My surprise addition revealed: a garage!

Okay, maybe nothing special, but I haven't seen too many dollhouses out there with modern garages and having one goes back to my original hobby of building model cars.  I've tried a couple of car model scales during the planning phase - 1:18 and 1:14 - both have their issues.  But, I am sure I'll find something I like for it eventually.

I am building the garage out of the Foxhall Conservatory kit and a Timberbrook working garage door kit.  Perhaps not a very green thing to do - turn a lovely conservatory into a garage - but not to worry...there will still be a conservatory, on top of the garage.  :D

I had a bit of difficulty finding replacement 3/8" plywood for the front and side of the kit.  At Lowes and Home Depot, the plywood they had was rough and had a lot of cracks I would have to fill.  With the reduced, close-up scale of dollhouse building, I decided it just wasn't a good enough material.  The hobby shops near me didn't have plywood in a large enough size, and the basswood sheets in the right size were really expensive.  I ended up finding some nice quality Baltic Birch plywood at a local Woodcraft store, but you can also buy online.  I took the piece of plywood I bought at Woodcraft to Home Depot and they cut the length down for me free of charge.  Their cuts were pretty accurate, and the price was right!  ;)

I used the spacer boards included with the conservatory kit to make a lower floor base/foundation.  Having a foundation as high as the house presented problems for the driveway leading into the garage.  I am still mulling over some ideas for that, but I definitely needed a lower foundation.

Since I upgraded the main front door, I will use the front door that came with the Newport kit for the garage entry door.  I also plan to use the stairs, doors and windows that came with the conservatory kit elsewhere in the build.  Very little of the kits I bought will go unused.