lundby dollshouse (right), which I began collecting when I was a child.
After swearing I would only ever have the Mackintosh house, I gradually became interested in other periods and different ideas began to come to mind. I joined a local club with some friends, and they were running a competition for“An Unusual Container”. This set me thinking, and I made a little cameo of a rock band in an old speaker cabinet. YKK Unzipped was born (left). Other projects soon followed, including Deskeys, a Dollshouse shop with Art Deco tearoom above; Paws Petshop; a busker outside S. Breve & Son’s music shop; The Admiral’s Study (right), a room inspired by the lovely MiniMundus Biedermeier furniture kits, inhabited by a retired Admiral & his young wife; and Bikers’ Alley, made in a breadbin.
Two more projects grew out of collections of specific minis. I had a lot of teapots and needed somewhere to display them, so Vera Morepot’s Teapot Emporium (left) came along. And I had been collecting the 1/12th scale reproduction chairs by American artist Raine, from eBay, so Sitting Pretty (right) was the perfect shop to put them in. Although the chairs were a finite collection, the number of Vera’s teapots continues to grow, so much so that she recently had to build a first-floor extension to her shop!
More recent projects have been exploring other eras and styles. The Château Bedroom (left) is set in 1750, the time of Louis XV, and Countess Veronique is awaiting a secret tryst with Jean-Claude the butler. This room was furnished with beautiful hand-painted furniture by Bespaq, which I managed to pick up at a knockdown price because a couple of the pieces were damaged. With a bit of TLC, you’d never know.
Greyhound Bar & Cocktail Lounge (right) was another Art Deco project, an era which I love. The room box was taught by well known miniaturist Brooke Tucker as one of her last classes in the UK before retiring.
There is always something new to make, and like most miniaturists, I’m terrible for starting a new project before completely finishing off the one’s I’ve got! In this vein, there are several things I have on the go at present, which are still in progress. The largest of these is Merrimack House, (left) a very modern building from Earth & Tree Miniatures in the USA. Then I’ve been collecting Southwestern items (right) – pottery, textiles etc, mainly from Dusty Acres SW Trading Post on eBay. I bought a building from the USA to make a shop called Pueblo Trading, and am really pleased with the way it has turned out.
Finally, Focus Photographic (left) is a little 1/12th-scale gallery to display my photographs (since I’m unlikely to get a real one) and Denny’s Diner (right) is a typical 1950’s Soda Fountain. Both are in the early stages with not a lot happening at present.
I will add information on any more projects as they happen.