The Studio
Fine miniature architecture for collectors building historic interiors in scale. Four collections. Four centuries. Designed in Chicago.
Northside Modelworks began with a room.
While building historically inspired miniature interiors, the gap became clear: collectors could find mass-produced trim, individual accessories, or fully bespoke miniature rooms, but there were few accessible sources for high-style architectural components with serious proportion, detail, and design intelligence. Northside Modelworks was created to fill that space.
The studio's work draws on a professional background in interior architecture and design — the same methodology applied in full-scale practice is applied here. A mantel is not just a fireplace. A panel is not just decoration. A door, overdoor, cornice, or ceiling treatment changes the rhythm and hierarchy of a room. Each element must carry scale, proportion, detail, and atmosphere.
The collection is organized around four periods: the Chantilly Collection for French and Continental Rococo; the Chambord Collection for Northern and Italian Renaissance; the Marly Collection for Louis XVI and Directoire; and the Lyndhurst Collection for Victorian Neo-Gothic. Each collection is photographed in a dedicated period interior, designed and built by the studio.
All pieces are digitally modeled and produced in ABS-like resin — durable, sandable, and receptive to standard primers and finishes. Every piece is made to order with an approximate 2-week turnaround. Furniture ships unassembled in a small number of components for CA glue assembly. Finishing services are available through The Atelier.
Northside Modelworks exists for collectors who are not merely filling a miniature room, but composing one.
The studio occupies a deliberate position between mass-produced miniature components and fully bespoke commissions — bringing the design intelligence, historical research, and architectural rigour of custom work within reach of the serious collector. All pieces carry a provenance note documenting the historical source of the design.
For collectors seeking a more tailored interior, The Atelier offers made-to-measure architectural commissions — custom boiserie suites, mantels, wall systems, doors, overdoors, and complete room envelopes. Lead times are determined by project scope and confirmed at the proposal stage.
No representation. No wholesale. No exclusivity. Northside Modelworks sells directly to collectors. The relationship between the studio and its collectors is direct, personal, and unhurried.
In Brief
Northside Modelworks is a Chicago-based studio creating fine miniature architecture for historic interiors in scale. Drawing on a background in interior architecture and design, the studio brings an architect's attention to proportion, precedent, and atmosphere to 1:12 scale work. Four collections span the Northern and Italian Renaissance through the Victorian Neo-Gothic. Through The Atelier, the studio offers made-to-measure architectural commissions for collectors building specific rooms, houses, galleries, and room boxes. Each piece is made to order. Each commission begins with a conversation.
Chantilly
French & Continental Rococo — 1720–1780
French, German, and Austrian Baroque and Rococo. High ornament, carved and gilded furniture, boiserie. Photographed in the blue Rococo salon.
Chambord
Northern & Italian Renaissance — 1480–1620
Elizabethan, Flemish, German, French, and Italian Renaissance. Carved oak, painted panels, architectural interiors. Photographed in the Renaissance bedroom.
Marly
Louis XVI & Directoire — 1760–1800
The refined Neoclassical interior — fluted columns, laurel garlands, transitional ornament. Photographed in the Louis XVI reception room and stair hall.
Lyndhurst
Victorian Neo-Gothic — 1830–1880 — Coming Soon
Gothic Revival architecture and ornament — pointed arches, tracery, heraldic detail. To be photographed in the Gothic library.
The Conviction
"The finest miniature rooms begin with architecture: the rhythm of a wall, the depth of a mantel, the profile of a cornice, the proportion of a door."
Northside Modelworks creates fine miniature architecture for collectors building historic interiors in scale. From boiserie and mantels to doors, overdoors, cornices, and complete custom room suites — each piece is designed with an architect's attention to proportion, precedent, and atmosphere. Scale does not diminish design. It concentrates it.