An Old House in Paris

“In an old house in Paris, all covered in vines. lived twelve little girls in two straight lines”.   So begins each adventure of Madeline in Paris.  These world-famous stories were written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans.  They tell the stories of a bold and adventurous little girl growing up in an orphanage in Paris. 

Our first submission is our interpretation of what that house would look like made with Lego bricks.  This would be the perfect set for children wanting to play-out their favorite Madeline stories, or adults who enjoy the classic Parisian architecture.

The illustrations by Bemelmans (three are included in the accompanying photos) are unique and beautiful, but do not lend themselves to precise scale recreations in Lego bricks or any other medium.  Nonetheless, we have carefully considered all the original artwork by Bemelmans on this particular building as we designed our Lego brick version.  Note some of the consistent details of the house in Bemelmans’ illustrations that are captured in our Lego brick recreation:

·         Five windows across the first and second floor.  

·         The rounded wooden entry door.

·         Wrought iron across each of the windows.

·         Curtains in every window.

·         A centrally located peaked roof, with floral symbol.

·         A lamppost along the right side of the building.

·         Dual chimneys on either side of the roof.

·         And last but not least, the vines covering the front of the house.

Our house was created to mimic a classic ‘doll house’.  The back is open to facilitate play.  The house separates into three sections (first floor, second floor, and attic) to further facilitate play.  Some features of the model include:

• A spiral staircase.
• Removable curtains.
• Mini dolls to represent the girls in the orphanage, and of course the dog, Genevieve.
• A full kitchen.
• A spooky attic with hidden treasures to find.

This model will appeal to children and adults.  Children will know the Madeline books, cartoons, and dolls.  They can use this Lego dollhouse to recreate many of Madeline’s adventures.  Adults will enjoy the minifig-scale building with classic ‘grownup’ features.  While this building is not currently designed to fit into the existing Lego modular series, it has the same playful realisms of the buildings in that series.

I hope you enjoy this submission.  Please support it if you like, and leave constructive criticism if you have suggestions for improving our design.