Greenleaf Fairfield Dollhouse Kit - 1/24 Scale

IT'S FUN - IT's GREAT. This house is an exceptional buy. You can build as shipped and it will be very nice, or you can upgrade with extras listed in the instructions. It seems to be the most compact of the miniature dollhouses too which might be a plus for storage since it doesn't come apart. Calling it a dollhouse is a little deceiving because it is a miniature and well suited to an adult builder -the sky's the limit on tricking this house out. The more craft experience you have of any type, the easier the build and more creative you can be.Although the instructions and piece sheets are daunting, it is relatively easy to construct if you follow the directions.The fits are tight, but pieces do fit well for the most part. They do mean it when they say construct in the order directed. I did use a very small file to enlarge some slots a little (some tab/slot places just woulnd't fit) and a nailfile to smooth tight places. I needed a small hammer to tap parts in that fit tightly. Tweezers might not be bad.Before you buy, examine the reason you're buying. If you expect to assemble this on Christmas Eve for the next morning, it won't happen. If you take the time to do a nice job (which is easy but does take time) decide whether you'll let a child play with this as a dollhouse. It's pretty sturdy, but will smudge and may break. If you can't stand that after all your work, buy the child another type of house. This house is probably for an older child who might collect miniatures or help with construction. If you want to buy the house just for the challenge and fun - you can't go wrong.

As many reviews have said, assembly can be a bit tricky. The wood splinters so easily, (I had more splinters in my fingers than I can count) pieces don’t always fit together properly and some pieces arrive warped… but, if you pull out extra sand paper and spend more time making things fit together the end result is so worth it.This was my first attempt at a full dollhouse but I wasn’t ready for a 1:12 scale, so finding this half scale dollhouse was perfect! You definitely have to read and become familiar with the instructions, especially if you plan to customize any part or add lighting.It took me about 45 days from start to finish, but I made a lot of changes that took extra time before I could move on to the next step. I chose to hide my lighting wires in the floor above each ceiling, so I had to carve out the channels before I could assemble each floor. I also added special lighting to the fireplace and outside on the porch and side of the house. I made some of the pieces inside myself, I added siding to the outside and added a door and balcony above the front porch. Every little extra thing I did took extra time. If you’re able to do any landscaping outside it completely finishes the overall look.If you’re doing this as a display, take extra time as you assemble because once each floor is glued in you can’t go back. So preplanning is very helpful. I also wallpapered each wall before assembly so doing a mock up before gluing is helpful to figure out where the wallpaper should go.If you’re doing this as a dollhouse for play, I definitely recommend doing a bit of sanding before assembly to avoid anyone getting splinters during playtime. Your assembly will be much faster too.Despite the “negatives” I still give it 5 stars and highly recommend, it’s absolutely beautiful when completed!

Inspired by one of the other poster's Haunted House, I did something similar. This kit was a lot more challenging than I thought it would be. It took me 7 full days to assemble and paint. Not sure if that is a lot or a little for something like this; it was my first kit or dollhouse like this I have ever done. I had to go online to even figure out HOW to read the instructions. They are very confusing and the included pictures are terrible, but I managed to figure it out well enough. Seriously, if you can stomach it, try to read through EVERYTHING a couple of times before you even begin. If you can wrap your head around all the steps and kind of know what is coming up, you'll probably be able to plan better than I did.For example, the final details of putting on the windows and interior window trims on certain walls could have been accomplished so much more easily if that step had come as each wall was "finished" and set in place, rather than waiting until the very end when all the walls are glued together. Unless you have long, thin robotic fingers, reaching inside to get it placed right can be challenging.The sturdiness of this depends largely on the kind of glue you use. I used hot glue, which was probably not the best idea, but I needed this to get put together quickly for a film shoot. It held up well enough, but if I were doing this for an actual house that will be played with, I would maybe use hot glue for some parts to temporarily secure edges, but use clamps and something more robust to ensure longevity, like gorilla glue or model cement.The stair case is very tricky and therefore is kind of extremely important to get it right. I sort of did, enough that it somewhat fit together. That angled piece on the back is not only the last piece, and last step in the instructions, but one of the most important to get right for spacing, so be sure to use that as a measure to make sure that it fits together before you glue anything down. The way they explain the alignment of certain pieces is sometimes very confusing.I cut the windows with scissors to make them look broken, and slightly like teeth.My recommendation: DON'T THROW ANYTHING AWAY UNTIL YOU ARE COMPLETELY DONE. The boards for the windows and bricked up fireplace are made from scraps. The entire thing is painted with acrylic paint. I probably could have done even more with some of the scraps, make ceiling beams, or something to make the interior more sophisticated, but we were primarily concerned with the exterior for our purposes. Now the interior will probably have a few simple electric tea lights and grace our table at Halloween.