Veronica Syme Doll House

Reflecting the life choices of many people, these doll inhabitants downsized from a much larger abode and now live in this smaller dwelling.  

The room settings in this doll house are a condensed selection and reconstruction of rooms which previously existed in a 25 room cabinet style doll house.  

The doll houses and furnishings have been passed down through family generations with this Triang house also part of the family collection. The furnishings, dolls and miniature items have a fascinating history. Lady Syme (wife of Sir Geoffrey Syme, Managing Editor of The Age newspaper) started collecting tiny miniatures with her youngest daughter, Veronica during a European tour in the 1930s. The exquisite miniatures included such items as bottles of champagne, a chess set, crystal goblets, a Royal Doulton dinner set, books and tiny pantry items. The collection led to the creation and furnishing of the large cabinet doll house mansion.  

Veronica’s doll house, was, in turn, enjoyed by her family and then their families. When the cabinet house was relinquished, the furniture and miniature items were retained. Family members met to reinstate some of the room stories in the Triang doll house for this exhibition.  

Note:  Interestingly, the passion for miniatures extended into the wider Syme family. One of Veronica’s older sisters, Felicity Clemons, designed and built Pendle Hall, the doll house in the Museum of Victoria Collection.