This beautiful house was the correct answer in our last "Guess the Dollshouse" competition. For those who entered, the winner of the free magazines has been drawn. Congratulations to Astrid McGinty of North Melbourne who correctly named it as Titania's Palace. Her three free magazines are en route as I type this. Enjoy the reading Astrid! The next competition will kick off soon, so keep a watch on our website (miniaturetimetraveller.com) and our Facebook page for the clues
Titania's Palace is a miniature castle (Dollhouse) that was hand-built in Ireland by James Hicks & Sons, Irish Cabinet Makers, who were commissioned by Sir Nevile Wilkinson from 1907 to 1922.
In the early 1930s, Wilkinson loaned the Palace to the NSPCC, who exhibited the item around the country, in an effort to raise funds. While exhibited in Croydon, the Place was visited by 4,882 people, and lead to over £150 (a sum equivalent to approximately £10,000 in 2017 prices) being donated to the Croydon Branch of the NSPCC.
In 1978 Titania's Palace went up on Auction at Christie's England in 1978 but was lost in a bidding war to Denmark where it remains on display today.
Wilkinson's daughter Guendolen claimed to have seen a fairy running under the roots of a tree, in a wood beside their home at Mount Merrion House. It is said that Guendolen felt sorry for the fairies, who have to live in caves.
The palace consists of 18 rooms and salons, is 4'1" tall, is built in a 12" to 1" scale (1:12)and contains hand-carved mahogany furniture. There are 3000 tiny works of art and miniatures from around the world on display inside the palace. When the palace was purchased at auction in London in 1978, the purchaser was revealed to be Legoland in Denmark. It stayed on display at Legoland until 2007. In 2006 Count Michael Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille made a loan agreement with Lego to display Titania's Palace at Egeskov Castle in Denmark from 2007 on. It remains at Egeskov Denmark to this day
The underbidders at the London auction were deeply disappointed at Titania's Palace being lost to Ireland. They commissioned a new palace, a dollhouse called Tara's Palace, which is on display in the Tara's Palace Museum of Childhood, located in Powerscourt Estate, near Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Ireland.
Thanks to Wikipedia for the notes above. It provides an interesting background to the history of the house.