Antique Dollhouse Vault Opens for Rare Public Viewing at Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites

by Lindsey Jancay   

At the heart of the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts is a state-of-the-art collection storage vault. Through the glass wall, guests see rows of dollhouses filled with rare furnishings and figures. Elizabeth Johnston Prime, a Bethlehem native, spent decades building this collection and fostering its community.

Prime, whose grandfather was Vice President of Bethlehem Steel, was born in 1927. She started collecting dollhouses in her 40s. “Betts,” as her friends called her, purchased many of the dollhouses at auction, including from Sotheby’s and Christie’s. She was driven by the history and artistry of the houses. For her, they were treasures, not investments. She carefully curated her collection to reflect the community she had come to love.

Prime passed away just a week before announcing her decision to gift the collection to the Kemerer Museum. Her prepared speech included a line that guides the museum’s approach to sharing the collection today: “The dollhouses, furniture, and dolls I have acquired have survived for generations because they are loved. I feel this tug from the generations: From the talented hands of the artisans who have created the pieces, to the excited hands of the children opening the packages containing the pieces. I am the next set of hands to touch, care for, and love these pieces.”

After her passing, friends and dollhouse enthusiasts helped the museum photograph and prepare for the transport of 44 structures and over 6,000 pieces dating from the 1830s through the early 1930s. In 2013, supported in part by Prime’s bequest for collection care, the Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites (HBMS) Collections Resource Center opened, and the dollhouses were displayed in their permanent home. Over the next decade, curators and volunteers used the photographs to restage each house as Prime intended.

The $2.6-million Collections Resource Center, known as “The Vault,” is very different from the flat in Manhattan where Betts would welcome guests to play with her dollhouses after dinner parties. However, HBMS offers a limited number of “Behind the Scenes” tours each year, during which guests can enter the vault and see the collection up close, exploring dollhouses that have plumbing, a working elevator, and doorbells. Guides share elaborate tales about a dollhouse that floated down a river, one that sold for more than a new car during the Great Depression, and a pair of dollhouses referred to as the “mystery houses” (see below). 

Over 20 years after Prime’s collection arrived in Bethlehem, it continues to bring people together. Some are interested in architecture and fine antiques, while others are drawn by nostalgia and charm. Regardless of the specific reason individuals are attracted to them, it is clear that dollhouses speak to people because, just like our own homes, they hold many stories. Today, the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts serves as the keeper and caretaker, entrusted by Betsy Prime to ensure these structures continue to inspire visitors for generations to come.

A limited run of dollhouse tours is taking place through August 29. Tickets are available at historicbethlehem.org. If tickets sell out, check HBMS’s social media accounts for details on a fall exhibit featuring items from the vault. 

Lindsey Jancay is the Vice President & Managing Director of Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites.