Hello All - I love to do repros and struggle sometimes with measurements. I am going to try an approach that builds on some tips that others have provided on this forum through out the years. I think it is going to work well and going to reduce the guessing and time spent on blueprints (for me anyway)

Anyway, here are the steps:

1) Find an electronic photo(s) of the desired house (should be easy - ebay, Papa Ted's Archived site, etc.).

2) Port the electronic photo(s) to a tablet device. I use an iPad but I imagine this technique will work on any tablet device that allows the user to resize the photo thru the touch screen interface.

3) Using an existing paper window or door (like the ones Pete makes available) resize the photo so that you can lay the paper window or door over the electronic image so that it exactly covers it. In the pic below I use a paper mullion from Pete and a cast bisque door from Tom H. At this point, the electronic photo should be the exact size of the house.

4) For the next step, either use a ruler to measure or in my example, lay tracing paper over the photo and trace parts of the house that provide you enough specific measurements to create the precise blue prints.

I provided photos below that illustrate the steps. I will post photos along the way of this build.

John

Yes---very helpful!

I really like this.

This is a good idea that should really help the design process. I'll enjoy your progress photos.

I just noticed your Plaster door.

Is that one of Pete's repro's, or one you did yourself?

Steve

Hi Steve - The door is not one of Pete's. To the best of my knowledge, he does not have a mold for this.

The door is not vintage. It was provided to me by Tom a while ago. It is his original version in the photo for the Sept 2005 HOM. I think he made some type of mold.

John

Cool looking. Too bad Pete does not have a mold of this.
I'd really be inspired to build one of these houses then.

Steven

Greetings All - Had a bit of free time this weekend so was able to work on the house. Going to need some time to figure out the right colors for the finish.

A bit of a dilemma though, the pictures that I see appear to be a red/orange color but the description says 'Nice purple and gold fall colors'. Does anyone have this house that could provide some additional description? I think the red/orange color looks good and will go with it if there are no other opinions.

Thanks!

John

Very nice design. I am curious about the space below the uppermost roof. Did you close that in?

Thank you for sharing this information. It's a great way to do a reproduction.
Lucy

Hi Lucy - Yes, I just used some corrugated cardboard. The original has it closed in and covered in coconut. It also helped with attaching the bay window and the 'crown' above.

John