The Museum of Miniature Houses Celebrates 25 Years in Carmel
Writer / Jon Shoulders
Photographer / Glenda White
It might feature diminutive, indeed often tiny, exhibits, but Carmel’s Museum of Miniature Houses and Other Collections has developed a presence on Main Street that is anything but small.
In 1993 Nancy Lesh, Suzie Moffett and Suzanne Landshof — three Indianapolis-based women with a passion for crafting miniature houses and scenes — decided it would be worth their while to found a museum in a converted farmhouse to ensure their own hard work, and that of others, was not lost to future generations. The museum opened formally in August of that year, and now features seven display rooms as well as a museum shop visited by folks from all over the country.
“The three founders had heard about a woman who had been making and collecting miniatures for many years, and all of her collection was lost when she passed away,” says Elaine Mancini, executive director of the museum since 2014. “They didn’t want that to happen to them, so they decided to open the museum to have a place to show and store miniatures and introduce the craft to others.”
Twenty-five years later, the museum’s seven display rooms showcase approximately 30 finished houses dating as far back as 1861 and 50 to 60 miniature room settings at any one time. Most of the houses and scenes, many of which are donations, are works of the creators’ imaginations, but visitors can also study a miniature replica of Sherlock Holmes’ famous 221B Baker Street sitting room, and an exact replica of a Mexican home belonging to the Ball family, known for producing Ball canning jars.
Mancini is quick to point out the difference between dollhouses and miniature houses.
“Dollhouses are meant to be played with, and miniatures are for display and center around the art of miniature making itself,” she explains. “Miniature houses also stick strictly to a scale — usually one inch to one foot, and some people work in half-inch or even quarter-inch, which gets even harder. The people who make them are rigorous about sticking to scale.”
And the craft of miniatures consists of much more than just gluing a few small pieces of wood and fabric together — it typically includes carpentry, painting, electrical wiring and other touches common to the construction of an actual house. The museum is currently featuring a house by miniaturist Jimmy Landers, with stained glass windows, lighting fixtures, marble and parquet flooring and a library with more than 2,000 tiny books that actually open.
“The goal with miniatures is complete verisimilitude, to where if you saw a picture of it and you didn’t know it was a miniature you would swear it was real,” Mancini says.
The museum board held a reception in September to commemorate its 25th anniversary, and recently received a certificate of congressional recognition from Senator Joe Donnelly.
A constant stream of special events, demonstrations and workshops has helped keep interest in the museum growing, despite what Mancini describes as an overall decline in interest in the craft since the 1970s.
“There were shops everywhere back in the 70s, and it was huge back then,” Mancini says, adding that the museum board brought on a new staff member, Caitlin Rogers, as its full-time collections manager last year. “It’s fallen out of favor since then, but we’ve been able to stay alive with offering different kinds of events and getting some great exhibits together. And we have our shop which sells miniature items and supplies.”
Mancini says the establishment is by no means a kids museum, but about 20 percent of her visitors are children and she occasionally hosts scavenger hunts.
“It’s great to see people of all ages come through,” Mancini says. “I remember we had a five-year-old girl staring at one of the room boxes for two-and-a-half hours. You see people looking at these collections and entering a whole other world and it’s a fascinating world.”
The Museum of Miniature Houses and Other Collections is located at 111 East Main Street in Carmel. Call 317-575-9466 or visit museumofminiatures.org for more information including hours and admission details, a donation page, special event updates and more.
