Museum of Miniature Houses :: CityMoms Report
Last weekend theCityMoms invaded the Museum of Miniature Houses and Other Collectibles in the Carmel Arts & Design District. I’ll admit, I’ve always had a thing for dollhouses - something about them is just magical - and this spot is an incredible dollhouse showcase.
Some quick fun facts at the Museum of Miniatures:
It contains seven different rooms filled with a permanent collection of 30 fully furnished houses, 50 room settings, and collections ranging from dolls to antique linens.
Six of the rooms at the Museum are actually housed in a 126-year old farmhouse!.
The Museum was created by three Indiana based miniaturists and it’s one of only five museums in the USA devoted to the art of scale miniatures.
Upon arrival, we paid admission and received an audio tour to listen to while the kiddos got a scavenger hunt. This kept them busy as we adults tried to take it all in. With seven rooms of displays, the hunt was fun, tricky at times and helped move the kids from room to room to discover answers. The audio tour offered the opportunity to share details about certain scenes with them. When kiddos completed the hunt, they earned a special treat - candy or small items for their own dollhouse. {My Ella choose a miniature tray of cookies for her house at home.}They have collections of characters/dolls showing all the range of emotions that have been used on different faces, truly showing how much of an art Miniatures can be. There are one-of-a-kind pieces that were built from scratch, including the tiniest crocheted Seven Dwarfs you’ve ever seen. There’s so much to look at, I know this is place we'll have to visit multiple times to truly appreciate all the details. While one could probably spend at least a couple hours in here, reading and looking at all the displays, our visit was about an hour long with theCityMoms.
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Most everything is displayed from behind glass. There were a few displays that turned, moved, and had electricity which made them super enticing for the girls. They did have one dollhouse for the kids to play with.
One of my favorite features: There were step stools under or around most of the displays so when something was a little high for kids to see, they could pop up a couple inches and get a better view.
Overall this was a fun place to check out: A hidden gem right there in the middle of Carmel! This is the perfect place to visit when you are looking for something a little different, calm, and interesting. I know we are already planning our return trip. Maybe we'll see you there?
MORE INFO: The Museum of Miniature Houses and Other Collections is located at 111 E. Main Street in downtown Carmel. Regular hours are Wednesdays-Saturdays 11am-4pm and Sundays 1pm-4pm. The Museum is closed for annual maintenance in January - check the website for specific dates. Admission runs $10/general and $5/children ages 3-9. Children under 15 must be accompanied by an adult. Visit museumofminiatures.org for additional details.