Welcome

Located in the heart of Kentucky’s Bluegrass Region, 45 minutes south of Lexington, The Great American Dollhouse Museum is a regular destination for travelers from Louisville, Cincinnati, and many other regional cities and towns as well as surrounding states.

Our Purpose

We believe that people learn best when thoroughly engaged, and we make it our business to captivate and delight our audiences.

Our Design

Unlike traditional museum displays, in which each artifact stands isolated in its case, our exhibits are interconnected both physically and by the stories they tell. Our Timeline winds its way through United States history from Native American, Colonial, Old West, Southwest and Victorian eras through the decades of the 20th century, ending in a modern scene that includes a hot tub, cell phones, and an exhausted babysitter. Next, the town of Copper Hollow unfurls its neighborhoods, streets, rural lands and forests in a vast, continuous landscape. Representing an American yesteryear of around 1910, the hundreds of antique and artisan-sculpted, historically-dressed citizens interact with family, friends and business associates as would any townspeople. Visitors can thread their way along any variety of avenues and alleys as in a real town, peering into the open backs of homes and businesses to enjoy the décor and activity therein. From its factory district, downtrodden rooming houses, and industrious Shaker Village to the most opulent mansions, you may make some pretty good guesses about the lives, and even the gossip, generated behind supposedly closed doors!

Our Educational Capabilities

Education at the Museum extends beyond the pleasure of a visit. School groups report that many of our historical displays correspond well with classroom material. We make custom worksheets for school groups, with emphasis on themes or periods of history, art and theatre relevant to individual classroom curriculum. The hands-on Dollhouse Village provides an exciting activity for our younger visitors with its furnished dollhouses, horse stable, and miniature shopping mall.

Our Historical Building

In June of 2006, we purchased a 6000 square foot historical building near downtown Danville, Kentucky. Constructed in 1939 under the Works Progress Administration, its high, arched, hardwood ceilings, enormous skylights, and iron girders impart to the interior an atmosphere of seasoned endurance perfect for our museum.

Our Visitors

Schools, Scouts, and civic groups avail themselves of our services, as do a wide variety of tour groups and clubs. The Museum hosts a great number of out-of-towners motivated to come specifically to visit us. The entire nation boasts only a few dollhouse museums, and none is similar in approach to The Great American Dollhouse Museum. We enjoy an abundance of tourist traffic.