S/W Crafts Country Estate

I just love an old white farmhouse, which I know must surprise you.  :D  Awhile back, I fell in love with a kit that fellow miniaturist Heather found on craigslist. It was called Lakeside Manor by S/W Crafts.

Sometime later, I stumbled across an eBay listing for another S/W Crafts house that was very similar. Instead of a full front porch with a balcony, the Country Estate kit has dual entrances and two side porches. The price was high, so I wasn’t able to acquire the kit at that time.

I saw a completed one on my local craigslist, but I’m not a fan of rehabs. I prefer to start from scratch. But, the listing made me want the house even more. The person had built it with white siding and deep stained wood trim — gorgeous!

Recently, the eBay seller lowered the price on the eBay kit, and we were able to make a deal! Hooray!  Another vintage kit has been added to my list of future builds! I’m going to have to live past 100, methinks.  :D

So, here is the head-on view. The instructions state that this is model #910.

I love the dual entrances.

One is the formal entrance and one leads to the kitchen.

My childhood home had a similar entrance and side porch.

The interior has a good layout, though it will need to have working doors.  :D

However, the material for the walls is not that great. It’s called “solid wood material” in the instructions which is a pressed board milled into siding.

Even though it might be sacrilegious to not use the original pieces for the build, I don’t think I could achieve a decent finish with the existing material without a lot more work than necessary.

Making new boards with better materials would be easier and open up some great possibilities for finishes, too.  Like so….

This build will likely be “farmhouse vintage”…similar to the Haunted Heritage but with a better exterior maintenance plan and a less fancy interior.  :]