No, not for me in real life, for The Brownstone.  :D  This beauty is a 1950 Volkswagen Beetle Saloon 1:12 scale model by Sun Star.

The back story for The Brownstone is that it is the home of a world traveler.  I toyed with the idea that this occupant is the grandson of The Haunted Heritage's grandma, and it stuck.  :D  Our world traveler likely won't have a name, but I'll have to figure out something to call him.  He is a collector of interesting items and lives in an upscale neighborhood.

The 1:14 scale Audi TT remote control car I have is a nice reproduction, and a world-traveling young man would certainly be at home in sports car.  I love that its headlights are functional as well.  It photographs well, even though it doesn't look as realistic in person.

But, I prefer the Beetle for this build because it is both interesting and upscale to maintain a vintage automobile.

Look at the orange flag turn signal by the door.  :D

It has many moving parts and wonderful detail.  There's a tool with the model to help open the doors, hood and trunk.  The front seats move forward, as does the back seat.  The steering wheel controls the wheels.  It is a bit rickety while rolling, but maybe that's to scale, too!  ;D  I wasn't too sure about the salmon pink carpet, but it's growing on me.

The cloth top retracts to show the interior.

Included with the model are a set of tools, a spare tire, a jack and lug wrench.  Yes, the lug wrench works to remove the tires!  :D  I used a bit of mini hold wax on each of the tools because they were not fastened into the case and fell all over.

The case sits inside the spare tire and fits into a space under the hood.  I placed the jack and lug wrench in there, too.

Engine in the back.

Some of the paint had a purple cast, and from what I've seen online, that seems to be a characteristic of this particular model.  On mine, however, it was rather streaky.

I took some mild soap and water to it only to discover a weird pink residue on the tissue.  It took some elbow grease to remove it all, but it's now much better.

I mention this only in case someone buys one based on my blog post...so you aren't surprised if this happens.  The paint problem is in no way a bad reflection on the eBay seller, but more a problem from the manufacturer.  The model I received was new in box.  I've been very pleased with the seller's communication, and he is going to ask the manufacturer about the discoloration.

The Houseworks garage door kit is from miniatures.com.  I've made a quick mockup to test the fit for the Beetle.

At first it looks like it might be tight.

But, it's just right!  :D

I used a similar garage door kit - a vintage Timberbrook kit - for the Newport.

This kit doesn't have hinges like the Timberbrook kit, and since I haven't put it together beyond mockup form, I can't tell you whether that is better, worse or inconsequential.  :D

I'll likely use a lot of the elements from the Newport garage for The Brownstone, including the grey coin flooring.

I haven't been able to find the lights I used, though.  They have wood/plastic magnetic covers over a lighting assembly containing two bulbs each.  Has anyone seen these anywhere?  I'd like two or three.  [Found these!  :D]

I know many of you are excited to see The Brownstone take shape, but it will be very slow going for the rest of the year.  I've just opened the HBS Creatin' Contest kit and realized that it is going to take more work than I initially thought.

I probably won't be finishing the Greenleaf Spring Fling in time, either.  As much as I would love to participate in the "big reveal" for the Spring Fling, I realized the whole point of my miniature hobby for me is to create works of art, not to hammer out three builds in three months.  Haaaa!  The Spring Fling build will be finished, because I have a solid idea for it and a good head start on the overall structure.  Plus, if I create that after the contest deadline, then it can be a public build.  :D

With that said, I will try my best to have things for the blog.  There are furniture kits to be assembled and techniques to try out, so I will have some subject matter to share along the way.