GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — A massive Victorian dollhouse with an emotional backstory has found its permanent home at the Midwest Miniatures Museum in Grand Haven, bringing closure to a family's decades-long journey of love and loss.
The Juliana, named after Julia Poland, stands as more than just an intricate miniature display — it represents a daughter's dream that her family refused to let die.
WATCH: A labor of love finds a home in West Michigan
Julie grew up in Richmond, Virginia, where she and her sister would often commission their father, Jim, to build them dollhouses. The idea for this extravagant house came from Julie's fascination with the Victorian age. She purchased the first pieces of wood for the project in 1989.
"I had built them smaller dollhouses before, but I had no idea that her plans were going to amount to this," Jim Poland said.
With a design in mind and dimensions all mapped out, Julie reached out to her father for help with construction.
"I was the designated carpenter, so I cut the wood, did the routing that was necessary, and clamped boards together," Jim Poland said. "She purchased all the wood, she purchased the windows, and she did the painting initially."
But before they could finish, Julie tragically passed away in an automobile accident in 1995 while attending nursing school.
"We were building the house and everything. But then, when she died in an automobile accident in 1995 then it just sat there for 20 years," Jim Poland said.
After decades of collecting dust, the family met artist Vicky Bickell, who vowed to finish what Julie started.
"I had all of Julie's books and notes and drawings and clippings," Bickell said. "Anything that I could find that was hers I would use in the house. So in the kitchen where she had a certain kind of table that was made to look like oak, everything in the kitchen would be oak."
In total, it took nine years to finish and a couple of years just to find a museum with the space to hold it — something Julie's mother and sister couldn't help but chuckle at.
"I told her at first that she pictured the most complicated dollhouse she could," Jerry Poland said.
Julie's family made the trip to Michigan in September for a ribbon cutting and to see their Juliana in her final home, helping bring closure that's long overdue.
"Coming in here and seeing the dollhouse is just gorgeous. She's perfect," Jerry Poland said.
"It certainly is one of a kind," Jim Poland said.
"It definitely feels like it's at its home and it's at its place. It just couldn't be a better home for it," Jenny Poland said.
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