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THE VILLAGE OF WOODEN HAVEN
by Sharon Ambrose

I’ve always loved colonial houses and furniture. I love them in any size. I had collected a few pieces of 1/6” scale furniture and wanted to be able to display them somehow not just scattered around my house. I recalled that my dad had made two room boxes for my twin daughters a few years before which were no longer being used. After some sprucing up, the 30” long by 12” deep, and 20” high rooms made for the perfect display for my pieces. The two-room house quickly became a four-room house, and continued to grow until today that house alone has fifteen rooms! This house now measures 96” long and is 72” high. I’m lucky to have a large, finished basement and what was once a house has become a town. I decided that the town would be set in the mid 1800’s. Today it consists of 16 buildings including, six homes, a meetinghouse, school, lawyer’s office, doctor’s office and apothecary, general store, bakery, printer’s office, dressmaker’s shop, cabinetmaker’s shop and an ordinary with eating and drinking downstairs and sleeping upstairs. A lighthouse with housing for the lighthouse keeper below and a town common with gazebo and pond complete the village. Because of the odd scale of my village, I never cease to be amazed at the items I find that make the town more authentic.

As the original house grew, it became obvious that it was missing a family and a new collection began. While shopping one day at the Old Sturbridge Village giftshop, I spotted a group of dolls called Wooden Penny Dolls, handmade by Nancy Castendyk of Sturbridge MA. The wooden dolls with their painted-on hair and faces, pegged at the shoulders, elbows, hips and knees allowing them to be able to be placed in many positions were the perfect size at 13” tall. Wooden Penny Dolls were very popular in the 1800’s, as they could be made from scrap wood, and the girls could practice their sewing skills while making the doll’s clothing. I’m now a collector of wooden penny dolls from several artisans including Nancy Castendyk, Fred Laughon, Eric Horne, and Louise Shown. Because the dolls were commonly referred to as woodens, the town became Wooden Haven

The growing complexity of the houses called for artwork, and my daughter Melissa gifted me several original paintings that got me started. Then I was introduced to Christopher Gurshin, who was living near me in Glastonbury CT, and his folk-art. The walls of his gallery were covered with paintings that were exactly the size I needed for Wooden Haven and several of them are now proudly displayed in my houses! Time period appropriate clothing makers were found, and the village residents are beautifully dressed year round. This past year I discovered that Richard Grell of Ohio, who has been a Windsor Chair maker for 50 years, also makes Windsors in a 1/6” scale, and yes, they look great in the houses.
I’m always on the lookout for antique pieces in the 1/6” scale, but as with my own house, I love finding current artisans who are creating tomorrow’s antiques! It is such fun to communicate with these people who understand and support your hobby, and who just might give you your next great idea!