A fascination with dollhouses and all things small is the same all over the world. In Malaga, Spain, visitors can enjoy the Museo Casa de Munecas or the Malaga Dolls’ House Museum. The museum makes its home in a restored Baroque building from the 18th century and houses a private collection of more than fifty all handcrafted dollhouses. The dollhouse collection is exhibited in seven different rooms on the first and second floor of the museum. There is also a gift shop on the first floor which sells miniature reproductions based on the dollhouses in the collection.
The age of the dollhouses range from 1850 up to 1970 and depict the time and furnishings that were popular in each time period. The museum was created from the collection of Voria Harras, who as an artist decided to take on the restoration of vintage
and antique dollhouses. Most of the dollhouses are in an unusual scale of 1:10. Some interesting dollhouses in the collection include the Casita de Swing which was created in the 1940’s and features both Art Deco and Postmodern Cubism design. There is a small dollhouse from Madrid with furniture of early Spanish design that is a reproduction of a family home that was lost during the Civil War in Spain. Two elderly ladies donated the dollhouse to the museum in memory of their lost home. In the 1896 Case de Monte de Sancha dollhouse you will find handmade Arabic tiles and colonial style design.
Many of the dollhouses were created in Spain and are good examples of Spanish architecture and furniture design. One of the best examples is a 19th century dollhouse from Mallorca in the Andalucian area of Spain. Other dollhouses represent other regions of Spain including Granada, Cordoba, Asturias and Valencia. In addition to dollhouses the museum has a collection of period dolls in traditional costume.
If you are not going to be in Malaga, Spain anytime soon you can still enjoy several of the dollhouses online. The museum maintains a virtual tour of a variety of dollhouses including the Casa de Cadiz, Casa de Jaen, Case de Monte de Sancha, Casa-Armario de Granada, Palacio Cordobes, Casa Vintrina de Madrid, Casa de las Piedras and the Casa Malagena. The voice track is in Spanish but you get a really good look at the interiors of the dollhouses and the furnishings.