Erwin Lenz family heirloom on display at Chicago and Northwestern Depot

Erwin Lenz family heirloom on display at Chicago and Northwestern Depot

By Shiloh Appel
Two lamps cast a nostalgic glow onto the polished hardwood floor, the 80's -style sofa, and the family photo album sitting on a side table. Wood is stacked by the fire place, a guitar case lies open on the floor, and painted china plates gleam on the mantel. Sliced bread and cake sit on the table in the kitchen, wood projects lie partially done in the wood shop upstairs, and the beds are all nicely made with detailed crocheted comforters. A rug made from the family loom provides a cozy touch to the bathroom floor and all of the towels sit perfectly folded in the bathroom cabinet. Yet, nobody lives here. Nobody ever has.
This is not a human house. This is an extraordinarily detailed three-story dollhouse with a matching shed that is now on display at the Chicago and Northwestern Depot in Redfield. Conceived in the mind of artist Erwin Lenz, the project began in 1976. It took six years to finish.
"My mom asked him to build it for her," said Lenz's granddaughter, Cathy Frericks."I was told that the company he was working for went out of business so he didn't have a job. My mom came up with this idea for him to have something to do."

Lenz worked for the railroad, managed a furniture store, and later worked for Bekins Van Lines, a moving company. Although he was never a carpenter or interior designer by trade, one would never have guessed it by taking a look at his hobby.
"He drew out the plans  and the scales for all of the windows and everything," said Frericks."My grandma, his wife, did a lot of the knitting and crocheting of the bed spreads and made the curtains for the windows. Because he couldn't find some of the rugs [that he wanted], he made a loom so he could make the rugs to scale." That loom, perhaps only two inches tall, still sits in the dollhouse to this day. It is a testament to Lenz's precise attention to detail.
By the numbers, Lenz created 348 individual foundation blocks out of bass wood, spackle, paint and sealer; 5,054 individual wooden shingles out of clear pine; 1,358 wooden bricks made of pine boards for the chimney; 828 running feet of siding made of redwood boards; and 628 running feet of floor boards made of clear white pine strips, sanded and waxed.
Lenz recorded every step of the process of building the house and all of its props in three ring binders full of samples, floor plans, photographs and newspaper clippings. These binders were given to his grandchildren.
"I used scrap pine boards and a very dull blade on my bench saw to cut strips of 1/4" x 3/16". The dull blade gives a rough look. I then cut the strips into 3/4" lengths, giving me bricks of 1/4"x 3/16" x 3/4"," wrote Lenz beneath a sample of his chimney blocks.
In addition to creating the floor boards, bricks, siding and shingles, Lenz wired more than 40 lamps, lights and outlets in all. These can be used to light up the rooms, giving the doll house a glowing, homey feel.
Some of the realistic everyday-life things Lenz added to the house include wallpaper, newspaper and magazines in the mailbox; a dog, garbage can and sled on the porch; chandeliers; a miniature piano and a miniature guitar; rocking chairs, a step ladder, shop tools, food items, vases and tiny dishes; toilet paper and hand towels in the bathroom; and a Christmas tree with tiny ornaments, just to name a very small portion of the miniature abode's inventory.
To view the dollhouse, stop in at the Chicago and Northwestern Depot in Redfield, which is typically open from 10a.m. to 4p.m. Monday through Friday.
Although Lenz passed away in October of 2018 at the age of 93, his art will continue to live on for many years to come not only in his dollhouse, but in the replica of his grandfather's 1900's Chicago fish market that he built along with an apartment building. Lenz also grew roses, studied genealogy and kept the family records. The dollhouse is one of many gifts he left for his family.
"It is a family heirloom passed on," said Frericks.