A Unique Way to Remember an Ancestor

This post is the first in a series about interesting ways to share to our family history.

Last week I took a couple days to work on my other hobby, Dollhouse Miniatures. I posted my progress on my other blog, Dorette Creations. When I finished writing the post, it occurred to me to share the story on my genealogy blog as well.

There are many ways to honor a person’s memory. Creating a dollhouse focused on a person’s life is a fun and unusual way. I’m not suggesting you go out and attempt a full-on dollhouse project but perhaps you could complete a small roombox such as the one I created for our eldest daughter, Caitlin.

The Hoarder House

This project was born somewhat out of necessity. My mother, Doris Falcone, built the house for our two daughters. In June 1997 we brought the house to our home to finish working on it. Then we had a house fire. The house sat for years after the fire because I just couldn’t bear to work on the mangled structure. Eventually, I decided to pretend a hoarder lived in the slightly askew, definitely worn-looking structure. It was a perfect solution to explain away the warped walls, the peeling paint, and the wrinkled wallpaper. At some point, after my mother passed in December 2011, I decided to decorate it in her memory. You can read more about this project on my other blog, Dorette Creations.

Many of the items in the house are related to my mother’s various hobbies and interests. Moving through the house, one can learn a lot about my mom.

I’m not sure my mother would appreciate that I named this project the Hoarder House. I started calling it by that name in jest and it just stuck. No disrespect intended, Mom. We know you were a “collector,” who, in your own words, just “acquired” things!

Here are a few items from inside the house that tell pieces of my Mom’s story.

I’m currently working on adding more detail to the project to share even more of Mom’s story. You can follow the progress by subscribing to my Dorette Creations blog. Admittedly, tackling an entire house is a huge project. But, perhaps this post will spark an idea for you. Look for more unique ways to share your family history in future posts.