Queen Mary´s Dolls´House

Queen Mary´s Dolls´House is probably the largest, most beautiful and most famous dolls’ house in the world. 

It is not a doll´s house in the usual meaning of the word, a children´s toy. Standing over 2 metres high, it is a replica of an aristocratic residence with salon, library, dining room, private apartments, servants’ rooms, kitchen, wine cellar, a garden and a garage full of vintage miniature limousines. Did you know that Queen Mary's Dolls' House has electricity, running water, working lifts and flushing lavatories?

It was created by the British architect, Sir Edwin Lutyens, who was responsible for public memorials to the First World War, like the Cenotaph in Whitehall, and the British embassies in Washington and New Delhi. The house was built between 1921 and 1924 and was the star at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924, planed ”as an advertisement and celebration of the economic products of Britain and her colonies… to promote international trade and economic growth after the disruption of the war”.

The house was an idea of Princess Marie Louise, a grandchild of Queen Victoria and a childhood friend of Queen Mary, King George V´s wife who had a passion for miniature objects.

                                                 Queen Mary

The dining room with a beautiful table set for dinner 

and the library with amazing miniature books, and  the chimneypiece of white marble and lapis lazuli are the highlights of this exhibition you shouldn´t miss when you visit Windsor Castle.

Now you can explore it here.

References:

Windsor Castle Official guidebook. Royal Collection Publications, 2004

Queen Mary´s Dolls´House. Official guidebook. . Royal Collection Publications, 2006