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One Christmas in the late 70's or early 80's my niece Stephanie got a dollhouse from her divorced father, who brought it all the way from Tucson to El Paso on the back of his motorcyle. She played with it but eventually didn't want it any more, so she gave it to Aunt Wanna, a bit the worse for wear, with most of its furnishings missing.

Stephanie's dollhouse has been sitting on an upper shelf in my workroom for many years because I wasn't sure how to tackle it. It has great detailing, but is made of plastic, and I wasn't sure how to repaint it without making a mess.

Now that the Fusion Paints specifically designed for painting plastic are available, I have decided to work on it. Because of the great architectural detailing, I won't have to do much to the outside except repaint.

Part of the cupola on top is missing, though. I kept hoping it would appear magically somewhere, but it hasn't.

Remnants of the original green, orange and beige flowered wallpaper are still visible in the attic.

The stair railings are missing, but the room divider and stairs to the roof remain.

Oh, yes, here are more parts to the cupola. Now that I think about it, only one part is missing, or maybe one side was open, like the rest of the house. Maybe that's why the stairs go to the roof, because the cupola might have been furnished?

Well, I need to put it back together so that I can figure it all out and make a more informed decision on how to proceed.

This dollhouse is somewhere between half and 3/4 scale. I probably have several furniture pieces already that will work in it, since I have collected all sizes over the years. The only original furniture that I have from Stephanie are a flower-painted metal armoire and a bathroom lavatory and toilet, all of which I would definitely include.

It was wired, but none of the lamps remain. I will probably have to start over with wiring.

After I first posted these pictures, Patty in Bandera TX wrote to tell me that this was a Mattel house. Since then I have seen the furniture for it on Ebay. Maybe I will start collecting some of the pieces actually meant for it and perhaps when it's all done I'll give it back to Stephanie as a surprise, or maybe her own daugher, who is a teenager now, may want it. Anyway, it should be fun bringing Stephanie's House, which arrived in El Paso on the back of a motorcyle, back to life again

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