Former Hastings City Council member Joe Balsanek has been busy at work restoring homes. Not the homes in which one lives, but the doll houses that harbor the dreams of children, and adults who have not lost their child-like sense of wonder. Balsanek was recently featured in a Pioneer Press article that went viral on the Associated Press, and is now working on two commissions for dollhouse restoration. The first is a total dollhouse renovation, a replica of Sherlock Holmes residence, 221B Baker Street which is owned by the University of Minnesota’s Anderson Library and built in 1946. The second commission is the nationally famous Eastcliff Mansion Dollhouse, which is an exact replica of the University of Minnesota President’s residence and reception hall, known as Eastcliff. This dollhouse was built in 2010 and is a replica of the original 1940s dollhouse made for the original owners of the mansion, the Brooks family and their children. If you would like to see it go to DollsHouse.tv where you’ll find a two-part program that describes and shows the workmanship, plus views, both inside and out.
