Family fun house gets new lease of life

It’s been nine months since mum-of-two Leah Gibson handed over her childhood doll’s house to Rosie Heywood for restoration, and last week she finally got to see how it turned out.

“It’s hugely sentimental as my parents didn’t have much money when they raised me. My dad worked very long hours, but as I was obsessed with dolls, he spent ages making me this doll’s house after work each night.”

Leah now has two daughters of her own, Millie, 1, and 11-month-old Lacey, and she says watching them play with the very same house she did brings back many happy memories.

“Dad built it all himself and had painted little flowers and made wallpaper for it. It was truly very special.”

Leah’s dad Kevin had a stroke four years ago aged 57 and, along with her mum Linda, she cared for him at home until his condition worsened.

“We put him in a home last year because it’s too hard for us now. He’s lost over half of his brain, his legs, one arm and has basically zero life quality left,” Leah says.

“It’s a real shame it happened to him so young because he beat cancer before this. He wasn’t even a drinker or smoker, he was a healthy country man his whole life, on our farm.”

Family friend Rosie, who owns The Rustic Woodshack and makes wooden signs to sell at the Nelson Market, jumped at the chance to restore the house.

“I’m friends with Linda and knew I could transform it into something special without losing Kevin’s personal touches.”

She started by covering the exterior with stippling plaster and added another bedroom to the top floor.

Originally the house had little shutters which Kevin had hand-painted with poppies.

“I decided to repurpose those and used them to make a path leading to the front door. It’s so nice to be able to keep his memory alive but give this house a new lease on life.”

Linda says she held onto the doll’s house for 35 years because it holds special memories of a time when her husband was able to do lovely things for their children.

“He was always tinkering around with things he’d make for the kids. There was no way I could part with it and seeing my grandkids play with it now is very nostalgic.”