Another Scratch Build

After some soul searching, and finally admitting I'm in a touch over my head with my first scratch-build, I decided that perhaps it would be prudent to start with something a touch more ... basic until my long unused carpentry skills are sharpened.

I had ordered a few books off Amazon.ca weeks back, and they're filled with projects that are primarily done in the European style (front opening) rather than the North American open backed style.  I've never really been fond of these, they tend to look like boxes with windows, and I'm still wrestling with that - unaided by the fact that I do literally have a 24 x 17 box that I'm currently cutting window holes into.

The project I chose as a learning exercise is the second project in the book, a seven room Georgian townhouse with faux basement.  Although seven sounds mighty large, three of the rooms are located in the attic and at best guess will be too small to function as much other than a bathroom.  I didn't realize the depth of the house until I was dry fitting the panels together, this thing is ridiculously deep and seems to not be making efficient use of space.

The author's goal with this project was to build a "home of a well-to-do family and that the rooms should be large enough to fit quite a few impressive pieces of furniture...".  Fair enough I say, but when you have a 17 x 10 dining room and not a thing to put into it, plus you have to walk upstairs to find a sofa to plunk your tiny butt on after eating, that just seems ridiculous (I currently live in a townhouse - not georgian - and it's nothing but stairs, this is a serious consideration in my mind).

Now that I have the panels cut, I don't want to go putting access doors everywhere on my very sturdy box, so I am tossing around ideas for a visual division of the ground floor room so it can be both salon and dining room.  My first attempt is pictured, the second option will be pillars .  I like that the division travels across the ceiling but I don't think I'm entirely sold on this idea yet either.

Yesterday I started with the base.  The one thing I do like about the front-opening style is that the structure is incredibly sound.  This is the first house that hasn't creaked when I pick it up - in fact there's no give to this thing at all.  Constructed out of 1/4" pine plywood it should stay relatively stable through the years.  The base tucks in between the exterior walls, and has a 1.5" recess at the front where I plan on putting my electrical panel for ease of access.

If anyone has built anything out of this book I'd love to hear your thoughts on the process.  I find I'm having difficulty following the instructions and images provided, they seem out of order somehow, and the author comes across as smug somehow (this is the only true way to do something or other...), but his designs are quite sharp.  The book is "Making Georgian Dolls' Houses" by Derek Rowbottom.  If you see a copy around definitely thumb through it!