A Tiny Dickens Christmas....the Story behind the Story.

A Dickens Christmas

Gad’s Hill Place, England 1863

by Dame May Burnett and Sir Darren Scala

It’s Christmas and the Dickens household is in final preparations for the holiday. The parlor is adorned with garlands, swags and the floor-to-ceiling evergreen has been decorated with ribbons, golden orbs and topped with a cherub angel. Gifts have been meticulously wrapped under the tree with festive name cards. “Happy Christmas, Oliver,” “Yuletide Blessings, Tim,” “Christmas Greetings, David,” and “For the New Year, Nicholas” are just a few. A floral arrangement dresses the table near the hearth, which is laden with traditional Victorian sweets, cakes and a decorated gingerbread house ready to be devoured.

On the desk in the upstairs study there is a feeling of mystery and secrets and we find selected pages of Mr. Dickens’ latest novel; these pages tell a story that differs from past accounts of hardship, poverty and strife, representing “Christmas Past.” These pages tell us about some of Dickens most troubled and stricken characters but shows them in a new light. This completed new novel represents “Christmas Present.” The bookshelf in the study opens to reveal a secret room serving as a gallery for “Christmas Future.” The gallery displays 4 portraits, each depicting the future adult lives of some of the children from Mr. Dickens earlier novels.

First is the portrait of Oliver Twist, now the head of England’s leading children’s advocacy fund. Next, we find the painting of David Copperfield, Britain’s leading journalist who reports on the health and education of immigrant children. Third is Nicholas Nickelby, now a leading figure in the fight for women’s rights and equality and finally we find Dickens most cherished character, Tiny Tim. This portrait shows Dr. Timothy Cratchit, founder of the European Society for Pediatric and Childhood Illness.

As we leave the gallery and step back, we feel the power of Christmas: a time of joy, a time of family and friends, a time of reflection and a look into the future.

The Biggest Little Christmas Showdown is a fun, quirky, reality-based four-part series premiering on Friday, November 27th at 9pm ET/PT on #HGTV. Each week only one team will wow the spirited panel of judges which includes HGTV designer Genevieve Gorder, Dave Asling, best known for his work on Welcome to Marwen, and our own darling of the mini world June Clinkscales! Winning teams advance to the next round of this cheerful competition and in the final round, the top contenders craft their most extravagant mini holiday houses ever for a chance at the ultimate victory: a grand prize worth $50,000 and the surprise of a lifetime when their winning miniature is replicated into a full sized magical vacation home decked out for the season.

TV Showdown Showcases Talent for Tiny

From the December 4 Issue of The Rivertowns Enterprise, Westchester County, NY

Darren T. Scala of Yonkers and May Burnett of Dobbs Ferry are about to prove that miniatures are ready for the big time. Tonight (Dec. 4) at 9 p.m., the pair will be pitted against two other teams on a new four-part HGTV series, "Biggest Little Christmas Showdown.” Their challenge is to create a miniature structure, furnished with tiny objects, based on the theme "A Charles Dickens Christmas."

“Biggest Little Christmas Showdown" is hosted by James Monroe Iglehart, known for his appearances onstage in "Hamilton" and as the genie in "Aladdin." The judges, including HGTV design­er Genevieve Gorder, Hollywood prop maker Dave Asling, and “miniaturist to the stars” June Clinkscales, score the contestants' efforts on creativity, realism, and quality of execution.

If Scala and Burnett win tonight's episode, they will go on to appear in the Dec. 18 finale, competing against the winning teams from the other two episodes for a grand prize of $50,000. In an interview on Nov. 30, Scala explained that the taping was completed in August, after the pandemic caused the cancellation of two earlier production dates. The contestants were required to quarantine before the taping and to test negative for the coronavirus. The contestants will be shown without masks, but with the teams spaced apart for extra protection.

Under the terms of their contract with HGTV, Scala and Burnett were forbidden to divulge the competition results before the show airs. They were equally reticent about revealing how they interpreted the Dickens-themed challenge. But creating miniature environments with a Victorian setting is familiar territory, since they collaborated in recent years on both the Christmas and the Halloween decorations for "Nybelwyck Hall," the Victorian dollhouse in the Glenview Mansion at the Hudson River Museum.

At the Mamaroneck Avenue School, Burnett is teaching elementary school-age children, and in the summer, she runs the art program at Long Lake Camp for the Arts in the Adirondacks. In an interview on Nov. 30, she said she agreed when Scala first asked her to team up with him, but when they were accepted for the show, she realized how challenging it would be. I had a lot of experience making small things, but never had to work under the discipline of it being a particular scale,” she explained. She is particularly fond of creating miniature baked food and pottery, which she makes on a miniature pottery wheel. The objects are baked in a kiln, just like full­ sized pottery. "Teapots are my favorite," she said. For the HGTV project, she had to branch out from kitchenware, making furniture, paintings, and other objects. "It was full of tiny treasures," she said."

The world of miniatures is an arcane one. There are those who collect fine and antique miniatures - the typical customer for Scala - and fine artists who use miniature scale models to create tiny rooms, houses, or dioramas, which may be displayed in galleries or muse­ums. Then there are the show-business miniaturists, who recreate the real world in small scale for sets in movies or TV shows. But competitive miniature art has never been fodder for network television. "This is the first time miniatures have been presented in a commercial way on TV," Scala said. "This is a first for the miniatures world."

The contestants were allowed to do 50 percent of the work in advance, and then complete it in the studio on West 34th Street in Manhattan, where tools and materials were provided. They were required to build the structure and contents at 1/12 scale, the typical scale used in dollhouse design, and every object in the structure had to be built from scratch, with the exception of lights.

“May and I got into a room and we spent a day or two ideating, and we got to work," Scala said. "We sketched it out; we had a vision board." Scala estimated they spent about 240 hours working on the structure and its contents in his home studio in the 30 days they had to prepare their project before the taping. It was essential for them to strategize how they would assemble everything under the strict time limits they would face in the studio.

Scala said that to capture the judges' imagination, their design had to have a unique concept - not the typical "Ebenezer Scrooge's office" that the producers' prompt might suggest. "We wanted it to be whimsical and magical," he said. "So, we did a fair amount of research on Dickens himself, his writing, his whole gestalt, creating a fictional story that was our own and that aligned with the theme.”

The Biggest Little Christmas Showdown is a fun, quirky, reality-based four-part series premiering on Friday, November 27th at 9pm ET/PT on #HGTV. Each week only one team will wow the spirited panel of judges which includes HGTV designer Genevieve Gorder, Dave Asling, best known for his work on Welcome to Marwen, and our own darling of the mini world June Clinkscales! Winning teams advance to the next round of this cheerful competition and in the final round, the top contenders craft their most extravagant mini holiday houses ever for a chance at the ultimate victory: a grand prize worth $50,000 and the surprise of a lifetime when their winning miniature is replicated into a full sized magical vacation home decked out for the season.

The $100,000 Dream Dollhouse

THE SAHLBERG by Jimmy Landers is a masterpiece of architecture, art and design in miniature and a once in a generation opportunity for a collector to own a custom cabinet house inspired by those owned by Europeans of a certain social class during the renaissance era and throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. We're thrilled to be representing Mr. Landers on the sale of this beautiful treasure! Contact Darren Scala @914-548-1984 for more information.

THE SAHLBERG is an extraordinary custom-built 9 room hardwood cabinet house created by master builder Jimmy Landers with exquisitely designed rooms including a 3 story grand foyer, a 2 story wood paneled library, a dining room, parlor, master bedroom and a guest bedroom.

The dramatic Grand Foyer was created with a curved staircases made with hand-turned spindles and mahogany banisters which lead to a stunning stained glass center dome crafted by Barbara Sabia and decorated with hand-cut lead with a combination of beveled, glue chip and frosted glass textures. The Dome measures 13" long by 3"wide with natural illumination effects by Carl Sahlberg, the namesake of this work and friend of Mr. Sahlberg.

The entranceway floor contains over 2000 individual hand-placed and grouted marble tiles, wood paneled walls and double hung doors and highlighted by a stunning 2-tiered brass chandelier by Linda Orleff. The second floor landing was created with mahogany random wood-planked flooring and paneled doors and the top floor has 8 sconces which line the walls of the grand foyer. There are a total of 22 sconces in the structure.

A key feature of The Sahlberg is an impressive two-story wood paneled library with floor to ceiling built in bookcases filled with thousands of books which can easily be reached by rolling ladders along brass rods stationed on a parquet floor painstakingly created with over 3000 planks made of cherrywood. Several inset alcoves are ready to featured framed fine art paintings or hold decorative art on clear shelves. The Library is highlighted by a stunning coffered ceiling with hand-hammered copper panels and hardwood beams accented in black and an equally impressive beveled paneled ceiling on the lower level lined with decorative timbers.

An ornate custom Victorian-style two-tiered all brass chandelier with milky white acrylic globes cast a soft yellow glow as do several coordinating sconces flanking the second floor paneled door. A spiral staircase with an inlay wood base, brass rod baluster, cherrywood treads with an etched design and a curved hardwood handrail leads to the top level landing.

Additional library features include a vintage framed replica of an 1883 musket made with carved wood and a metal barrel, floor to ceiling stained glass windows with custom designed crests, a historic reproduction gothic fireplace with a black granite hearth with an ornate caste metal mirror hanging overhead along with several vintage mounted taxidermy.

The Dining Room, The Parlor, The Master Bedroom and The Guest Bedroom complete the cabinet house, each exquisitely designed and hand crafted to include all brass lighting fixtures, real mahogany flooring, textured wall papers, floor to ceiling triple stained glass windows, recessed ceilings with plaster appliques and ornate fireplaces with granite hearths and gold trimmed mirrors.

The second floor parlor features random planked Mahogany wood flooring, a faux marble flickering fireplace with a gilded gold framed mirror, recessed ceiling with ornamental plaster, The Master Bedroom features a carved plaster fireplace, a 6 arm brass chandelier with ornamental plaster framed double paneled doors, floor to ceiling stained glass windows and textured wallpaper with an historic design.

Solid brass two-tiered hanging chandelier with acrylic "glass" domes by Linda Orleff

Meet the Maker: Jimmy Landers is a master builder. After retiring from a corporate role in sales, his wife asked him to build her a dollhouse. Not just any dollhouse, but a historically accurate structure, with masterful details and an amazing design. And he's been building ever since!

Mr. Landers spent two years building The Sahlberg and commissioned an equally extraordinary group of artisans to create fixtures, stained glass and accessories to bring his vision to life. He usually spends up to 18 hours each day working and is currently crafting an 8-room Tudor style dollhouse with 4 levels measuring over 5' long with landscaping and a hand-built octopus furnace.

Click here for more images of the Sahlberg. All photos by Mr. Lander's daughter Patty Haessig.

Until Next time: Happy MinLiving!