Dolls house recommendations please

[momofha]

Hi there all,

I have been planning to buy my little girl a dolls house since she was born. Couldnt wait for a little girl to play dollies with. Now she is almost two and I am thinking of buying her one for either her birthday or christmas. Now the hard part is trying to find a nice one!

I am after something that is wooden, opens with two doors in the front (if you know what I mean) and is a good quality. I was looking at the malborough dolls house but there so many dolls houses around that I just cant decide! Anyone got any advice?

My 2.5 yo DD has a lovely one which her grandparents bought - here

I think it's MDF type stuff rather than wood but very good, solid quality. DD has one of the bigger ones (as shown on the large interior view) and I'd definitely recommend it. Furniture and dolls have to be bought separately which I thought was good as she can choose different bits and pieces for it herself when she's older. Also like the idea that you can go quite traditional or very pink and girlie. Seem to remember GPs couldn't get the dolls that matched so went for very similar ones of a different make. Actually, I think they are a bit nicer but I can't remember the brand.

Anyway, it's a really nice house. DD absolutely loves it and I imagine she'll enjoy it for many years. Wish I'd had one like it when I was little! HTH.

I think the nicest (and well made) ones around are either the Marlborough House you already mentioned, Le Toy Van ones (as suggested by SweetApril) or Dolls House Emporium www.dollshouse.com

I would go for a fairly large house you can then add to, rather than the smaller basic model with furniture included. Depending on whether she likes to put bits in her mouth, some of the furniture might have to be 'confiscated' for a while though.

We have just bought the Rosebud dolls house from the early learning centre for our dds aged 2 and 5. It costs £100 and each room set around £15. It is wooden and sturdy yet very girly looking and they love it. Hope you find "the one"!

Thanks girls! I like the idea of getting a larger house and some of those houses are beautiful! That dolls house site is fantastic! Thanks for helping me narrow it down.