All good things come at a price, and when they are as meticulous, marvelous, and miniature as the ‘Astolat Dollhouse Castle’, they certainly should. The astonishing vision, painstaking preparation, and incredible items (over 10,000) of the 29-room dollhouse, weighing 800 pounds, justify its whopping $8.5 million price tag. The masterpiece boasting seven-levels was created by artist Elaine Diehl around 1980 and unveiled in 2015. It took no less than 13 years to make, and at the time boasted an appraised value of more than $2,000 per square inch.
That makes this 9-foot-tall dollhouse castle more expensive than a fully furnished 4-bedroom, 6-bathroom house spanning 4,160 square feet in San Francisco, of all places. In fact as per the listing on Zillow, even after buying the home, you would be left with enough cash to buy a Tesla.
It may not be a livable space, but it sure is a stunning one. Making you feel like Alice in Wonderland are the teeny-tiny items and rooms of the world’s most expensive dollhouse. What first catches the eye is the historic exterior of an abode that takes its name after the castle in “The Lady of Shalott,” a 19th-century ballad by Alfred Lord Tennyson, per Bloomberg.
One cannot help but be left in awe over details like fountains, a topiary, and a grand domed entrance with intricate pillars. And this is just the external facade. What lies beneath is indeed baffling. Putting the talent of carpenters, goldsmiths, glass blowers, and silversmiths into perspective are touches like suits of armor, a $5000 silver flatware set, artwork, paintings, and precious rock collections seen in the extravagant rooms.
While every room is luxurious with finishes like real parquet floors, hand-stitched tapestries, marble bathrooms, and gilt trim, it is the library that has my heart.
This outstanding area contains tiny books with actual printed pages legible under a magnifying glass. Inside the library, one may find (on trying really hard) a bible that is considered to be one of the world’s smallest. Some noteworthy items kept here are a drop-leaf secretary bookshelf worth $2,500 a miniature Hebrew Torah worth up to $2,500.
Among its expensive objects feature a $7,000 mini grand piano and pygmy-sized 949 Jeep Station Wagon, worth over $3,300, and a miniature portrait worth nearly $2000. It was apparently so small it had to be painted using a single bristle brush.
Of the seven floors, that contain regular rooms like main salon, dining, sleeping quarters and butler rooms etc, the most exciting was the sixth floor containing the grand ballroom, musician’s alcove, bar area and sitting rooms. At the very top of the miniature, multi-million home was a Wizard’s tower with fascinating details like astronomical depictions, and zodiac signs, telescope, and observatory.
These are just a few examples of the effort and excellence of the 29-room house that was exhibited to the public in 2015 to benefit the Autism Speaks non-profit and a selection of other children’s charities. The exhibition was hosted by Nassau County Museum of Art. “The Castle is worth so much because of the structure itself,” said Paula Gilhooley, the museum’s curator. She added, “Astolat is one of the finest miniature structures in the world exhibiting a rare combination of sculpture, art, engineering and detail that sets it apart from anything in existence to date. Astolat is a massive feat of construction and when you see it, it will leave you absolutely speechless.” The museum-quality dollhouse was acquired by collector L. Freeman in 1996 and moved to the Nassau County Museum of Art.
