How this dollhouse from a New Bedford shop snagged a role in HBO's upcoming 'Gilded Age'

NEW BEDFORD — A dollhouse from New Bedford will be transported back to the late 19th century for the upcoming HBO series "The Gilded Age."

“It was exciting," said Nathaniel Ellis, 37, owner of Flip This Dollhouse located on the second floor of Kilburn Mill. 

In March 2021, Ellis said he received a phone call from assistant set designer Amanda Finnegan, who was seeking a large Victorian mansion dollhouse to use for a production filming in Newport about the Gilded Age.

Ellis said he put the pieces together. "I was freaking out, but tried to play it cool," he said.

The series, which is created by "Downton Abbey's" Julian Fellowes was one of Ellis' favorite television programs. "I used to watch it and I would dress dolls," he said.

“I would take a porcelain doll, that's dollhouse size, and I would watch the show, see a dress, then I would try to recreate it in miniature with similar fabrics, trim and lace."

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According to IMDb.com, "The Gilded Age" is about a wide-eyed young scion of a conservative family who embarks on a mission to infiltrate the wealthy neighboring clan dominated by ruthless railroad tycoon George Russell, his rakish son, Larry, and his ambitious wife, Bertha.

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The series stars Cynthia Nixon, Taissa Farmiga, Christine Baranski, Morgan Spector and Bill Irwin. 

Ellis said Finnegan visited his 5,000-square-foot shop and purchased a Second Empire Victorian mansion from his museum for $2,500.

"It has electricity, and has real paintings in every room, paintings like copies of Renoir's and Monet's," he said.

Due to an agreement with the production team, Ellis can't share photos of the purchased dollhouse until the series premiere on Jan. 24. However, he has a similarly styled house currently in his shop to tease on social media.

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Ellis added that he heard the show was filming in the Chateau-sur-Mer in Newport which has a similar look to the dollhouse. However, the set piece will be appearing in bedroom scenes filmed inside The Elms mansion. 

Additionally, Finnegan purchased furniture at New Bedford Antiques At The Cove.

Ellis says he is happy to be a small part of "The Gilded Age," because he hopes that it'll be a reminder for people to support small businesses, too.

"It's still something that I don't think people are thinking of enough," he added.

Dollhouses featured in other productions

Ellis says, since opening his business 11 years ago, he has rented out dollhouses occasionally to a couple different productions in the past.

There was a music video that was shot in Boston that rented a couple of houses.

Two years ago, there was a stage production at the Formerly Stoneham Theatre in Boston on famed sex therapist Dr. Ruth, titled 'Becoming Dr. Ruth." It was a one-woman show, which featured two of Ellis' dollhouses on the stage, as apparently one of Dr. Ruth's biggest hobbies was dollhouses.

“Dollhouses bring people so much joy," Ellis said. "It's about handmade wooden crafts. It's nostalgia. It's its architecture, its interior design."

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Ellis said he's been in love with dollhouses for 20 years. “I just started collecting dollhouses and fixing them up and flipping them... and then decorating it, staging it perfectly.”

Ellis, who is an interior designer, said he's one of the very few dollhouse shops left in the country. "There used to be many more. But what happened is it was a pretty big hobby in the '70s, '80s. And then in the '90s electronics took over."

An increased interest in dollhouses during pandemic

However, during the pandemic, Ellis noticed an increase interest in his shop. He thinks it's because people were getting into at-home hobbies while in quarantine.

“I noticed that kind of as COVID peaks and falls and spikes... so do my sales.”

Last month, Ellis got a call from a production company that produces reality shows for cable and streaming platforms such as Netflix.

He says they're interested in doing a show about his shop.

“It's nothing official yet, we're just talking, but gosh that could be life changing," he said.

Standard-Times staff writer Seth Chitwood can be reached at schitwood@s-t.com. Follow him on twitter: @ChitwoodReports. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times today.