Amy Miles' House - 1890

Made in 1890 for a little girl called Amy Miles, this house contains some of the latest domestic technology of the time in miniature, a billiard room, and separate nursery and schoolroom.

The house was lent to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1915 for an exhibition in the Children's Room and was eventually given to the Museum in 1921. Originally, it had an artist's studio above the bathroom on the right side of the house. Unfortunately this was damaged during the Second World War (1939-1945), but pictures still survive which feature the studio.

Miss Miles' House, Dolls' House, 1890. Museum no. W.146-1921 (click image for larger version)

Almost all of the contents are contemporary with the house and give us a sense of what it must have been like to live in a real house of the time. A house like this would have belonged to a very well-to-do and up-to-date family, who liked to enjoy themselves. In the room next to the kitchen is a bicycle and there is a billiard room on the first floor. There are several labour saving gadgets, including a knife cleaner, a telephone and carpet sweeper. In the bathroom is a geyser for heating up water for the bath. Surprisingly for such a large house, there is only one bedroom but there is a nursery and a schoolroom.

Watch a video animation of the second floor room in Amy Miles' House