Introducing the World's Tiniest Merrimack

Anyone who follows modern dollhouse blogs more than likely knows of the Earth and Tree Merrimack house, one of a few truly modern houses out there. If you're not familiar with it, you're in for a treat so check it out.  It was love at first sight when I first discovered it, but I was as a broke college kid then and I couldn't fork out the $550 for the house and finishing kit.

Fast forward and now my bigger concern is the sheer size of the house and a dwindling interest in 1:12 scale homes. I greatly prefer 1:48 scale and needed some sort of shrink ray to get this lovely house to fit on my tiny shelf. That's where my full-time job skills in Adobe Illustrator come in, as well as a learning curve in laser cutting, which hasn't been easy.

Not As Easy As It Looks

Professionally, I can send a 400 page book to press on a four million dollar printing machine like it's nothing, but apparently it's the $1000 laser cutter at the local library that gives me major hiccups, go figure. It's been a little frustrating, especially since the plans I bought weren't meant for such tiny wood and required re-calculation, but the house made it into existence with only one wall being a bit too short. Now I can introduce you to a 1:48 scale Merrimack!

At 12 inches long, it is my smallest house. The floor heights are just a little over two inches and the whole house is full of 70s era contemporary cedar goodness.  Like my San Francisco house, I am planning to make this house more present-day while still retaining its key 1970's elements. For funsies, I'm throwing in a little 50s and 60s elements too. If you've enjoyed the progress on the modern cabin, then keep reading for some retro contemporary fun with this build.

And a final cool bit of info? This house actually exists in real life. The owner of Earth and Tree designed it to be a replica of a house in Minnesota. I've since greatly modified the windows, but the basic structure is there.

The Dry Build Tour

I like to tape everything together to make sure it all fits. It also allows for an early tour of the rooms!

Second floor deck and big, glass doors and windows are part of the customization I created in Illustrator to make my house unique.

Extra windows were added and part of the wall will swing out to allow bathroom access.

Guest bedroom with en-suite bath/laundry room.

From the kitchen looking into the living room. I added an open ceiling design. As you can see from the kitchen doors, the plans didn't translate completely well to 1:48 scale, so I will have to adjust the door height now so the trim won't hit the ceiling. I also had to drop the total height of the raised kitchen floor so not to eat up too much headroom.

From the living room looking into the kitchen.

Master bedroom.

The uppermost room will probably become an office.