David Winter Cottages are highly detailed miniature houses and other buildings, styled after traditional British village life. They are individually designed by talented sculptor David Winter, who began creating the collection in the late 1970s through his collaboration with John Hine. 

It’s both hard and easy to explain the attraction to David Winter Cottages. At first glance, you are drawn in by the charming English old-world architecture miniatures by David Winter; they are not exact copies, as you would find in a museum or in model railroading, but interpretations. The subject matter revolves around villages of the Victorian age, both rural and city. Churches, homes, tradesman shops – as well as fantasy pieces, are all incorporated.

The size of the Crystalcal (gypsum) pieces are from the size of a man’s thumb, with the One Man Jail cameo piece, up to pieces like The Parsonage, weighing in at about 10 pounds, and standing about a foot tall.

The coloring – translucent and chalky – is also visually interesting. I’m not sure, but I think it’s a glaze of some kind.

David Winter is, not surprisingly, an Englishman, and started making cottages in 1979, releasing “The Mill House”.