Miniature homes, furnished with domestic articles and resident inhabitants, both people and animals, have been made for thousands of years. This dolls' house is one from a group of houses produced by the Lines Bros, a company based in Merton, Surrey whose trademark was Tri-ang. They were concerned with making good quality wooden toys, or what they called, "strong English toys". Their range of dolls' houses included Tudor style houses, thatched cottages and bungalows. The Lines Bros also designed a small number of houses which reflected architectural and design movements of the times, such as the Modernist house seen in the Museum's collection. However, many people still preferred the cosy feel of the traditional houses and cottages, so these continued to sell for decades.