Great American Dollhouse Museum

I've visited miniatures museums all over the U.S., and this is by far my favorite one. What I loved about it:* The stories. The museum is divided into 4 sections (history, a small town circa 1900, a replica of nearby Shaker Village, and a fantasy section), and the curator has written brief storylines and fun facts for each dollhouse. So you're not just looking at standalone houses like in most dollhouse museums. Instead, you're following a narrative. And the curator has done a great job with these; they're really interesting. She staged a standard 19th century dollhouse as an Underground Railroad station, with an escaped slave doll climbing into an attic and another hiding in a closet while the white dolls hurry to greet a visitor.* The humor. The curator has staged delightful scenes. One dollhouse has an overwhelmed nanny outside while inside you see scenes of chaos - struck matches, a boy dying eggs and the cat. Another has a bride fretting over being late to her own reception while at the reception hall, the servers gossip and complain in the kitchen.* The creativity and incredible detail. There are scenes here I've never seen portrayed in a miniatures museum. In tribute to local history, there's a tobacco warehouse and a coal mine surrounded by miners' shacks and a company store (along with info on the harsh conditions of the workers in real life). The town area has a bad part of town, with empty stores that have decaying fronts and ones that have upper floor tenement apartments with residents living in small spaces and doing laundry and sewing for a living. There's a sweatshop with female dolls hunched over sewing machines and male dolls in suits lounging in an office.* The racial and socioeconomic diversity. Dollhouse and miniatures museums usually show only white dolls in fancy houses. I never thought about this until I saw the diversity of the dolls here. When I complimented the curator on this, she said it's something they're very intentional about while also trying to be realistic about the time period. So the early 1900-era dollhouses show black people mostly as servers and nannies, but there's also a freeman living on a small farm with his family. And the Shaker Village replica has lots of black dolls because the Shakers believed in racial equality and welcomed escaped and freed slaves. There's also a modern bougie scene of a pool and patio, and a black woman and her daughter are lounging beside it.* The size. This museum is huge. I spent 3 full hours there.* The thoughtful layout. There are benches and chairs throughout the exhibits for when you need a break. The layout is curving and has a great cave-like tunnel entrance to the fantasy area that must delight kids.* The array and quality of the miniatures and scenes.

Absolutely amazing. My partner and I LOVE miniatures, and we were ecstatic to find this museum/shop. It greatly surpassed our expectations. When you first walk in you are able to browse the seemingly endless amounts of unique miniature items, dollhouses, kits, etc- all quality and at a reasonable price range. There is a self-guided museum with 3 exhibits towards the back of the building which is so detailed and expansive that you could probably spend a good 2 hours looking at. Also, I forgot to mention, the owner is friendly and very knowledgeable about miniatures! I would highly recommend this to anyone, as it's interesting for all ages. (Side note: Danville is filled with some great food spots to hit up after your visit to the museum )

I was skeptical when I was first asked to go here, assuming it was a place for preteen girls. Wow, was I wrong! The 200 or so miniature displays are fascinating and would be enjoyable for anybody to see. You could spend hours here taking in all of the fine details. I actually went back a few weeks after my first visit and took some family members along. They too were impressed with what they saw. If you are looking for a unique experience in Danville and central Kentucky then the dollhouse museum should be on your list.

We had heard this museum mentioned many times during our visits to Danville. We finally visited it today. It was surprisingly interesting! We entered through a gift shop filled with items to purchase for the avid dollhouse collector. We entered the museum through the back of the shop. It was an amazing place! The amount of time the collectors had taken to display the items was extraordinary. History buffs will appreciate the displays of significance. Troll and fantasy collectors will find items of interest as well. Go visit!!

A nice place to take the kids or just go by yourself. Take as long as you want to walk through and see everything. A lot of details and things to see. A little giftshop/store also to buy anything you might need for your own dollhouse build. They do provide a military discount which is much appreciated.

Enjoyable time spent seeing many different types of doll houses in a pleasing environment. Ample parking and pleasant employees made this visit pleasurable. My family and I spent over an hour touring this museum.

My daughters and I spent a lovely morning at the Dollhouse Museum. I expected to enjoy it but it was even better than I thought it would be. I expected cool dollhouses, with cute decorations. I did not expect a US history lesson, a fairy house section, or an entire town with an elaborate interconnected story. The attention to detail was impressive and everything was beautiful.The museum shop was also excellent. It contains a huge selection of not just miniature and dollhouse accessories but also general craft supplies. The furniture ranges from bargain pieces to vintage an antique items. The selection is carefully curated. The museum is definitely a gem in Danville. We will be back!

I popped into the Great American Dollhouse Museum as part of a day trip down to Danville. I didn't quite know what to expect and I confess, I'm not much of a dollhouse person and never really had even thought about miniatures as an art form. The museum really blew me away! The craftsmanship and attention to detail in each house was amazing! And each house/room had a story to tell--my favorite was a room with a little boy who "accidentally" dyed his cat in rainbow tones. The staff there were extremely nice and welcoming as well. My final words--this isn't a place just for kids, everyone can appreciate and enjoy this unique museum!

Great Experience! ! ! totally out of the ordinary. I was a little skeptical when my niece suggested going to the Dollhouse Museum, it didn't sound like my interest, but we went and I am glad we did. Like nothing I have ever seen before. A very large building (WPA built armory from 1930's) full of beautifully done miniature dioramas centered around houses (thus the "dollhouse") of cultural and historical interest. All done with the greatest of artistic care. Broaden your horizon, see something you never have before!

I highly recommend visiting the Great American Dollhouse Museum! It has a wonderful store in the front and the museum itself is full of such lovely dollhouse displays. The attention to detail is outstanding. The staff person at the museum was wonderfully helpful and kind. It took us about 2 hrs. to see everything, but we really took our time.