THE ROYAL RESIDENCE THAT’S JUST 3FT HIGH!

The dolls’ house made by the eminent architect Edwin Lutyens for Queen Mary, wife of George V, was a fully furnished architectural model on the scale of one inch to a foot. Not quite a palace, as there are no state rooms, it is instead an Edwardian town house for a royal family.

From the start, Lutyens was determined that everything in it would work, and so it has a functioning lift and working electric lights. The library is furnished with miniature books, specially written by leading authors, including Thomas Hardy, Edith Wharton, Aldous Huxley and MR James (The Haunted Dolls’ House).

The paintings form a microcosm of artistic life in Britain, with even a scattering of works by the avantgarde, including Laura Knight, Paul Nash and Mark Gertler. Other artists were commissioned to paint murals or ceilings. Even the folio cabinets contain real etchings and watercolours.

The house consists of a shell that can be raised by a mechanism to reveal the interiors. Incorporating around 1,000 works of art, the rooms reflect Queen Mary’s taste in the use of Georgian furniture and objets d’art. The furniture is accurately made, with dovetailed joints and proper upholstery.

The dolls’ house was finished in 1924, and unveiled at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in London. It was placed on permanent display at Windsor Castle to raise money for the Queen’s charities

(as it still does today).

A book is placed on a shelf in the dolls’ house (left, in full)