Dollhouse

A dollhouse is a miniature model of a house, scaled down from real dimensions and designed for play, display, or study. Dollhouses are typically furnished with miniature rooms and furniture and are used by children for imaginative play or by collectors and model makers for display. The most common scale for traditional dollhouses is 1:12, meaning one inch in the model represents one foot in real life; other scales such as 1:6 and 1:24 are also used. Materials vary, with wood being traditional.

Early forms appeared in Europe during the 16th to 18th centuries as a form of domestic instruction for aristocratic households; these were often small cabinets or rooms with scaled furnishings. In the 18th and 19th centuries, ready-made wooden dollhouses and miniatures became widely available in Britain, Germany, and elsewhere, fueling hobbyist interest. The 19th and 20th centuries saw mass production and standardized parts, enabling a broader audience of children and adults to build and customize interiors. Modern construction now includes wooden, plastic, and resin kits, as well as custom-built designer houses.

Dollhouses come in various forms, including full wooden houses, room boxes that contain a series of rooms in a single box, and modular kits that can be expanded. They may feature working doors, lighting, and fixtures. Uses include imaginative play for children, educational tools for understanding architecture and interior design, therapeutic settings in play therapy, and display for collectors. Cultural references include Ibsen's A Doll's House, in which the term is used metaphorically.