A Miniature World Of Wonder At Tiny Doll House
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - And you thought your apartment was small.
At Tiny Doll House on the Upper West Side, furniture fits in the palm of your hand.
"Tiny Doll House is a shop exclusively devoted to doll houses, miniatures, and everything that goes into them," said owner Leslie Edelman.
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The shop offers everything from wallpaper to working electric chandeliers for its tiny castles and cottages.
"We run the gamut of styles from Victorian to Chippendale to contemporary," he said.
Edelman was pursuing a career in law before discovering a new hobby about 30 years ago.
"One day, on a whim, I just decided that I wanted to build a doll house for one of my nieces. That's how it all started," he said.
Tiny Doll House is a place both for nostalgia and fantasy; adults can reminisce about childhood or build their dream homes to scale.
"I think there's a fascination with things in miniature, that people can create such detailed items that reflect everything in our lives," Edelman said.
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His varied inventory includes intricate, minuscule renderings of lobster dinners and baseball trophies. Much of the collection is handcrafted and sourced from across the globe.
"I travel all over looking for unusual miniatures," he said. "I'm keeping my eye open wherever I go."
Some of the houses display price tags in the triple and quadruple digits—a worthwhile expense for a clientele of families, hobbyists, collectors, and artists.
"We have many stage designers, interior designers come in and use our products. People that do stop [motion] animation movies come in and use our items as props," he said.
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For Edelman, the miniature business brings big fulfillment.
"To this day, I still get satisfaction from seeing people enjoying what we do, and especially watching the faces of the young children that come in, the excitement and the overall feeling of wonder," he said. "I love what I do."
Tiny Doll House
314 E 78th Street
New York, NY 10075
(212) 744-3719
https://www.tinydollhousenewyorkcity.com/
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