GROWING UP in the blue-collar lumber mill town of Everett, Washington, in the ‘50’s wasn’t as boring as it might sound when you lived in a family like mine. My grandmother was a seamstress and exquisite embroiderer. So was my mother who added being a talented potter. My surgeon father was also a spare time cabinet maker, sculptor and good all-around artist in many media. I had all the encouragement and inspiration a kid could want. As an art student at the University of Utah, I was a design/pottery major but switched to metals/silversmithing when I realized it might lead to a way to actually earn a living. It did! During a short vacation to Los Angeles the spring break before I graduated, I wanted nothing more than to visit Allan Adler Silversmiths in Beverly Hills. He and his father-in-law, Porter Blanchard, were possibly the last of the professional silversmiths in the United States. The Allan Adler showroom on Sunset Boulevard was spectacular! As luck would have it, the day I was there, so was Allan. He admired my necklace I had made at school, saw something in me and promised to hire me if I came back in June. I apprenticed there over a year, then founded my own business, Fletcher Silversmiths, (I was Nancy Fletcher then) in Studio City in 1970. I did most of the custom designs of jewelry and hollowware, largely for the Hollywood entertainment industry, but we were soon doing extensive antique restoration and silver plating as well for large Los Angeles department stores and antique dealers. My employees bought the business from me in the ‘80’s, retiring last year after almost 50 successful years.

I’ve always loved doll houses. However, my childhood version was not very satisfying. It was metal, assembled with tabs into slots, with rugs, wall paper and windows with curtains printed on the metal walls. There was not even a stairway to the second floor! I had much more fun building my own houses with my younger brothers’ maple blocks, filling them with my plastic furniture, rugs cut from old bath towels, windows and little pictures I drew and stuck to the block walls with Scotch tape. Years later, I built a simple doll house for my daughter but dreamed of one day having the time to create a real work of art for myself.

My husband and I moved to Vashon Island, WA, in 1988 and bought what we learned was probably the most well-preserved Craftsman home (1909) in King County. A bit short of money, we wanted the house so badly that we gave the seller our precious sports car as part of the down payment. What followed was a fascination with the Arts and Crafts period, its architecture, furnishings, motifs, and the central role that Gustav Stickley played in bringing the movement and its philosophies from England to the United States in early 20th century.

So, I’ve arrived here with my new project, a miniature Gustav Stickley “city house”, a real departure from his more famous “bungalow” designs. I found the floor plans and a few elevations in the October,1910, issue of Stickley’s “The Craftsman” magazine. It will use all of the skills I’ve enjoyed honing my whole life: wood working, painting, interior design, fabrics, stitching, even silversmithing. Today, my small jewelry shop where most of my tools are located is bursting at the seams with the “little” house taking shape inside it.  I only hope that when the house is finished and ready for its public debut, it will fit through the door!