The Sawin Museum’s first project-based fundraising effort was a success! With the support from many people in our wonderful town, we have lit up and repaired Amelia Peabody’s special dollhouse from Mill Farm.

Every room is now illuminated, as well as the glowing livingroom fireplace, so that time has stopped in realistic fashion when one peers through the windows.

In Amelia Peabody’s own words, handwritten and published in Dick Vara’s Dover Days Gone By; “Although Dover has grown in the fifty years I have been here it is still a place of friendly neighbors who take a personal interest in town affairs.”  There couldn’t be a more fitting thank you note written than those words from the Grande Dame of Dover herself.

Thank you, Dover!

By Lori Carbone, Associate Curator, Sawin Museum

 

Amelia Peabody’s Dollhouse Update I

February 20, 2021

Good news!  Repairs and electrical work are underway in the dollhouse.  Dover native Phillip Swiny, our craftsman for this renovation, has spent a good deal of time in the museum this week and now the entire dollhouse is wired for lighting. The contents of the rooms have been photographed, removed and numbered.

As illustrated in the photo, the red carpeting is rather sad at the moment.  It would be impossible to replace it without taking the dollhouse apart, so alternative ways of downplaying the damage are being considered.

Amelia Peabody (1890-1984) was the foremost sculptor of our town’s rural landscape and of the seemingly endless trails through our woodlands, of which she donated 600 acres. Amelia  enjoyed many years raising prize-winning livestock and thoroughbred horses on her Powisset Farm and Mill Farm properties.  She created sculpture in her studio on Dedham Street, and, in partnership with Maria Telkes of MIT, created one of America’s first solar-powered homes, the Sun House (1949), on Powisett Street.  Her love of dogs, fields, trees, and of art, travel and innovation embody Dover as we know it today.

The Dover Historical Society is fortunate to own the dollhouse that once entertained Amelia’s young visitors to Mill Farm.  A large and imposing structure, the dollhouse has been well-loved and much used by several generations of her young friends and is in need of repairs.  Some doors have come off their hinges, wallpaper is curling and chair legs are broken.  At some point the walls were repainted in a not-so-careful fashion. This is intentionally not a complete restoration; the imperfections are part of the attractiveness of this exhibit and part of our story of Amelia, who was always enthusiastically accessible and welcoming to the children in the town.

We have found a local craftsman who has carefully studied the dollhouse and has provided an estimate of what is required to install lighting in most of the rooms, including the fireplace and kitchen stove.  The house and furniture will receive some attention, and many curtains will need to be replaced.

What is needed is more than just a list of repairs.  We believe adding more lighting will enable visitors to peer back through time and to experience a part of life at Amelia Peabody’s Mill Farm. Her dollhouse is a rare and unique way to connect with a person who has had a major role in Dover’s history.

It is estimated that our Amelia Peabody Dollhouse renovation will cost approximately $1,000 to complete.  We are asking Dover townspeople to kindly consider donating to help us complete this worthy project.

We are looking forward to sharing more about Amelia Peabody.  The Dover Historical Society is fortunate to own examples of her artwork, her film projector and cases of film from her life, daily journals, state fair ribbons from her cattle and pigs; the list goes on.

Updates including many more photos will be posted on our Facebook page (Dover Historical Society) as well as here on our site.

Thank you in advance for supporting this project and your local, small-town museum.  Your donation will have a great impact!

 

By Lori Carbone