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Established in 1979, Jan and Paul Brownhill founded Country Treasures in the rural English countryside of Staffordshire. With Jan's artistic mind and Paul's engineering skills they worked together to create unique & original dolls house miniatures.
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They made their first appearance in the 1970's on a small craft stand selling beautifully hand created mice, along with their little saucepans of food and baskets of fruit. As the craft fairs developed and specialized into miniature shows Country Treasures found itself at the beginning of this exciting expansion into dolls house crafts.
You would see a show stand full of Victorian era items ranging from preserves of fruit and veg, rabbits on the chopping board, pheasants hanging from the ceiling and sacks of potatoes in the pantry. Along with beautiful Victorian Ranges, a broad range of real copperware, metal kitchen accessories and furniture to kit out a whole kitchen. |
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From magazine articles to attending the miniature shows from the beginning, Jan and Paul built up an amazing reputation amongst the dolls house miniature community for their true craftmanship and attention to detail. Their work is truly admired by collectors across the world. Click here to see more photographs of their past magazine projects.
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In 2014 granddaughter Laura joined the Country Treasures team. Inspired by rural living she specialises in garden wildlife as well as making food items for the kitchen pantry, curiosities for the study and much more. Together Jan, Paul and Laura were the team behind Country Treasures for what we hoped would be for many years to come. However with great sadness we lost Paul in 2021 following a short battle with cancer. During this difficult time and with her grandparents blessing, Laura chose to continue running Country Treasures. It is her hope to keep the Country Treasures name going for years to come.
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The Country Treasures Team.
Janet Brownhill
Ever since she can remember Jan has been designing and creating from her imagination, and taking inspiration from life all around her. As a child she had a try at every craft imaginable, and has never put down the paints and pencils since. Jan has been creating foods and little projects for over 40 years, including warm and inviting winter Christmas windows, old well-loved and well-used sheds, and plentiful pantries.
Jan is well but currently taking a break from making miniatures and attending the shows.
Ever since she can remember Jan has been designing and creating from her imagination, and taking inspiration from life all around her. As a child she had a try at every craft imaginable, and has never put down the paints and pencils since. Jan has been creating foods and little projects for over 40 years, including warm and inviting winter Christmas windows, old well-loved and well-used sheds, and plentiful pantries.
Jan is well but currently taking a break from making miniatures and attending the shows.
Paul Brownhill
You would usually find Paul in his workshop cutting and forming copper and other bits of metal to build up ranges, pots and pans. It is known that his work is not just loved by us miniaturists, but also by the small mouse population living outside his workshop who had a tendency to 'borrow' his pot and pans. Maybe they were getting ready for the winter season? Maybe one day someone will come across a stash of tiny copper pans and wonder who put them there!
It is with a sad heart we have to announce that Paul passed away on the 10th October 2021. He will be missed a whole lot, by a whole lot of people, and we are appreciating the many good times and memories we have. We would like to thank everyone for the kind comments and messages received. Paul really loved being a part of the wonderful world of dolls house miniatures and would have been thrilled to know his work was so well regarded. We will always treasure the memories we had together and Laura aims to keep improving on her miniature work as he taught her to.
You would usually find Paul in his workshop cutting and forming copper and other bits of metal to build up ranges, pots and pans. It is known that his work is not just loved by us miniaturists, but also by the small mouse population living outside his workshop who had a tendency to 'borrow' his pot and pans. Maybe they were getting ready for the winter season? Maybe one day someone will come across a stash of tiny copper pans and wonder who put them there!
It is with a sad heart we have to announce that Paul passed away on the 10th October 2021. He will be missed a whole lot, by a whole lot of people, and we are appreciating the many good times and memories we have. We would like to thank everyone for the kind comments and messages received. Paul really loved being a part of the wonderful world of dolls house miniatures and would have been thrilled to know his work was so well regarded. We will always treasure the memories we had together and Laura aims to keep improving on her miniature work as he taught her to.
Laura Brownhill
Laura is the granddaughter of Jan and Paul. Her earliest creative memory is designing tiny miniature cardboard plates with sister Rosie for our dolls house. Having grown up closely with her grandparents, miniatures have always been a part of her life. During her time at Plymouth university she began making little butterflies under domes and paint box settings whenever she had the chance. Whilst volunteering with The Wildlife Trust, and much inspired by the nature seen in the reserves, she started to combine a love for the countryside with miniatures. Laura made her first little red robin from polymer clay in 2013.
Having grown up in the Staffordshire countryside her work is largely inspired by the rural lifestyle and in seeing all the nature around. She makes all the birds by hand, sculpting them from polymer clay and then carefully painting them. She also uses an entire range of materials to create her miniature pieces. Her favourite material still being polymer clay as it is so versatile for different projects.
Laura is the granddaughter of Jan and Paul. Her earliest creative memory is designing tiny miniature cardboard plates with sister Rosie for our dolls house. Having grown up closely with her grandparents, miniatures have always been a part of her life. During her time at Plymouth university she began making little butterflies under domes and paint box settings whenever she had the chance. Whilst volunteering with The Wildlife Trust, and much inspired by the nature seen in the reserves, she started to combine a love for the countryside with miniatures. Laura made her first little red robin from polymer clay in 2013.
Having grown up in the Staffordshire countryside her work is largely inspired by the rural lifestyle and in seeing all the nature around. She makes all the birds by hand, sculpting them from polymer clay and then carefully painting them. She also uses an entire range of materials to create her miniature pieces. Her favourite material still being polymer clay as it is so versatile for different projects.
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