Comments on: Denton Welch’s Dolls House

By: Kenneth Robinson

Kenneth Robinson — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 21:03:21 +0000

I came across the name Denton Welch when reading Barry Mile’s biography – William S Burroughs, who was a fan of Welch’s. What puzzles me is that Welch came from a well-off family … father ran a successful company in Shanghai, and he received in today’s terms almost one quarter of a million in compensation as a result of his accident. Why did he live in a succession of rented rooms, houses? Denton had two older brothers Paul and Bill … there is little information about them; and Denton’s many aunts and uncles were all comfortable. He strikes me as having been a bit of a gadfly… always on the move in search of the perfect home. I wonder if he would have mellowed with age; have become more settled?

By: Eleventh Volume

Eleventh Volume — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 19:21:27 +0000

Thank you for this article. I will surely visit the Museum especially to see Denton’s house.

I’m a fellow fan. I hope the author owns a copy of the beautiful two volume Where Nothing Sleeps published by Tartarus Press. It’s a delight.

I believe William Seward Burroughs declared Denton Welch his favourite author. I wonder if the Burroughs adding machine is still on display at the Science Museum where I saw it a decade or two ago.

By: Colin Cohen

Colin Cohen — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 15:32:16 +0000

As a child my mother had a dolls’ house designed by her father, the architect of Shell-Mex House. As she told it all his suppliers got together to provide the fixtures and fitting, apparently even back then, around the time of WWI, it was possible to get tiny lights that worked, though I suspect the same could not be said of the plumbing!

One day she came back from school to find it gone, her mother had given it away as she was ‘too old’ for that sort of thing. She never forgot the hurt

By: JOAN REYNOLDS

JOAN REYNOLDS — Tue, 05 Mar 2019 02:50:13 +0000

I know the Bethal Green museum so very well. As a child my maternal Grandparents lived just opposite the Musem Gardens and most weekends when we visited I was allowed to go to the Museum and see all its old toys. I remember there were a few doll houses. I was fascinated, particularly by the tiny furniture. I also had my own doll house – it became mine when my sister outgrew it. It had been a present to her when she was three – in 1945. This was war-time, a period of great shortages. My Dad and his best mate found scrap wood (bits from tea chests, orange boxes) and built a three bedroom house, very simple but with miniature fireplaces, a staircase, and real glass windows. It was a work of art with dovetail joints the way things were done in those days. They managed to give it “electric” lighting by wiring each room with tiny light bulbs all powered by a battery clamped on the back of the house. My sister was given it at Christmas – came down in the morning to find the house all lit up so that you could see the little rooms behind the windows. She never forgot the thrill. When I took it over, I of course ruthlessy redecorated it, made little things for it and spent many happy hours with it. When I outgrew it, it was put in a cupboard at the end of a long landing and when my niece and nephew visited as toddlers they would spend the whole afternoon on “make believe” – and all we could see from the end of the landing were their little bottoms as they knelt and muttered conspiratorially to each other. Happy days. In the end, my parents got old, and gave the house to my niece whose life was a bit disorganized and the dolls house ended up in an outbuilding quite forgotten, rotted and was thrown in a skip. My dad never quite forgave her for not treasuring the labour of love he had so lovingly handmade 50 years before. I hope all makers and owners of dolls houses had as much love and fun as we all did over the years.

By: Kristine

Kristine — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 19:02:28 +0000

What a beautiful dolls house. I read “The Miniaturist” recently and loved the notion of some clever craftsperson fashioning numerous small objects perfectly to scale.

I admire that Denton Walsh had the skill and patience to peel back the many layers of paint and decoration.

One of our prominent art museums here in the States, has a collection of 68m miniature rooms that depict historical rooms of Europe, Asia, and North America. The woman who designed them worked with a craftsman to create many of the furnishings. They too a delight to behold.

By: mlaiuppa

mlaiuppa — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 20:13:11 +0000

It was a labor of love to build that house and a labor of love to restore it.

I love dollhouses. My favorite part of Knott’s Berry Farm in California was Mott’s Miniatures. They had many doll houses.

I once wanted to build a dollhouse just as intricate, but sadly lack the skills and time so that will probably never happen.

So sad most of the furniture and accessories have been lost to time. But the dollhouse is lovely as it is. I’m grateful he had the opportunity and the time to restore it and preserve it for us to enjoy.

I will make a note of the Victoria and Albert Doll Museum and add it to my list of places to see for my dream trip to England.

By: Paul Loften

Paul Loften — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 14:28:39 +0000

Thank you for bringing Denton Welch to our attention. . His writing is intense and it has absorbed everything possible from his restricted envirionment. It makes very good reading indeed. His work on the Dolls House and it being kept at the museum is a fitting tribute . Hopefully it will serve as a pointer to his writing

By: Jill Wilson

Jill Wilson — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 12:49:41 +0000

Also never heard of Denton Welsh – I will have to check him out.

By: Jill Wilson

Jill Wilson — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 12:48:53 +0000

It looks charming! I’d love to make a dolls house version of 18 Folgate Street if I ever get the time (although it would be missing the sounds and smells of the original!)

By: Lynne Perrella

Lynne Perrella — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 12:27:47 +0000

Thank you for this gem! What a delicious progression — to learn of the obsession, to “tour” the little charismatic house, and then (the cherry on top of the sundae) to discover a photo of Denton Welch to complete the experience. The appeal of miniatures is undeniable — and this beautiful post illuminates why.

This one’s a keeper!
Many thanks.