Rare 18th Century dolls' house from West Sussex has a new home
It can now be seen at the Huguenot Museum, in Rochester
A rare 18th Century dolls' house has a new home at a Kent museum.
In 1989, the finely decorated scale model survived a serious fire at a stately home in West Sussex.
Sarah Lethieullier’s dolls' house dates from the 1730s and has over 700 fixtures and fittings,
It is is described as being one of the best surviving examples of its kind in the world and can an now be seen at the Huguenot Museum, in Rochester.
However it is only loan to the museum, while Uppark House and Gardens is closed in Sussex is closed.
Tessa Murdoch, from the Huguenot Museum Trust says it's a fantastic opportunity.
She said: "I though this was an extraordinary opportunity to share the story of a special Huguenot family.
"It's really a microcosm of life in a great house in the 1730s. Almost everything in the house dates from that period when it was given to a young Sarah as a present by her parents.
"The idea of sitting down with these elegant ladies, enjoying a cup of tea, in the smartest room in the nine room dolls house of three stories is just a wonderful way to pass the time."
On display within its nine rooms are lead glass, bed warmers, miniature 17th Century landscape paintings, and 300-year-old beds.
The dolls' house was originally made for the Lethieullier family and came to Uppark after Sarah Lethieullier, who came from a prominent French Protestant Huguenot family, married Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh in 1746.
The official opening of the unusual exhibit takes place on Wednesday and is on display at Huguenot Museum until May 2025.