Sylvanian - good starting set?

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Total Sylvanian newbie here. DD has asked for a dolls house for her 6th birthday, was thinking about getting a Sylvanian one, so we could start a collection, but there are so many choices, none of which are cheap (I would like to buy new to start with but happy to go secondhand for later on). Can anyone recommend any particular house? I was thinking Babblebrook Grange looks nice. We are reasonably tight for space so tall rather than wide would be good. Would just like to hear about what others have got and whether they have been good buys really, thank you.

My dd (now 10) has loads of Sylvanians - collected over the years - which she still loves playing with. We never bought any of the houses - which I always thought were really over-priced - they just live in her dolls house something like this which she already had in her bedroom. What she enjoys are the Sylvanians themselves and all the associated accessories. They don't all live there at the same time - she's constantly moving them in and out and rearranging them. On one level they do seem a ruinously expensive hobby, but she has had (and continues to have) years of pleasure out of them. My advice would be to use money you save on the house to invest in the Sylvanians themselves.

My dd has the ELC doll's house which her SF and Polly Pockets live in,she is lucky enough to have the SF tree house too which is fab.

To be honest I think your dd may be a bit old for a young child's wooden house,my dd had hers at 3.Having said that you can get less clumsy wooden houses as my niece has a gorgeous one with proper fiddly bits.

Do you know if she likes SF?If she does Oakwood Manor is fab.I've seen it in a shop albeit in blue but has loads of openings so easy to access and rooms and a verander!!!!!.Read reviews on the SF houses as same don't rate well due to not being big enough to fit room sets or hard top access.

If it was me I'd go for a more grown up wooden dolls house(as PP would feel at home too) or SF Oakwood Manor.

My dniece has the verander fronted Sue Ryder doll house,actually that is the one I'd go for to be frank.It's gorgeous.Kind of wish I'd seen it 3 years ago but actually dd would probably have been too young at 3.

Thank you both - she has bought one SF little bear so far, she likes all sorts of small world play things, has always loved Happyland and also likes Playmobil, Zoobles, My Little Pony, Littles Pet Shop all those sorts of things. My idea was to try and limit how many different collections she has a bit, at the moment she's got a few each of several but they don't all go together very well. I had forgotten about the Sue Ryder dolls houses, someone told me about them a few years ago.

I might take her out to the local toy shop to have a good look at the Sylvanians one night this week, unfortunately I can't think of anywhere locally to go and see them on display rather than in boxes.

Hi WhoKnows

I've PMed you as well; if you're anything like me, days can go by before I remember to check posts on a thread I've started.

Don't know if you have sorted out your Sylvanian purchases for your DD, but my DD (10) has just decided she's grown out of her SFs and it's down to me to find new homes/eBay/charity shop them. She has the two storey Lakeside Lodge and a ton of furniture sets, as well as the car and caravan, ice cream cart and loads of SF families. Everything's in really good condition, but there are no boxes. If you're interested and would like a more comprehensive list, let me know.