Angie Gamez
Special to the Press
Darra Fuqua next to the Port Isabel Library doll house. She’s decorated the dollhouse season-to-season for over 15 years. Photo by Angie Gamez.
The holiday season is in full swing in Port Isabel, from parades, lighted boats, the lighting of the tree, holiday parties, and the many outdoor decorations throughout the Laguna Madre area. It’s a wonderful and festive time of the year. Another holiday activity would require that you visit the Port Isabel Public Library to see an amazing two-story, Christmas-themed dollhouse decorated with miniature Christmas trees, toys, wrapped gifts, stockings, and Santa Claus. For the past 15 years, Darra Fuqua from Laguna Vista has been decorating her dollhouse for the various seasons throughout the year at the library. Fuqua“does this for the community,” saying that “adults enjoy seeing the Christmas dollhouse as much as the kids do.”
Fuqua’s love for dollhouses originated from childhood. For Christmas, when she was eight-years-old, she got a metal dollhouse she very much wanted. That special gift so treasured for many years was the inspiration for this dollhouse, built in the 1970’s as a family project. Her two daughters (then 18 and 20 years old) helped build some of the furnishings and decorations. The attention to detail is evident in every room, from curtains, towels, candles, tablecloth, and the chandelier. Today, over 500 miniature pieces furnish and adorn the dollhouse inside and outside.
The dollhouse is a two-story house plus an attic. Downstairs contains the living room with a staircase, Christmas tree and piano; the dining room is set up for Christmas dinner; and, the kitchen. Upstairs are two bedrooms and a bath. The attic houses children’s toys in one area and a sewing area in the other portion. The miniature tenants include mom, dad, grandmother, great grandmother, a baby, a child, two cats and two dogs.
The Christmas-themed dollhouse may be viewed throughout December. The dollhouse is also decorated during Halloween, Easter, summer (garden, pond, bridge), and fall (pumpkins, bails of hay).
The Port Isabel Library hours of operation are Monday-Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. For holiday closure dates, call 956-943-1822.
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