Sue’s House

Sue Mani lives in Tucson in the same senior mobile home park I do. A few weeks ago, she announced she’d be having an open house, of sorts. The house she had open for us to view was a doll house.

A doll house?

A year or so ago, Sue stopped by to see a friend, and the friend was watching a TV program about miniatures. Sue became hooked on the program, and a few months later, she said, “I can do that!”

Sue started by purchasing a kit. The kit showed a charming, three-story, Victorian house. But no way Sue was going to follow the plan.

She first thought about turning the Victorian into a crack house and began painting the living room walls to reflect that. But she soon realized she wanted to put some fun and pretty things in the house, and that wouldn’t do for a crack house. She abandoned the initial plan but left the living room walls as she’d first painted them.

She then decided on a two-story house with a rooftop deck, so she removed the third floor and converted the new roof to a lounge area. She knew she’d need a plant on the deck, and what better than a pot plant? She said it took nearly a week to make all the little leaves and attach them to the wires that served as the plant’s stems.

Check out the stairs. They came with the kit, but her dog decided they were chew toys. When she rescued them, the steps were OK but the railings and spindles were not, so she had to re-create those.

Here are photos room by room plus the deck.

Unlike Sue, I will NEVER say, “I can do this!”