Looking to the past . . .

Whenever you head out on the highway you never quite know what you are going to see . . . You know the kind of thing I'm talking about . . . you're cruisin' along not really paying all that much attention to anything in particular and then . . . POW! - you do a double take and there it is . . . a DOLLHOUSE! Right there . . . on the side of the road - how weird is that!

On #2 Highway just East of Sinclair, Manitoba is this little house. At first glance you think "wow, this is cute" . . . "what a neat idea!" and then you drive around the house and read the intent behind why the house was recreated.

The creator has provided a driveway that comes off the highway and goes right around the house. This allows people to have a look and not even have to step out of the vehicle if they don't want to. Really a wonderful idea! The whole back of the house has been removed and replaced with plexiglass to allow the viewer to step into another time and place.

The photos above and below are pictures of the kitchen. All displayed in period furniture and painted a bright, cheerful yellow - you can almost imagine coming downstairs in the morning and having your breakfast in this kitchen!

The complete intent of the project has been imprinted on the backside of the house and is very, very interesting. It really touched my heart . . . these are the little houses that so many prairie families grew up in on the family farm. These were harsher times than we will ever understand and now they stand and wither away - almost unnoticed on the edge of the roads or tucked away among the stands of trees that we cannot even see. This was someone's home! Imagine the untold stories of happiness and sorrow that are held within the remaining walls.

The Dollhouse project was created by Heather Benning as an Arist in Residence project and was undertaken to reflect the period when the house was abandoned in 1968 using furniture of the era throughout the display. At some point in the past, this house stood alone on the bald open prairie and was so very typical for a farm house prior to the '60s. The landscape today includes the busy highway and a multitude of oilfield pump jacks that can be seen in every direction. One of the sentences in the imprint states "This Dollhouse is nothing less than a chilling monument to the decline of the prairie farm."

I think that the word "chilling" is so fitting.

This was a very cold, windy November day without a quilt in sight . . .

'til next time,

M.