Rare 18th Century dolls' house on loan to museum

The dolls' house has nine rooms including three 'below stairs' for servants

A rare 18th Century dolls' house which survived a serious fire at a stately home has gone on display at a Kent museum.

Sarah Lethieullier’s dolls' house, with over 700 fixtures and fittings, is described as being one of the best surviving examples of its kind in the world.

It was left unscathed in a blaze which badly damaged many items at Uppark House, in West Sussex, in 1989.

The finely decorated scale model, which dates from the 1730s, can now be seen at the Huguenot Museum, in Rochester, after being offered on loan for the first time.

The official opening of the unusual exhibit takes place on Wednesday.

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The dolls' house was originally made for the Lethieullier family and came to Uppark after Sarah Lethieullier, who came from a prominent French Protestant Huguenot family, married Sir Matthew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.

Tessa Murdoch, from the Huguenot Museum Trust, said: “A Georgian future lady needed to learn household management.

"The nine-room Palladian dolls’ house taught Sarah everything she needed to know, from taking care of the objects within the house, to learning the rightful place of her footmen, parlour maid and staff.”

The house is on display at Rochester's Huguenot Museum until May 2025

The dolls’ house was admired by visiting guests to Uppark, including novelist HG Wells.

Dr Murdoch said: "He was inspired by the microcosm of the dolls’ house to recreate miniature worlds in his writing, in particular, his most famous novel, The Time Machine.”

Rebecca Wallis, senior curator at the National Trust, said: "This is a fantastic opportunity to share the story of Sarah Lethieullier and the dolls’ house with more people and will enable new research into the Huguenot history of Uppark."

The house is on display at the Huguenot Museum until May 2025.

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