La Vie En Rose

Also known as the Shadow Cliff by Lawbre.  I stumbled across La Vie En Rose about two years ago on Craigslist.  A gentleman had posted the house for his wife, who had purchased it more than twenty years ago and then promptly went on to other hobbies.

I, of course, was absolutely thrilled with the opportunity to own a Lawbre dollhouse!

The house came with the windows, exterior doors, exterior trim, stones and, well, according to the included inventory shipping sheets, it came with everything the original purchaser ordered except the pocket door (and wall) that goes between the living room and dining room.

When I picked her up I thought she was perhaps the most beautiful dollhouse shell I'd ever had the good fortune to own!  Once I got her home, however, and took a close look at her & went through all the supplies that came with her, I realized that the poor house had definitely seen better days.

 Some of the wood on the walls is delaminating, one of the porch posts is broken and feels like it is disintegrating, I don't think that all of the stationary walls are perfectly square, much of the wood feels overly dry, most of the spindles on the interior stairs are busted in a way that they will need to be replaced, several of the window frames are in pieces and the exterior hinged wall panels are all a bit warped and don't shut or hang properly.  Must've been wearing my rose colored glasses when I initially saw her, hence the name La Vie En Rose, which translated means "life in pink" or "through rose colored glasses".

I can't take credit for the beautiful name for Rosie (her nickname because let's face it, La Vie En Rose is a mouthful!); I was struggling with what to call her that would make her mine.  I knew that I wanted "Rose" or some variation of rose in her name because I intend to carry a rose theme throughout the house, but beyond that I was at a loss. I asked for help on the Greenleaf forum and among the many wonderful suggestions that were shared with me, La Vie En Rose was offered up.  While intrigued with the name, I wasn't completely sold until I came back to the draft of this post & re-read how I described initially seeing her through rose colored glasses.  Then I knew, La Vie En Rose was her name all along, she was just waiting for me to figure it out!  Sounds a bit crazy, perhaps, but other miniaturists will understand.

At any rate, while it's definitely going to be more work than I anticipated to turn Rosie into a showplace, I still think I got a great deal on the house.  I just hope I'm up for the challenge!