The Featherstone Hall Hotel book came about by popular demand as they say!
I created this project especially for the 200th Issue of Dolls House & Miniature Scene magazine (February 2011). This was the first house I had built, and the 24 monthly articles following the creation of the hotel from flat pack to finished project also included all of the ups, downs, disasters and classic beginner’s mistakes! This, I think, struck a chord with readers – I was not afraid to make mistakes and work solutions around my errors (hopefully not repeating them!) and is what has made the book so enduringly popular.
After the series finished I collected all of the articles together, including all of the mini projects, tips and advice – plus a new chapters on the changes and repairs – including the decoration of the interior of the front door panels. (This also shows how I added small shelves to the inside of the doors to add mini scenes so the door interiors didn’t look boring!) Plus a new section on some of the many room boxes, I had also produced for the magazine.
The idea for the house is that the Featherstone Hall Hotel is a Georgian Mansion (built from a Barbras Moldings ‘Cottesmore ‘house kit) which has been converted to a country house hotel in the pre-first world war, Edwardian era. To help me work out what each room was doing I created stories for them and then worked out what was needed to evidence the story. You can read the room stories on THE BIG STUFF page of this website. I wanted the rooms to be busy – and by the end of it, there were over 50 dolls in more than 20 rooms of the house – all doing their part to tell the story. (You can also read a Q&A article about making The Featherstone Hall Hotel on the INSPIRATION page of this website.)
The book is a 164 page paperback, with gloss cover. It is A4 landscape format, to better allow for full room, full page, pictures.
Each copy of the Limited First Edition of 1000 copies is hand numbered, on a bookplate inside the front cover. Signed/dedicated copies available at no extra cost just email your dedication/name after purchasing.
People who have bought the book have been kind enough to say….
Featherstone Hall is an inspiration to anyone building a dolls house, the book is fantastic as is the Author, well done Julie. – Jackie Neiland.
I enjoyed your book. I found it a wonderful, informative and witty book – Olive McGarvey
I read the entire book over the Easter weekend. I couldn’t put it down; I was fascinated! – Derry Featherston Terry
Awesome! I’m leaning towards turning my large dolls house into a country hotel. I got some great ideas and tips
– Charlotte Barfoot
Pictured below are some pages from the book.
