Frederick Daniel Hardy

Explorer Tom Queen Mary's Dolls' House at Windsor Castle has a library, wine cellar and working lifts, yet it could never accommodate a real queen. Its tiny rooms are packed with proper workmanship rather than toy-shop shortcuts. Tom says he applied for the caretaker's job, but his boots would take up the entire entrance hall. Sir Edwin Lutyens designed the house for Queen Mary, and more than 1,500 artists, writers and craftspeople contributed between 1921 and 1924. It is built at one-twelfth scale, with running water and electricity among its startling details. Princess Marie Louise first proposed the gift. After display at the Wembley exhibition in 1924, it came to Windsor Castle in 1925. This is a portrait of the craft and domestic ideas of its own age, from the grand rooms to the service spaces below stairs. The miniature books contain original writing, not merely painted suggestions of books. The house is on permanent display within Windsor Castle, so plan a Castle visit through the Royal Collection Trust and check current admission and room information. You cannot step inside the little building; view its furnished rooms from the visitor side. Take time with the kitchen, bedrooms and library rather than trying to absorb the whole thing in a glance. Look for the details made by hand and consider the number of people needed to create such a small object. Tom is still negotiating for a room, perhaps next to the miniature garage. Leave him to it. The pleasure here is finding a new human-sized effort every time your eye catches another tiny corner.