“Once you start, you get addicted. Very much so,” he said. “And then, you know, you join other miniature groups on Facebook and you start getting acquainted with different artisans and miniaturists around the United States, England, Australia, Spain and so on, and you become friends with them and bounce ideas off of them. And now I even have my own site.”

Ames, a retired interior designer who has lived here with his partner Kim Hornberg for the last year and a half, took second place in the traditional design division at the Iowa State Fair for his replica of a Joseph Angel mansion in Portland, Ore., built in the 1930s — he still feels he should’ve won — behind champion Paul Block of Stanhope. He is still up for the People’s Choice Award, however, which will be announced Monday.

“I’m not the judge, but there’s really no comparison,” Ames said.

As a retired interior designer, making the transition to building and furnishing dollhouses felt natural for Ames, and he’s now crafted 13 of them, including a whole French village, over the past six years — one was sold and now has a home at the Coral Ridge Mall. It started with a small greenleaf kit, and as he put it, “Boom, that was it.” The houses draw interest across the spectrum from adults interested in construction and history to kids who just want a place for their dolls to live.

 A view of the back side of the dollhouse shows all of the furnishings Ames has added as he spent about a year working on the project.

This latest project took about a year to complete and is his biggest yet, featuring an intricate attention to detail and furnishings complete with butlers, a quilt from the Marshalltown Senior Citizens Center and a Victrola phonograph that actually plays music. Ames described the process of finding everything he needed to bring such a massive undertaking to life.

“It comes as a blueprint, and I basically got it as just the shell. Kim went to the auction house in Marshalltown, and I was still living here (in Des Moines, at the time). He texted and said ‘Well, are you looking for anything?’ I said ‘If there’s a dollhouse that needs refurbishing and you can get it relatively cheap, buy it,'” Ames said. “He walks in and sends me a picture of this thing. Well, right away I knew, I said ‘Oh my God, that’s a Joseph Angel.’ It’s very rare. I mean, there are hardly any in existence. There are less than 100 of those houses in existence.”

Hornberg bought the entire house for $100 with windows that retail for $50 apiece.

“I’m the helper, like it or not,” he joked.

From there, Ames got to work and learned plenty about himself — and glues, paintbrushes, sandpaper, miniature bandsaws, and tools — along the way.

“This hobby isn’t for everyone because it’s very intricate, and you have to be very patient. But you do learn a few choice words,” he said. “Inevitably, when you’re cutting wood, you try to stay with the old adage ‘Measure twice, cut once.’ But sometimes you mismeasure and you cut it and you have to go back and the wood isn’t cheap. Or you glue something in place and then you go to add the next piece to fit, so you have to take that off.”

In all, he estimates that he’s invested over $10,000 in the house, which led him to another word of advice — if you’re going to get into dollhouses, you should probably have plenty of disposable income you don’t mind parting with. Ames recalled days spent at the Marshalltown Public Library studying Victorian era homes in an attempt to recreate them in the most authentic way possible, and he left no stone unturned in his efforts.

Although he doesn’t want to reveal too many details yet, Ames is already at work on his competition entry for next year, and those who wish to follow the progress can visit his Facebook page, Doug Ames Designs. As for advice to anyone wishing to take up miniatures — surprisingly, building and assembling them was one of the fastest growing hobbies during the COVID-19 pandemic — he kept it short and sweet.

“Start small and work yourself up,” he said. “Do a room box or a small house and see if you like it, and then you can move on… Once you start, you get hooked, and your taste elevates.”

To follow Ames and his projects on Facebook, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/636945653934451.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com