Every exterior detail is identical including the house number and mailbox. White stairs, leading to the second floor, are viewed when the front door is opened.
Besides four rooms and a porch, the doll house has an attic and a basement.
“I didn’t have him put in a kitchen because I don’t like to cook.” Phyllis laughs. “The big question is, ‘Where am I going to sit it now?’”
Just like a regular home there is always something needed. Quill said he needs a satellite dish for his future TV. And Phyllis, who made the curtains for the dollhouse, said they need a telephone, too.
Then there is a ceiling fan he is working on, that goes inside the house.
“We thought about electrifying it but she doesn’t know whether she wants that or not,” said Quill.
Looking inside at the tiny bed, dresser with mirror, bathtub, commode and other items, Quill said he made all the furniture.
Quill began to make doll furniture two years ago when his friend, Carroll Zink, showed him his own crafted doll furniture.
All Quill’s pieces are unique but the roll-top desk is spectacular. Inside, the moveable roll top is a checkbook, letterhead, and other small objects. The writing surface also pulls out.
“I am probably at fault for having him do more than he wanted,” said Zink, a Miamisburg furniture craftsman and artist.
“What one didn’t think of the other would,” said Phyllis.
Zink installed the roof with a thousand shingles. Abney had some copper that was made into gutters and end spouts.
In the ‘50s and ‘60s Quill made many pieces of early American furniture including wash stands and hutches. He also enjoyed repairing antique furniture. He has restored houses, including his own, making it from a duplex into a single home.
Phyllis said she is in awe of her husband’s woodcrafting talent.
“He has no training in woodwork or art; this is his hobby,” she said. “He just looks at a magazine and starts making it.”
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