We quote from Antique Dolls' Houses, Flora Gill Jacobs © 2005 (page 215 where this extraordinary structure is pictured): Inasmuch as this piece of Victorian architecture is a shell, withal a complex and sizable shell, it nearly failed to be included in these pages." Her designation "shell" refers to the lack of interior floors and rooms. The amazing and overly intricate detailing along with the stained, textured and etched window glazing designed for interior illumination are all earmarks of home crafted houses for use in Christmas gardens popular in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. This is one of the most amazing and large such houses we have seen. James Morrison describes in A Vintage View of Christmas Past © 1995 Shuman / Heritage Press the derivation of Christmas gardens and pictures many. Much could be said about this exuberate structure that is complete on all 4 sides, but Mrs. Jacobs in her typically exacting prose describes many of the architectural features and for our purposes these pictures speak louder than words.
43"" t. x 35"" w."

excellent ( restoration to swan gazebo, some early overpainting; some balustrades incomplete)