$52.83
$75.02
I bought this dollhouse for my daughter’s fifth birthday (which is tomorrow), and I know she is going to love it. In looking online at options, this one was her favorite because of the features/design and also mine because it seemed like the best quality and value. Thus, we saved up for it. Yes, the price tag is high, but you get what you pay for–in this case, it’s quality. The house looks really nice, and it’s sturdy. It comes with enough furniture/accessories to put some in each room, although you can buy add-ons to make it more complete/full. For example, in my photos, we have the add-on kids’ bedroom and dining room sets from Hape, as well as a set of kitchen accessories (bottles, boxes, dishes) from Haba, which are mostly in the fridge and cabinets, so not very visible in photos. The wardrobe in the parents’ room does have useable space, and we have the Haba doll that comes with multiple outfits, so maybe we will store her clothes in there. The topmost room is empty right now, but that’s not because there was nothing to go there. We’re going to put the add-on baby’s room from Hape there—just waiting for it to arrive in the mail. We also plan to put the Haba laundry room set in the bathroom, the Haba bunny hutch on either the balcony or the space beside the living room, and the Haba kitty in the kids’ room. By the way, Hape makes a lovely set of three pets (dog, cat, and bunny); it’s just that my daughter already has the Haba ones, and they fit well. Without the add-ons, I think I would have done the “double living room” (as shown in the manufacturer’s photos) and either and truly left the topmost room empty, as though a second balcony. Under the kitchen is some empty space, and I’ve heard that you can park the Hape car there. The Haba vet car also fits, as we verified. I also think this space will be useful for storing dolls, laid flat. We don’t have any of the Hape dolls (again, yet—who knows?!), but we have many of the Haba Little Friends Dolls, hence purchasing this house. As with the pets mentioned above, Hape’s dolls (the wooden ones shown in the manufacturer’s photos) are also perfect for this house; we just happened to have the Haba ones already. I absolutely appreciate the ability to mix/match the two lines! Assembly was not difficult. If you’re not used to assembling wooden furniture, etc., it might not be easy or necessarily intuitive. However, if you look at the instructions beforehand and think it through, it’s no problem. From the time I cut open the box to the time I placed the last piece of furniture, it took about an hour. That includes unwrapped (items come bubble/tissue wrapped), studying the instructions, inventorying the pieces, and so on. I’m not very “handy,” so I took my time, to ensure I wouldn’t make a fatal mistake. Someone else could probably assemble it faster than I did, especially with a helper. My top pieces of advice for assembly are: 1) study the instructions first, 2) make sure you have all the pieces and lay them out orderly, 3) line up all the screws in the holes before tightening any on that side (because then you won’t have the problem of screws not fitting, due to misaligned holes), and 4) take the time you need to work comfortably and confidently. I cannot imagine that my daughter will not absolutely love this house, given all the anticipation and how absolutely wonderful it is. If it does disappoint her, I will update to add her comments. I also hope that I can get some better photos once the gift is actually given. Right now, it’s wedged in a corner of the basement, so I apologize if the photos are not clear enough to be helpful. In all, this is the dollhouse of dreams. Any little girl or boy would love it and get many years of enjoyment from it. It’s also definitely large enough and has enough access points that two children could easily play with it together. I’m so glad we purchased this, and I definitely recommend it. Thank you, Hape!
Hape
