Mr. Messenger's Study and His Swivel Chair

I have began to work on a new room, based off one of my favorite books as a very young child, Annabel's House, by Norman Messenger. It is a book with drawings of an Edwardian house with lots of flaps that you can pull to reveal things inside the cupboards, etc. One of my favorite rooms in the book is most likely the study, and I am basing a room in my dollhouse after it. I am a visual person, so I wrote on scraps of papers and arranged them around the room until I found an arrangment I liked.

The room posing as the study is actually going to be the kitchen, and the study will probably be either on the third or fourth floor. I got to work making the swivel chair for the desk. It's a bit tippy, but it stands upright in the kitchen. I had to prop it up in Anthea's Room - I think her floor might be a bit uneven in places. It's an old house, after all! I don't quite know what I based the chair after - I did hunt for a bit of inspiration on Google, searching for '1930s swivel desk chairs', and based it a bit off of those. While it doesn't swivel, I'm still happy with it.

The Governesses

During the Victorian era, the governess for the Lockwood children was named Miss Leopold, and was not very well liked by the Lockwood children. She was a stiff, upright woman with a stern face, and always carried around her cane - not because she needed it to support herself, but because she enjoyed threatening to thwack children with it. Her bedroom was very reminiscent of herself; very stiff, upright, no-nonsense and formidable. It was very old-fashioned, with an iron bed, a pitcher and washstand, and old Victorian posters on how to bring up children. That was the old Governess, and that was the Old Governess's Bedroom. Now, it was being used as somewhat as a hideout for the Lockwood children: they used it as the pirate's ship, the headquarters of a spy agency, or whatever they pleased. They laughed over the old-fashioned posters that were hung about the room, and clambered into the imposing wardrobe to pretend they were in Narnia. In all, nothing that the Governess would have approved of.

That was her room now - and I need to construct it! There will be no accessories, because Miss Leopold has passed on, and after all, hasn't lived there for almost half a century. I will need to make a 'stiff and imposing wardrobe', an iron bed, a small table with a lamp that Miss Leopold used to write on, and a washstand with a pitcher and basin. I will also need to make (or rather, print out) posters from the Victorian Era on how to bring up children, because they rather seem like something Ms. Leopold would want. I will also need to make little books from the Victorian Era on education, dusty spelling books, musty arithmetic books, and crumbling reading books. Speaking of Victorian books, I am lucky to possess an original Victorian McGuffey's Eclectic Reader. I would take a photo to show it to you, but I would rather not sort through piles of crumbling books at the present. Anyhow, Miss. Leopold must possess McGuffey's Electic Reader. She simply wouldn't do without it.

But now we travel fifty years later, to the 1930s, with a New Governess and a New Governess Bedroom. Hence the name, the Old Governess's Bedroom and the New Governess's Bedroom. And the name of the new Governess? Miss Jessel. There are no reasons behind the choice of name, it just struck my fancy. Miss Jessel, oh the contraire, is quite the opposite of Miss Leopold. She's very kind and understanding, yet still stern enough to be a firm hand with the children. She lives in a room on the third floor, adjacent to the Old Governess's Bedroom and the Schoolroom (which I simply must construct! I have some terrific ideas for it, but we'll have to see if they can become reality. . .) Miss Jessel's room was updated in 1932, so of course, it's at the height of modern conveince. (No pitcher and washbasin for her!) I also possess a score of 1920s Educational Books (yes, I do have a collection of old books), which will be quite useful in the construction of Miss Jessel's room. It's also rather amusing to compare the 1920s teaching methods with McGuffey's 1860s teaching methods, which I suppose would the equivalent of comparing Miss Jessel with Miss Leopold. I'm going to have a lot of fun constructing these rooms - mainly becuase they can be such a different mix of styles. I will also make one of my favorite 1930s Fireplaces for Miss Jessel, but perhaps this one will be in beige or a light brown.

And we mustn't forget the schoolroom - I'm thinking that we need a door leading from the New Governess's Bedroom to the Schoolroom - and we'll pretend that there was once a door leading from the Old Governess's Bedroom to the Schoolroom, but they covered it up when Miss Leopold left (Probably much to the glee of the children she once governed, knowing how much they disapproved of her). I've found a bunch of terrific inspiration photos for rooms of Victorian governesses, but nil for photos of the 1930s governesses. I mean, what can I say? It was the Great Depression, after all. Did they have a governess for the children in Downton Abbey? It takes place around the 20s and 30s, doesn't it?

Above is an empty and rather derelict room in my dollhouse. In the center is a bed that could do for Miss Jessel, but I fancy something different for her. Also, the bed is a bit low for my tastes, so we'll just have to see.

Also, on a side note, in terms of actually progress (not just planning), I finished constructing the trim around the Nursery and the Scullery, so now I can thankfully say that their interiors are complete! (I would say that the Scullery is complete, but I have to finish the outside.).

And soon to come: I need to write some about the servant's room I've been working on for the Stable boy that lived there in the 1860s, but is now home to the Mechanic who fixes the Packard 120 that belongs to the family in the dollhouse! (Sneak Preview below!)

I've also gathered lots of good information from the vast amount of floorplans online of Bear Wood, a beautiful house designed by Robert Kerr. If you have the oppurtunity to look at some of the plans you can find online, I highly recommend that you do. I've also been eagerly awaiting the arrival of more roomboxes - about twelve boxes are coming there way! Also, I've been having a long debate with myself: Should I rename Lockwood Manor to Clarendon Manor? Clarendon sounds fancier, but then, over the years, I've devoted an awful lot of time to plans and papers (not to mention this blog) of the dollhouse, that all have the name Lockwood Manor. If you have any suggestions, please let me know! Have a wonderful Halloween!