A Dolls' House: Mansions in miniature

Andrew Pinxt knows the importance of a solidly built house. Having built both his family home and a treehouse for his children so enormous, it fitted a full-sized lounge suite in it, Andrew, a resident of Summerset Cranbourne North, now turns his attention to meticulously crafting dollhouses.

“I needed a hobby when I retired,” says Andrew. “I made one for my granddaughters and just carried on.” A welder by trade, Andrew had a construction business fitting gas pipes before he retired. “I have always been handy, and I like working with wood. I made a cradle, dressing table and cupboard when my wife was expecting our first child, and then later built a house for us.”

The houses Andrew builds now may be smaller, but they are fancy, with each one a generous one metre width, 450mm deep and 800mm of height. Each house has two floors and an attic, as well as lounge, kitchen, grand entrance hall and a two-storey veranda.

“The bones are the same, but each one has a unique look and different style,” says Andrew. Influenced by Victorian villas in neighbourhoods he drives through, Andrew is known for stopping his car to take photos of homes that pique his interest and then incorporating the features that he likes into his builds. “No two of the houses are identical.” He says, “It takes me about three months to complete each one. They are very intricate. The windows and doors are a standard size but the frames and the windowsills are very fiddly.”

Andrew, who also makes toy wooden car garages, makes great use of the Residents’ workshop in the village centre for his builds. “I’ve taken possession of it,” he jokes, “I am always in there. It’s referred to as ‘Andrew’s Room now.”

Andrew has lost count of the number of dollhouses and garages he has made, but he never sells them, rather he gives them away. “I would lose interest if I had to sell them,” he says. “The only dollhouse where money changed hands was at a fundraisers auction.”

Instead, Andrew likes to give them away to families in need. A member of Cranbourne Rotary for 50 years, Andrew is keenly involved in helping the less fortunate. One dollhouse he made went to a young girl whose father had died suddenly. “Her mother had actually bid at the auction for the dollhouse when she was pregnant, several years prior, so it felt good to be able to gift her daughter one when they were going through such a terrible time.”

Andrew buys the plywood and the nails, but the rest of the wood is often donated. “People know about my hobby, and so if they have spare wood, they think of me. But, if I buy some, so what? I have been very blessed.”

The couple are actively involved in charity work, both locally and abroad. Andrew received the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in 2021 for his Rotary service and Patsy volunteers at their church’s Op Shop. Both involved in a big water project in Tonga via the Cranbourne Rotary. “We had got involved in the rebuilding efforts after Tropical Cyclone Ian in 2014,” Andrew said. “When we were there, we saw that villages weren’t connected to a water supply.” Using Andrew’s knowledge as a pipelayer, the couple coordinated a project connecting villages to a water supply coming from a natural spring. “We were there in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021,” says Andrew. “We coordinated a team of 30 volunteers, gathered a lot of sponsors and shipped a lot of materials over.”

Possibly the biggest charitable act for the Pinxts was from Patsy to Andrew. Andrew had renal failure and spent eight months on a dialysis machine. Against improbably odds, Patsy was a 100% match and happily donated her kidney to him seven years ago. “We have been married for 56 years, and we joke that that if we were ever split up, she will ask for it back!”

The couple, who both hail originally from the Netherlands, have lived at Summerset Cranbourne North for 19 months, and have now come full circle, having started their married life on the very street where Summerset Cranbourne North now stands. Sentimentality aside, they are delighted with their choice. “We are extremely happy here. It was a big step, downsizing from a five-bedroom home to a two-bedroom townhouse but its great. We have made a lot of friends, and we couldn’t ask for better neighbours. Everyone looks out for everyone here.”

This is an article from the Volume Three of our Summerset Scene magazine

Click here to read the full issue