Miniature Houses Take on a Weathered, Lived-In Appearance

The weathered trend in housing design is going small.

This message comes from a husband and wife team who have made it big in miniature.

They are Pat and Noel Thomas of Seaview, Wash., two of the nation’s best-known creators of miniature houses. (Don’t be gauche and call them “doll houses.”)

While their creations are miniature (1 inch to 1 foot) their prices--following another housing trend--are not. A Thomas-created miniature house, if you can get one, since they only make about one a year, would set you back about $40,000.

They’re now working on a Greene & Greene-type bungalow, which they hope to complete by November. Plans are for it to be displayed in the Gamble House in Pasadena.

The Thomases are known for their ability to create houses and other buildings in period styles. However, they are also known for their method of aging their miniatures so that they look like real houses that have been lived in since they were built.

This is what they see as a continuing trend--as it already is in weathered-jeans and leather jackets.

Pat Thomas says, “This stems from a growing appreciation of styles of the past and of preserving buildings of the past. But it goes beyond that, to the idea that for a building to look its age is not bad.”

Noel Thomas adds, “This doesn’t mean that an older house--or a house done in an older style--should look run-down. It just means that it doesn’t have to look as shiny new as the day it was built.”