OWASCO - If there was ever a chance for a child's doll to find its dream home, it was at the Victorian Doll House Exhibit held at the Ward W. O'Hara Agricultural Museum on Sunday.

The event featured small homes with such intricate detail that they were no longer considered toys.

“My mother made this house in 1931 for me and my sister,” said Elsie Ogar, whose house was on display. “We couldn't play with it though. It's really an antique.”

One house, a multi-bedroom log cabin, came equipped with working lights, a granite marble top kitchen and a pitcher of lemonade.

“It took me three months to make it,” said Rande Quinn, who owns Family Room Miniatures in Auburn with his wife, Jill. “It has individual wooden inlay floors and its fully electrified. It cost about $1,400 to make, which is more than the average doll house.”

For many of the visitors, such as Sue Lang, doll houses were more than toys, they were a hobby.

“I was visiting A.C. Moore in Ithaca and they had a whole bunch of furniture and craft stuff for making a house,” said Lang, who has built two doll houses of her own. “That was almost 10 years ago. I think they are great.”

Work on Margaret Riley's doll house had spanned more than 15 years and was completed one room at a time.

“It's still not finished, each year I add a little bit more,” Riley said. “This year I plan to make some curtains. It's really a labor of love. This is not a doll house that a child could play with.”

Many people were amazed by the detail and the work that went into the houses, Jill Quinn said.

“Some of these houses are just like the ones you see in House and Garden,” Jill said. “People knew these were miniature homes, but they didn't realize the scope of detail involved. We get people who wish they could enlarge some of these. They say they want to pour water on it and make it grow.”

Along with the doll houses, there was a miniature circus complete with parking, a circus tent full of elephants and a popcorn truck, and a fashion presentation by Laurel Auchampaugh.

Auchampaugh showed vintage clothing that was owned by her grandmother and mother, and gave a history lesson explaining the social movements going on at the time.

Some of the articles of clothing shown included various hats and dresses, in addition to a World War I helmet worn by her father-in-law who died from health complications after he was poisoned by mustard gas.

“I love old things,” Auchumpaugh said during her presentation. “I could see myself up in the attic getting into my grandmother's trunk and trying her stuff on.”

Staff writer Nate Robson can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or nathan.robson@lee.net