Woman devotes time to detailed dollhouse

The model replicates everything in her home except the basement.
By REBECCA SLOAN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
KINSMAN -- Some people like to make a lasting impression by doing things on a grand scale.
Not Barbara Ege.
The 72-year-old Kinsman resident delights in details, and for the past year she has been working on a dollhouse that is an exact replica -- both inside and out -- of the house in which she lives.
"I amazed myself," Ege said of the nearly completed project, which sits on a table in her basement. "I didn't know it would end up to be this elaborate when I first got started."
Elaborate indeed.
Ege's dollhouse is painted the same white and raspberry as her real house, which sits at the end of Yoder Street, and each little room is decorated with miniature furnishings that are exact replicas of the originals.
Pint-sized tables and chairs, a pocket-sized computer desk, a minuscule sword hanging over a petite fireplace mantle and even a tiny toilet and sink -- no embellishment has been overlooked.
There's even a pinkie-sized dachshund guarding the front door -- a copy of Ege's beloved canine, Sadie.
"My daughter-in-law made her for me," Ege said.
Creative construction
Nearly everything else Ege made herself. She used a table saw, scroll saw and joiner to construct the dollhouse's frame and to fashion the small-scale pieces of wooden furniture.
Ege is especially proud of a wee wooden settee that is an exact likeness of the real one -- a family heirloom -- that sits in her living room.
"This is my pride and joy," Ege said, holding the tiny settee in her hand. "I even covered it with a little piece of fabric from the original."
Ege is also quite proud of the palm-sized wooden swing that sits on the dollhouse's front porch,
"It works," she said, pushing the swing with her finger.
Of course, that doesn't mean wood is Ege's only creative medium.
She used Popsicle sticks to make kitchen wainscoting, glass beads for doorknobs, the heads of straight pins to make buttons on a mini computer keyboard, clay to fashion a bathtub and a piece of Styrofoam to make a brick chimney.
"I scored the Styrofoam and then painted it red. The texture of the Styrofoam looks just like real bricks," Ege said.
Special features
Of course, Ege also gave in and ordered some factory-made dollhouse furnishings directly from a hobby supply catalog.
"I ordered some of the little ceiling fans and the porch lights from a catalog," she said.
And yes, the porch lights are functional.
"The dollhouse is wired for electricity. I have it plugged into the wall," Ege said.
Starting from scratch
Ege was inspired to build the dollhouse after making two other dollhouses from kits.
"I made those for my two sons' families, but dollhouse kits can be quite expensive -- as much as $500 a piece -- so after I'd made them, I decided I was going to make my next dollhouse from scratch," she said, adding, "I also decided I'd make most of the furniture from scratch because I wanted it to look like the real furniture in my house."
Ege said she started working on the dollhouse last October.
"The downstairs is done, and I am now working on the upstairs. After I get the upstairs rooms finished, I'll build a roof. I work on it the most during the winter months when the weather gets bad," she said.
Active lifestyle
During the summer, the former schoolteacher and dairy farmer occupies herself with yardwork and other outdoor pastimes. She even mows lawns for extra income.
A native of Kinsman, Ege lived in Illinois for several years before returning to Ohio in 1996.
The Rev. Larry Myers of the Kinsman Presbyterian Church, where Ege leads a Tuesday morning Bible study, called Ege a "super person."
"Besides being really creative, she does a lot to help people in the community," he said.
Ege said that although most folks are awed by her dollhouse, once in a while she hears a wisecrack.
"My nephew was here, and he said to me, 'Aunt Barb, where's the basement to this dollhouse -- the basement with the dollhouse in it?'" Ege said with a laugh.