Pendle Hall is the dolls' house created by Felicity Clemons. She began working on it in the 1940's when her daughter Antonia, then about three years old, was given a three-room dolls' house by her grandmother. Mrs Clemons was not happy with its scale or authenticity and so began a project which continued for a period of about 40 years and has resulted in Pendle Hall as we see it today.
Pendle Hall has been built as an English country house of the Georgian period, supposedly built around 1740, but now shown with some interiors that have been remodelled to the taste of the ‘owners' up to about 1860. The furniture has been made exactly to scale, each piece based on actual examples that were researched from reference books and articles such as those found in ‘Country Life'. For example the set of ‘farthingale' chairs for the dining room were modelled on those appearing in a photograph in Oliver Brackett's “English Furniture Illustrated”, while the bed in the Chinese bedroom bears a strong resemblance to the one now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, which was originally found at Badminton.
Not only was each piece of furniture hand-made and constructed in the proper manner with dovetailing, but the parquet floors consist of hundreds of individually laid pieces of different woods, and some of the rooms have hand painted walls and ceilings in intricate designs. Cushions and curtains have been hand-stitched while the rope seats were also woven in the correct manner. Authentic woods were used – oak, walnut, mahogany, and satinwood with veneers of walnut, sycamore and redwood for the marquetry.
To achieve this craftsmanship Mrs Clemons used a wide variety of small hand tools and precision instruments, the most commonly used being a scalpel from her husband's surgical equipment. He also provided a constant supply of scalpel blades and bandaids!
When the front of the dolls' house is opened it reveals not only the grand rooms, the morning room, dining room, library etc. but also the ‘below stairs' rooms – kitchen, laundry, pantry, linen room, nursery and staff quarters. Each of these is finished in great detail, containing appropriate items, such as cooking utensils, folded linen, toys and even a mouse nibbling at a cheese.
As well as all the furniture and other details Pendle Hall has a family and domestic staff. These small dolls, ranging from 2½ inches to 5 inches high, with jointed limbs, have exquisitely carved and painted faces, and are fitted out in hand made clothing. They have all been given roles as well as names – Mama and Papa (Mr and Mrs Richard Halifax), their five children (the youngest being the baby Lettice), maiden aunts Agatha and Agnes, Cousin Thomas (the black sheep of the family), Miss Frost the housekeeper, Mr and Mrs Proudfoot (butler and cook respectively), Robinson the gardener and handyman, Nanny and several housemaids.
The dolls are displayed throughout the house, the family receiving visitors or engaged in various activities, while the staff go about their many and varied duties.
Such is the activity depicted and the fine detail of the furniture and other items, that it is difficult to take in during one visit. Indeed it is almost impossible, as there is not only Pendle Hall on view but also another unfinished dolls' house which Mrs Clemons was making for her grand-daughter Rachel. This was to be an American Colonial House, a four storey building with 18 rooms. 
Although the rooms have been fitted with parquet floors, similar to those in Pendle Hall, they remain unpolished and therefore do not show the rich colours of the different timbers. Another interesting feature are the glazed library doors which were copied from those in the house built by John Penn of Philadelphia in 1785.
The two dolls' houses, together with the buildings Mrs Clemons made for her children's model railway layout, form a display which visitors to White House find both appealing and fascinating.
ABC TV production Collectors has featured the Dolls House
You can download this feature clip and others from the ABC TV site