Beatrix Potter’s Doll’s House Back On Display After Conservation Work to Items Featured in Beloved Author’s “The Tale of Two Bad Mice”
By Jill Dando News
A doll’s house once owned by Beatrix Potter is back on display in the Lake District after conservation work by National Trust experts. The miniature furniture, plaster food, cutlery, and other items inspired her book The Tale of Two Bad Mice.
Conservators at the Trust’s Textile Conservation Studio in Norfolk worked on the house’s carpet, upholstered furniture, and dolls’ clothes, while the Royal Oak Foundation Conservation Studio in Kent restored wooden furniture, ceramics, glass, and paper items.
The display is now featured at Hill Top, Potter’s farm near Hawkshead.
The New Room, added to the farm by Beatrix, now showcases the doll’s house with modern lighting and an interactive case where visitors can spotlight Beatrix’s treasured items given to her by her publisher, Norman Warne.
These items, such as cutlery, a saucepan, bellows, birdcage, coal scuttle, and glued-down food, appeared in the story.
Beatrix famously described the food as “enough to cause indigestion.”
Norman Warne proposed to Beatrix, but tragically died before they could marry. In the 1930s, Beatrix bought the doll’s house to display her tiny treasures, which children could enjoy.
Now fully restored, the house and its contents are a focal point of the exhibit, with new lighting that lets visitors spotlight individual pieces. Animated mice will also be featured, alongside a replica of the doll’s house for children to play with.
Hill Top Property Curator Katy Canales said, “The doll’s house is significant not only for its connection to The Tale of Two Bad Mice but also for its personal connection to Beatrix and Norman. The restoration has made it a centerpiece in our new display.”
The conservation took around 300 hours, addressing repairs to the roof, wallpaper, floors, and many objects, which were cleaned and stabilized. Silk cushion covers on the furniture were repaired and dry cleaned with micro-vacuums.
Also on display is a newly acquired letter from Beatrix to a young American boy, with an illustration of her pet mouse Hunca Munca.
Katy added, “This letter is one of many Beatrix wrote to inspire children’s love of reading and animals.”
The New Room also features a new display, Two Bad Mice: Pets to Page, with original objects, animations, interactive displays, and a film on the restoration process.
The exhibition examines Beatrix’s creative process, her relationship with Norman, and the personal and professional significance of the story.
The exhibit runs until November 2026.
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