Little home sweet home

When Spokane resident Colleen Roe and her friend Carolyn Holmes saw an exquisite miniature home on display in a bank lobby in Coeur d’ Alene, they had to get a closer look. The 4-foot tall, beautifully designed structure contained four furnished floors with nine delicately decorated rooms.

Itty Bits Too, a local miniature club, spent nine months creating this work of art. “Our club donates a project to a fundraiser every year,” said club member Judy Krueger. This year club members chose the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department K-9 fund.

They decided the home would be a bed and breakfast and dubbed it, “The K-9 Country Inn.” The inn was then displayed at area banks with raffle tickets available to the public.

Just like in a real B&B, each guest room has a theme. One of the rooms was decorated as a safari room. The tiny canopied bed sports a zebra-print spread. A palm tree sits in the corner next to a hot tub.

Roe and her husband, Bill, are the directors of a micro-loan program for impoverished women in Ethiopia. In a few weeks they’ll be leaving for their fifth trip to Africa.

The safari room inspired Holmes to buy five raffle tickets in Roe’s name.

On Nov. 24, Sheriff Rocky Watson drew the winning ticket, and Krueger called an astonished Roe with the exciting news.

“It’s such a labor of love,” said Roe, noting the 3,000 hand-painted shingles on the roof.

“Club members adopted a room and furnished it,” said Krueger. “Each room has working lights.” Careful attention to detail shows in the tiny chess set resting atop a table in the den, and the fully stocked refrigerator. The “Sweetheart Room” has a handcrafted heart-shaped bed. Rocking chairs on the front porch really rock. Even the landscaping is detailed with a fountain and flagpole to welcome make-believe guests.

But when Roe picked up her prize she realized the only place she had room to display this treasure was in her basement. “I hate to have to take people downstairs to see it,” she said.

She feels that this work of art deserves to be seen and enjoyed by more than just occasional visitors to her home. Roe could sell the home to a collector on eBay, but she doesn’t want to do that. She wants this masterpiece to stay in the Spokane area.

So, in the spirit of the holidays Roe will donate the home to a worthy cause, preferably not an individual.

“I’d love for it to be displayed in a high-traffic area like a retirement home, hospital or nonprofit agency,” she said.