New Quarter Inch Project: “Tudor” House

I needed a break from The Big House, so I turned again to quarter-inch scale. I purchased the Shoe House from Suzanne and Andrew’s Minis (have had my eye on it for a time), but I want to electrify it, and I’ve never done electricity in a quarter-inch house. To learn, I took out a house kit I purchased a few years ago from what is now Cascade Miniatures.

The kit came with an electrification component, which I ended up half using. Instead of the copper tape (which I can never make work to my satisfaction), I decided to go the round wire route with a junction box and hidden wires. The kit was easy and fun (a weekend project). Though I don’t see my house on the Cascade Minis site anymore, I saw some that were similar.

The exterior details are trompe l’oeil except for the window boxes.

The open back reveals shelves where the rooms will go. Wiring from each room will feed up to the attic, where it’s screwed to a very small junction box. Wire will run down the side of the house (hidden by a molding).

The interior rooms are boxes made and decorated separately then slid into place. Handy for finishing the walls, ceilings, and floors. Light wires exit each box via a hole drilled in the top.

Floors are scribed flooring (1/8 inch scoring), walls “stucco” paper I bought at an art supply store (I used the same on the exterior of the Cotswold Cottage). Beams are 1/8 square stained. I used the beams to hide the tiny lightbulb in the back.

The room boxes assembled and slid into place and the wires attached through the attic.

Close-up of a lighted room.

I haven’t decided what to do with the house yet. I thought it might be an old house that people have modernized for living in today, then I thought, maybe a flower shop on the first floor, apartment on the next two floors. Don’t know yet.

My goal was to see whether I could light a quarter-inch house, and yes, I can. I used tiny incandescent bulbs (supplied w/ the kit), but next time I’ll try LEDs. Gave me a good lesson for lighting the next quarter-inch house, or maybe putting lights in a couple of my older ones (the Main Street House could do with it).