The Old Haunted House

This decrepit Victorian mansion, which began as a kit from Alexander, is the first HO model I ever made, and building it was a lot of fun. Although the casting are a little cruder than some of the finer windows sold by Grandt Line or that come with several craftsman kits, such as those by Fine Scale Miniatues that appear in limited editions, the model as a whole really stands out because of that curved mansard roof. Some day I want to build it again, probably with Evergreen plastic clapboard siding, as if it were brand new.

The version you see here: After we moved about two decades after I put together the Haunted House, several parts, including two doors and a window, went missing, and almost all the front step-assembly disappeared. Rummaging around in my scrap box, I added new doors and then, after a bit of sawing and sanding, put together three Vollmer parts for a new front stairway. I cut down two Scale Structures columns — note the one that has fallen into the grass — to make a more appropriate support for the grander front entrance.