Victorian DollhouseDollhouses are usually associated with childhood, particularly little girls.
Take a closer look at this example however, and you will notice that it could not have been made by a child. Indeed, every piece of furniture, every plate and book, were made by hand. This dollhouse was made by Irene Swanson Manly (1905-2000), who was born near Lincolnville, Kansas in the Flint Hills. According to her son, she patterned this dollhouse after the Victorian home in which she grew up. Later, she and her husband Ralza Manly moved to a farm near Osawatomie. Irene began making dollhouses in the 1960s--well after her children were grown. Unfortunately, some of her earlier creations were destroyed in a house fire, leaving her to start over. Irene's sons offered this dollhouse to the Kansas Museum of History in August 2000 after their mother's death. More than a toy, it is a piece of Kansas folk art and a testament to Irene's creativity and ingenuity. 
A collector as well as an artist, Irene had a unique way of seeing things. A pickle jar, a hors d'oeurve fork, a zipper-- all could be turned into house furnishings. Irene even incorporated photographs of her grandchildren into the dollhouse. Look closely at the following images to discover other treasures:
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