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Queen Mary's Garden
The dolls' house created for Queen Mary from designed by the renowned architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, includes a garden designed by the English expert Gertrude Jekyll. The concept for the dolls' house was first presented in 1921 and the house with its garden was exhibited at the 1924 British Empire Exhibition and at the 1925 Ideal Home Exhibition. Since then the dolls' house has been set within a specially designed room at Windsor castle where thousands of visitors over the years have been able to admire it.
The picture on the right is a view of the actual Queen Mary's Dolls' House garden, now on display at Windsor Castle. Royal Collection © 2009, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
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We were asked to recreate a montage of the garden for present day members of the Jekyll family - a very exciting commission
After meeting the client to discuss the project it was decided that the scale used would be the same of the Lutyens' original. 1:12 scale. But the size of the garden would need to be much reduced and the ratio of its length and width needed to be different.
Some of the Lutyens' detailing in the form of copy drawings was made available, but all other details had to be taken from the actual model during a specially arranged viewing a Windsor Castle. When it came to discussing materials, looking at those used in the original and those available by present day makers, it was decided that new choices would be acceptable subject to samples being approved.
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The brief
Our given brief then was to produce a garden with planting and layout in sympathy with the Gertrude Jekyll ideals. The main feature of her garden for Queen Mary was to be incorporated in the new garden, but this was not an attempt to produce an accurate copy of the old. Rather viewers of the new garden should recognise that it has been inspired by the original and pays tribute to Gertrude Jekyll.
We were careful to recreate the features of the Royal garden, such as the walls and this door pictured on the right. Royal Collection © 2009, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. |  |
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Precise plans were made before any work began on making the garden
Armed with the brief we proceeded to draw up scale drawings, research materials and suppliers, contact specialist artisans, and make up samples. This information helped to focus on the selection/approval process so that a comprehensive quotation could be presented to the client. We brought this presentation work together in a folder that included the final quotation. It was this folder, which needed approval by a representative of Her Majesty, the Queen that finally enabled us to begin the work in August 2008 - and deliver it finished three months later.
Demonstrating the construction of the corner flower bed
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 | Finely crafted miniature plants. |
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 | Preparation of the rear wall with their niches and a view into the corner of the garden. |
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 | And eventually completed with the gates by Easter 2009. The finishing touch to the commission was the table, we made it from English oak, to the clients instructions, for displaying the garden. |
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Dollshouse Dreams
If you have a special dream of a dollshouse, perhaps we can make something unique for you, and make your dream come true. |
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