[Featured] Making a home
Dolls House & Miniature Scene // November Issue
Following last month’s tantalizing glimpse into the interior, and due to popular demand, we’re back to look at this amazing build in more even detail! It’s open house at the Long Farmhouse with Robb and Jess Coffee.
By Sadie Brown
The challenge of design
The opportunity to explore Robb and Jess Coffee’s Long Farmhouse in depth was irresistible. With it’s roomy interior and beautiful tall windows, the farmhouse delivers the perfect combination of on trend home comforts and quality contemporary design. However, it’s also a project which, on first glance, appeared to have it’s drawbacks. “Some family friends had it sitting in storage and had shown it to us awhile back, but it was intimidatingly large and quite unfinished,” Robb explains, adding that both ambiguity about scale and a lack of access to parts of the rear of the house gave rise to those initial uncertainties. “However we though about it long enough that we started to see the challenges as inspiration. Of course, I can never resist getting out power tools and proving that full-sized tools can do delicate and intricate work. Walls were removed, new windows were created, and we really started to fall in love. One of my favourite parts of this house is that the upstairs living room was so wide open that it just begged for a freestanding fireplace. Jess picked out a design and I got to create a digital render to print on our 3D print.”
Incorporating purpose-built elements like that stunning freestanding fireplace, alongside specially purchased furniture, some pieces are also a combination of the two. The latter includes the trendy blue and white kitchen units, which provided the ideal outlet for Jess’s creative skills. “We often find a piece of furniture that can be repurposed, but some projects go better than others,” she says. “The kitchen in the Long Farmhouse is a great example of that. I found a two-piece set that was intended to be a corner kitchen but ended up kit bashing to the point where it is a one wall kitchen that is completely unrecognizable from the original design. In the end it would have been easier to create from scratch.”
Home from home
Stepping into the bright, airy hallway, the wellies, boots and shoes very much set the tone for the many tiny accessories which give a dolls house that homely feel and can be discovered throughout this enviable property. The fun coffee bar near the front door ensures all visitors receive a warm welcome, complete with jar of Nescafé, whilst a delicious fruit flan and a selection of recipe books create the impression of the kitchen as a living, breathing space where the trials and tribulations of family life are pitted against a backdrop of good food. The bottle of hand soap sitting beside the butler sink is another inspired addition which brings the room to life.
Drifting across from the kitchen, Jess and Robb have also included a contemporary design element which, whilst essential to any modern home, you don’t see all that often in small scale. The rigours of washday are something to look forward to at the Long Farmhouse with its fantastic laundry nook. You instantly find yourself drawn towards the eye-catching washing machine and tumble dryer, with plenty of consideration having been given to the accessories, which include dryer sheets carefully handmade to scale.
That authentic portrayal of family life continues through the farmhouse, even if the children’s bedroom, with its fabulous alphabet rug, does seem a little too tidy. They must have known the photographer was stopping by! Behind the kitchen, the luxurious bathroom is awash with details, and not just the freestanding faucet. Everywhere you look there are all the little bits and pieces which reflect reality, from the books perched on the back of the toilet, the tube of Colgate, the hair spray or simply the fact that someone forgot to put the hairdryer away. The toilet cistern lever is also a miniature gem.
Back in the hallway, taking the staircase to the first floor sees us land in the stylish living room, where that magnificent fireplace takes centre stage, adding instant ambience to a room which already radiates plenty of warmth. Firewood comes courtesy of one of Robb’s delightful 3D printed olive baskets. You can easily imagine cosy winter evenings in this room, lounging on the sumptuous white sofas as the wind howls outside.
Plant life
Whether in the hall, on the coffee table or through the books found on the living room shelves, plants and the art of nature are a recurring theme at the Long Farmhouse, but these are also a design feature which hold deeper roots. Lockdown meant that 2020 has proved to be an extremely unusual year for us all, and Jess explains that it also sowed the seeds for the mini plant shop project. “This was 100% a reflection of what started happening in our family home during quarantine. Robb’s obsessions can get a bit out of control, and we somehow ended up with upwards of 30 plants in a home that is barely over 1,000 square feet. But, instead of being overwhelmed with them all, our whole family started to become obsessed.”
It was finding herself surrounded by this explosion of nature which led Jess to take a second glance at her home’s small-scale counterparts. “Suddenly the dolls houses started to seem like they didn’t have nearly enough plants. Once we got started making them in miniature, we also seemed unable to stop, and had to set aside a room box to hold all of the green goodness.”
Scaling miniature heights
The concept of modern design in miniature is one which has gained a huge amount of traction in recent times, as miniaturists seek to create that ultimate dream rung on the dolls’ house property ladder. It doesn’t matter if you aspire to loft living or a sprawling manor house updated to include all mod cons, anything is possible in small scale. But just what do Robb and Jess believe is the key to perfecting contemporary aesthetics in miniature? “For sure, getting the scale right,” says Robb. “But also using textiles that we would want in our own home. For realism, it’s important not to have everything look like it matches or comes from a set. We like to mix furniture from different styles and periods with art and decor in miniature the way we do in our own home.”
Many of the fashionable accessories we’ve focused on, such as the plants, the hand wash, the olive basket and even the coat hooks found in the Long Farmhouse entrance, are all creations which Robb and Jess want to be able to share with us. You’ll find these and many other wonderful design elements in their thriving online shop. Those who want even more present-day realism can also discover that 2020 essential, mini bottles of hand sanitizer. “We love the realism that you can get with printed and printable textiles,” says Jess, elaborating on some of the favorite and most popular items she and Robb have added to their store. “Our herringbone flooring is definitely a customer favourite as it looks great in practically any room. For me, the lamp bases and shades that can be mixed and matched for dozens of lamp options are fantastic. I also have a big soft spot for the olive baskets that Robb designed in 3D, those tiny, intricate slits along the sides are just so realistic.”
With two more dolls house renovations already lined up to follow the Long Farmhouse, there’s much more to come from Robb and Jess. “For so long, miniatures seemed impossibly unattainable,” she concedes. “As a child, our family lived quite remotely and simply. I would make dolls houses with discarded building materials, but never dreamed of having my own, real dolls house. As an adult, I would stop to admire any dolls house I came across and would sometimes even rearrange all of the furniture.”
In the even, it was Robb who finally persuaded Jess to take the plunge with their first dolls house, a decision which has seen their combined creative skills go from strength to strength, showing us all that home is at the heart of not just their own teamwork, but also any dolls house.
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