Thursday, April 9, 2009

Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle ~ Horace Jackson


Colleen Moore was always fascinated by dolls and doll houses. She owned several elaborate doll houses as a child, but later in life her father, Charles Morrison, suggested that she should pursue her passion for miniatures and doll houses by creating the "doll house" of her dreams. Her position as one of the most popular actresses in Hollywood gave her the resources to produce a "Fairy Castle" of fantastic proportions.



Begining in 1928, Moore enlisted the help of many talented professionals to help her realize her vision. Horace Jackson was an architect and set designer who worked for First National Studios. Jackson created the floor plan and layout of the castle with this basic idea, "The architecture must have no sense of reality. We must invent a structure that is everybody's conception of an enchanted castle." Moore also enlisted the help of art director and interior designer Harold Grieve. Grieve had designed the interiors for Moore's real-life mansion, so he was a natural to create the interiors of her fantasy castle. By 1935 over 700 individuals had lent their expertise including surgical instrument lighting specialists, Beverly Hills jewelers and Chinese jade craftsmen. The price tag for this 8'7" x 8'2" x 7'7" foot palace containing over 2000 miniatures was nearly $500,000.



To view the online virtual tour of this dollhouse, visit:
http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/fairycastle



4 comments:

  1. WOW...............is all I can get out!!!

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  2. beautiful, the style is so dreamy. someone could say that it was a waste of time...but something inside of me is very very happy that someone had the time and passion to create something as gorgeous as this.

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  3. "Someone could say that is was a waste of time...". Such a someone would replace the Trevi Fountain with a faucet. Let such people not waste their own time here. This is a work of art: a tangible object that evokes an entire imaginary world. It is a lovely, lovely folly.

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  4. It's beautiful in person and easily one of the top exhibits at the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago. Very hard to linger and you can't get as close as you might like, sadly...

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