A Doll’s House: Inside the Home of Kathy Libraty, Frank Hechenberger, and Elisa Lovelie
There are countless details in the house that catch your eye—Libraty is also an accomplished visual artist, and her arresting photographs and sculptures are found in most rooms, as well as along the magnificent staircase—but the one undeniable presence is that of the dolls. Libraty and Hechenberger entered the antique doll business in the mid-80s after a chance encounter with a dumpster full of dolls. The contents of an old house were being rather unceremoniously disposed of and Libraty and Hechenberger rescued some of the dolls, setting off on a professional journey that has spanned almost 30 years and proven financially lucrative (“I have to say, the dolls paid for the house”) but has also informed their personal space. There are only a few places in the house where there aren’t dolls—“they’re not allowed in the kitchen, the bathrooms, the bedrooms”—but almost everywhere else there are toddler-sized, delicate bisque-head dolls or glass-fronted cabinets with an abundance of miniature dolls that Libraty has arranged just so, and there are curiosity cabinets with drawer after drawer full of detached doll hands and glassy, unblinking eyes. Libraty laughs when she mentions a friend who once asked her, “Aren’t you afraid the dolls are going to wake up?”
But inside the house, it doesn’t feel like the dolls are going to wake up. Or rather, it feels more like we’re the ones who are dreaming. How often, in this era of rampant development, do we find a family so utterly engaged with not only the history of their home and neighborhood but also its future? Libraty and Hechenberger say they want to give the house to their daughter one day, but Lovelie demurs, insisting that she couldn’t imagine leaving the neighborhood but also doesn’t want to take her parents’ house. We have little doubt that the family will work out the details when necessary, and we have just as little doubt that the home will stay in the family, where it will remain as beautifully preserved and lovingly cared for as it has been for the last eight years. The one thing we know for sure is that nothing from this house will ever end up in a dumpster.
Visit kathylibratydolls.com for more information on the exquisite antique dolls
And visit elisalovelie.com for more information on Lovelie’s music
