Adding a Basement.

Hello everybody.
Yesterday was a very productive day for my Victorian dollhouse as my boyfriend and I started making the first part of the basement.

After much investigation on Google I came up with the beginning of my design. The main part of the house will have a two (possibly 3) room basement that connects to the upper part of the house. As the house was not built with a basement in mind it is going to have to be adapted.

If you look at the base of the original house it sits on a 2-3 inch plinth. This plinth is integral as it allows the details of the veranda.

Ideally I wanted to try and use this plinth as part of the basement but with lots of thinking I couldn't make it work. So I created a separate room box of sorts to be the basement. I had pre purchased a set of stairs so they have dictated the height of the basement. (12 inch) The stairs have posed a little bit of a dilemma as they won't actually be going anywhere. I'm planing on making it seam like they go up to under the stairs of the top part of the house.

The next picture is the beginning of the chimney.  I have made it so that the fireplace and range can sit inside the alcove. After looking at many blogs they also inspired me to make it slightly bigger to allow for the wiring of the dollhouse to go through the chimney stack. I haven't attached it yet as it will need lots of work done on the inside.

 The stairs from the top of the house will run onto the top of the basement. I plan to make a detachable front that then has another set of stairs leading to the ground.

Phoenix Kitchener in its new home.

The next part I will build is a basement for the tower. The tower has been proving to be a difficult addition so I have changed some things with it. Instead of it being physically attached to the main house I will now have it so it can be placed side by side. I have also decided to add a back to it. I had thought that it would be strange to have a house that you can see all around but has an open area. The tower can then be slid across to see the contents of it.

So now some questions for you!

Q1 : Should I have windows in the basement? Many kits I have seen do...some don't. If yes...what would you suggest.

Q2: Should I use real bricks or brick stencil for the basement?

Q3: Should the doors in the basement be the same quality as the main house or should they be more simple to reflect the rooms being servants quarters?

I'd love to hear from you to see what you suggest..

IndyPoppy