Across the street from the historic Bevo Mill, this two-floor museum is a maze of tiny, delicate dollhouses of various scales. The intricacy and breadth of the collection is truly astounding. The exhibit is expansive enough that it could take an entire afternoon to examine every rocking chair, antique car, and Magnum P.I. poster that decorates the dollhouse walls. You would probably still miss something, as the the tiny details in each miniature are endless.

There are your standard Victorian dollhouses, but there is also a miniature treehouse, a pet shop, one-room ice cream parlors, a general store, sprawling manors, and so on, all rendered in loving detail. 

Many miniatures depict scenes one would expect to find in the adorable 1:12 miniature scale, such a tiny mechanic’s garage, a medieval blacksmith’s shop, a barn, or a seedy bachelor’s penthouse. One scene even depicts an entire shopping center in miniature, while another particularly large miniature models an entire street scene, complete with several apartment buildings.

The Miniature Museum of Greater St. Louis is housed in an unassuming brick building, but inside are dozens of tiny fantasy worlds. The museum spreads the joy of the miniature through its collection, and also through its workshops:  through these classes, you, too, can design, build, wire, and decorate your own mini mansion.