Fairy Castles are Sprinkled with Love

“A dream is a gift given to us at birth by our Fairy Godmother...
lovely gossamer thought that floats in the secret part
of our imagination most of our lives.
"I was one of the lucky ones, for my dreams came true.”
Colleen Moore


Mom and I shared a passion for fantasy when I was only six. I remember the imagination of family dinners. Jell-O salads were always fun with whipped cream and cherries. Gumdrops, cinnamon hearts and colorful sprinkles were used on top of ordinary dishes.
Mom and Dad did watch the news and we were expected to also and then we talked about it. We didn't watch sitcoms though. We played games and talked about our day after dinner.
Mom would tuck me in bed after a bubble bath and then read a story. My favorites were filled with Fairy Tales.
I said my prayers, drifting on a cloud of sweet dreams to visit fairy castlea.

In 1958, we visited Chicago where my parents had honeymooned. The trip is a lovely memory, eating at a restaurant where cherries jubilee was served with flames at the table. I was mesmerized.
I saw the exquisite “Fairy Castle” doll house in an exceptional museum. My Mom had seen it years before and was touched by the magic of it.
The castle had its own special room. I obeyed the sign “Do not touch”. I had to remember every detail to carry home with me.

My family moved to Atlanta that year. The next time I was treated to the castle was when I took my own two boys in 1983; they went with their Dad to the "cool" working coal mine.
I had the castle room to myself and transported myself back to the age of belief in fairies, love and magic. My husband had to literally drag me away with a promise to buy the book and build one like it. I bought my first miniature piece then. In the next ten tears I sought out miniatures. My husband built two doll houses and we finished them by hand. My mother-in-law made the curtains, pillows, bedspreads, and tablecloth. I collected miniatures from trips and used my limited artistic ability by painting tiny pictures.
Our boys were five and ten so they worked with their Dad, building the mountains and tunnels for the trains. Then the trains needed a village and station so it just all worked together. and because the size was similar they began to landscape the castles with the train grass and shrubs. One house looked like Tara from "Gone with Wind" and the other was a Victorian.
I wall papered and we put down fabric carpet and hardwood floors. I stenciled the walls. We decorated for the holidays. My husband made roof shingles and the grand staircase by whittling the wood by hand It was a family project. The chandelier was the most delicate and tough project with costume jewelry. We all looked through old jewelry and stones to make it.

The Fairy castle had an imaginary Princess and her Prince. In a perfect home where fairies and storybook characters lived a graceful life surrounded by wherever your imagination could take you.
So, each night as a child I would say my prayers crawling between sheets dried by the sun. I'd close my eyes and travel to a land far away. In the mountains I knock on the door and it opens just for me.

Now I am taking you on a tour, so close your childhood eyes and let that little person we always keep inside our soul see this castle through their eyes and heart.
In the Great Hall is a floating staircase with no railings because fairy folk have wings. The ceiling is painted in scenes from the Grimm’s and Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales.
On a table are Cinderella’s glass slippers, silver skates belong to Hans Brinker, under a glass bell are tiny chairs of the 3 Bears.
In the Prince’s bedroom is a polar bear rug that was shot by the Prince.
Upstairs is the bathroom of the prince. It is made of alabaster.
The mirror over the shell-like wash basin is gold set with a sapphire surrounded by diamonds.
There is a gold Japanese chest that is about 500 years old.
The sword standing by the wardrobe is Excalibur, King Arthur’s sword.

We now stand in front of the chapel. Be very quiet and you can hear the music. It’s coming from that little organ.
The silver throne you see is a copy of the famous English throne in Westminster Abbey. In front of the altar is a small Bible printed in 1840. It is the smallest bible in the world, and is printed from real type. On the prayer bench is a small book depicting the lives of the saints. This was done in woodcuts.

The library is done in a sea motif. Over the fireplace stands Captain Kidd with his treasure behind him. The door to the right shows Robinson Crusoe and his man Friday. Above the other door is Gulliver, pulling the Lilliputian ships through the gates of the city. The furniture has a sea motif and is verdigris copper. Seahorses and sea snails hold the shell-like furniture. This furniture is made for fairy folk who like to read in different positions. That chair turned up in front is made for a little elf who likes to read with his feet in the air.
The books are all real. There are over 100 and many hand written by some of our most prominent modern authors. These are first and only editions. On the reading stand is a dictionary. There are many other printed books in the library, many of them over 150 years old.
Above the fireplace mantel is a massive fishnet with King Neptune at the center, The bronze furniture in the library evokes images of Undine, a female water sprite or nymph. It is decorated with snails, shells and sea horses

Now we pass on to the room above the small hall. This is the cave of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves. The treasure is reached by a trap door, which opens only if you say the magic word.
As you go around the corner, you will see the magic garden. Look for the weeping willow tree standing by the pool. It’s the only weeping willow tree in the world that lives up to its name. Look closely and you will see it is crying real tears, which fall into the pool.
Then notice that cradle that sits on the rocking tree. It is made of gold and pearls, and, of course, is the Rock-A-Bye Baby cradle. Above the three arches are represented the stories from Aesop’s Fables.
To the left on the wall of the garden, in bas-relief, is the story of the Wizard of Oz.
Over the arched doorway, going into the Great Hall, is Aladdin with a genie coming out of his lamp, and Aladdin’s servant. The silver coach, well, o f course you know that it is waiting for Cinderella to take her to the ball.
Painted on the balcony is the story of Don Quixote, and if you’ll look in the sky you’ll see Santa Claus’ reindeer pulling his sleigh, because, of course, in Fairyland every day is Christmas.
Over the door are the 3 Little Pigs, and to the right, Jack and Jill tumble down the hill. The copper stove in the back of the room is the stove in which the wicked witch locked Hansel and Gretel.
The set of china on the table has the Queen of England’s crest on it. This is Royal Doulton china, and the Queen of England’s doll house has one also.
The next room is the dining room with King Arthur’s round table in the center. Beside the gold plates are wee knives and forks, also of gold. The glasses are crystal and most of them are over a hundred years old. The tapestries on the wall, which are needlepoint made in Vienna, are the smallest stitches that have ever been stitched. You can barely see them, even under a magnifying glass.
The chairs of the king, queen and twelve knights are painted with fictional heraldic devices that foretell their fates. Lancelot’s shield bears a double cross and a snake in the grass. Guinevere’s crest has two hearts entwined. King Arthur’s device includes a broken heart.
There is the bathroom of the princess. The crystal walls are etched to tell the story of Undine. The tub is made of silver, and water flows from the dolphin’s mouths . The bed of the fairy princess is the one that Sleeping Beauty slept in. The bedspread is the gold spider web that covered her for 100 years. The chairs are platinum and set with real diamonds and emeralds. The floor is made of mother of pearl.
The red satin slippers beside the Princess’ bed are one-quarter-inch long and have hand-sewn leather soles. They were made by an Italian shoemaker who saw the castle and became concerned for the Princess’ bare feet
Notice the dreaded spinning wheel on which Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger.
In pure walls of blushing rose is the Cinderella drawing room.
The floor was made in China years ago and is of rose quartz and jade. The chandelier hanging in the center of the room is gold, hung with real diamonds and emeralds and pearls.
To the left you can see a little chess table just waiting for the wee folk to come and play. The painting on the wall is of Cinderella. The vases at each side of the door going into the great hall are made of carved amber over 500 years old. They came from the collection of the Dowager Empress of China.

The attic is filled with all things that were left over from the different rooms that belonged to the ancestors of the prince and the princes.

Just imagine, I am allowed to roam the castle, picking up precious pieces as my hands shake. I did climb on the princess’ bed and napped as angels, unicorns, and all my favorite fantasy creatures visited me in dreams.
When I woke there was a lovely pure white fur robe to wrap me up, I indulged in luxury and filled the tub with oils. When I entered the kitchen, a breakfast of exotic fruit and nuts with cheese blintz and lingo berry butter, Belgian waffles, a smörgåsbord of delights.
I was welcomed to come back.
I floated away transformed by beauty and rare treasures found in the home of angels.
Didn't you want to move in and stay? So did I. No one ever grows old here.

But like anything that is your heart's desire, if you want too much; you will lose it all. This is a lesson not to hold tight to beautiful things, they are made to share. Alwaysu should store your riches in Heaven, the material treasures, even fairy riches, are to enjoy no to own.
I left filled with joy and gratitude.

“A castle sprinkled with love’s lore, is a place of peace and tranquility. May
all that walk in the door wish to grace its presence once more.”

By Kathie Stehr
September 17, 2005
Edited 2007


Much of this information came from my book about Colleen Moore’s doll house.

Mom inspired me with a love of books, encouraged my unique imagination and fantasy mainly by turning off the television. She saved green stamps and squirreled away money so I could take dance, ballet, art, and piano (renting one). My husband shared and believed in my childhood dreams. He loved making an H-O train set up and that blended perfectly with the doll houses. We had full basements sin both houses we owned to play in and our children fit right in. He gave me my children and we had fun as a family traveling and working on this together. I believe when you love someone, your wishes for them are heard by fairies and become reality.
I dedicate this to Frank Prance (who I am sure works with God on any project, he was multi-talented and a big kid who Santa could keep busy-he was only fifty-seven and missed) and Dorothy (my Mom) and Mae (Frank's Mom) All who have found their castles in the sky.