‘Some of the houses I’ve restored have had a water tank in the roof. You think you’ve finished decorating, but then there’s a leak somewhere and the water starts pouring.’ This scenario may be heart-sinkingly familiar to some readers, but there is a saving grace: the houses Trevor Cain is talking about aren’t real ones, but dolls’ houses.
A Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) scholar, with a master’s degree in conservation, Trevor specialises in dolls’ house restoration - a niche he found himself carving by chance. ‘About 25 years ago I wanted to buy a real house to restore, but Iand I thought I could start with that house. I happened to be talking about it in an Islington pub one day and a journalist overheard me. They wrote an article about me building my dream house in miniature because I couldn't afford to buy a real one and, overnight, I had a business.’
