This is the first page of the plans I used to build this house.

Front view of house.

Back view.

Left side view.

Right side view.

Entrance door.

Left side of front porch.

Bump out window in the study, on the back of the house.

Living room right side view with the window curtains.

Living room with lights on and flickering fireplace.

Study with ceiling fan.

Dining room.

Kitchen with the lady of the house.

Kitchen with possible linoleum.

Overall view of upstairs master bedroom, with Victorian heirloom furniture.

View of left corner of that bedroom.

Partially finished upstairs bathroom.

Young girl’s bedroom with fairy wallpaper. She is sitting on the floor with a friend.

Guest or third bedroom. It may be a boy’s room.

I began building this house with three sheets of 1/4” plywood and eight 1”x2”s of clear pine. First step was to build the three floor frames.

Then the subfloor sheets were cut, leaving 1/4” gaps between them to slot the walls into. Before I fixed the floors in place, I ran all the wiring for the light fixtures underneath them and up the to the attic. They all run to a false wall behind the study and the bathroom. I also ran a heavy-duty extension cord from the attic, through this false wall and out the bottom of the house, near the back steps. I plugged the extension cord into a multi-outlet surge protector installed in the attic to plug two transformers for the lights throughout the house.

Walls fit into ¼” gaps, and glued into place.

View of all the floors and walls in place.

Next the roof was built to fit over the second-floor ceiling.

The roof was then covered with shingles cut from mat board. This process is described in the construction and installation of the front porch and balcony floors. The current picture shows the roof set temporarily in place. The rest of the house structure was then primed.

At this point, the flooring was installed. It came in 11”x17” sheets of individual boards glued to a paper backing. I had previously stained and finished them, and now cut them to fit each room’s floor.

A closer look at one of the finished floors.

Next, I turned to the staircase. It had to be installed, and the hallways finished, before I could attach the front and back panels of the house, because there would be limited access to that area after the house was assembled. At the same time, I installed a light at the top of the stairs and another in the front door entryway while I could still reach them.

This picture shows the railing around the opening at the stop of the stairs.

I then turned to making all the window frames. I used patterns on graph paper to keep them straight and the correct size. They are glazed with Plexiglas panes. I was able to cut the Plexiglas to size using my 4” blade table saw.

The windows were installed on the front and back panels of the house.

I built the bump out window for the back of the house last.

Doors and their trim were stained, and two coats of Zar Interior Oil Base finish were applied. The papering and painting of the rooms were done before installing the trim and doors.

Next the back balcony, front porch roof, and top railing for the main roof were built. I applied three coats of oil base enamel to them. I used the same paint on the front and back house panels. Note: The porch, its roof railing, and the balcony are screwed in place, not glued. They can be removed to fit the house through doorways. They are each attached with long wood screws run into the floor frames. The house measures 41” across the front and 40” along the sides. If you remove the porches, it will fit through a 36” door.

This picture shows a thick coat of craft glue over a sheet of mat board I used to make the roof shingles and the porch slate tiles. The process is messy but simple. I drip acrylic paint in shades of gray, white, and black onto the mat board. I smear the paint with my fingers, being careful not to mix it too much. I want a variegated color. I seal it with the craft glue shown in the picture. It dries clear. I use a heavy-duty punch to cut out rectangular pieces.

This picture shows the pieces glued to plain mat board bases. These will cover the porch and balcony floors.

I applied a fine sandless grout to fill the lines between the tiles. I tinted it with a little gray paint. I then sealed the tiles with another coat of watered-down glue to give them a dull sheen.

The balcony is shown on the back of the house with the flooring installed.

For the four columns across the front of the house, I used a fluted wooden curtain rod. I took a 6’ section and divided it into four pieces. I then added bases and tops to meet the porch roof. A 3” long wood screw holds each column in place. I ran the screw up through the bottom of the porch floor and into the center of each column. As I mentioned earlier, the porch can be removed, along with the railed roof above it. That roof rests on the columns and is attached to the front of the house with two long wood screws through the front bedroom walls.

The chimneys are made from Gator board covered with bricks cut from egg cartons. (Gatorfoam, also known as Gator Board, is a heavy-duty foam board. Instead of foam board's paper surface, Gator board is comprised of a wood pulp impregnated with plastic surface. The wood fiber veneer provides a high structural strength. It is extremely durable, long lasting, and reusable.) I cut the chimneys to fit the angle of the roof, but didn’t like the way they looked, so I leveled off the bottoms and glued them inside the top roof railing.

This picture shows one of the chimneys installed on the roof. It has been grouted and a black cap top trim was added.

Back steps. I would like to do something different on the back of the house, perhaps a porch, but for now the occupants will have to use these steps.

Back steps painted and installed. The house cat is slinking over to a milk bottle.

To finish the exterior, the window flower boxes needed to be built. I made seven and painted them white.

To fill them, I took small plastic flowers and greenery and glued them into the holes of spongy packing material that I cut into blocks. I added green moss to hide the sponge blocks, and used plastic flowers because they would hold up best when dusted.

The finished boxes with the blocks of flowers glued inside them.

he flowerboxes installed beneath the second story windows. There are none on the first floor. I felt more would be too much.

Now I could turn to the interior. I lined all the rooms with pieces of mat board cut to shape so that I could remove them to paint or wallpaper before gluing them in place.

A panel waiting to be papered.

The finished papered wall ready to be glued in place.

The master bedroom will all three walls papered and glued in place.

The master bedroom with the wood trim and doors added. Light fixtures were added last to all the rooms.

The finished master bedroom with paper, trim, doors, and ceiling light fixture.

Some of the furniture I made from kits. I raided my stash for the other furnishings. They are just to fill the rooms for now. I’m sure they will change by the time I am finished and all the accessories are added. I can work on it slowly now that the main structure is mostly done.