MINIATURE MAKER: Enjoying the little things

Piper by Design finds a new home

John "Piper" Goldstein lives in a small world.

A former Hollywood miniature maker, Goldstein creates rooms, dollhouses and miniatures for hobby and business. In January, Goldstein, together with business partner Ronnie Probert, opened Piper By Design inside the Antique Sampler Shoppes, 6115 W. Tropicana Ave.

Everything Goldstein makes -- from a replica of his grandmother's basement to a fully decorated dollhouse -- is made on a 1-to-12 scale where an inch equals a foot.

When he was a child, he made a dollhouse for his older sister. From there, the son of a jeweler became fascinated with all things small.

His foray into the land of little doesn't mean Goldstein can scrimp on the details, he said.

"It's got to be (real) or you don't put it in my miniatures," said Goldstein, 55. "It's not taking a bottle cap and making it into a frying pan."

The flair for realism came from working on science-fiction movies in Hollywood during the 1980s.

Goldstein's company, Miniature Makers, created space for "Invaders from Mars," a 1986 film by horror director Tobe Hooper. Toward the end of the decade, computers took over Hollywood and Goldstein began making models for jet-propulsion laboratories.

In the meantime, he designed shadow box replicas of people's homes by request. He reconstructed, in miniature form, old Victorian houses set for demolition in Nebraska, Texas and Canada. Houses can be purchased as kits for self-construction, or Goldstein will put it together, paint and decorate it. The craftsman does custom-built homes, too.

"Anything anyone throws at me, I can make it," Goldstein said.

When Goldstein's apartment building tilted during the 1994 Northridge, Calif. earthquake, he talked his mother into moving with him to the southwest area of Las Vegas. She created small oil paintings to hang in the dollhouses he decorates. He still has a few, even though she passed away a couple years ago, he said.

Customers like those kinds of special touches, he said. If he can't find a piece, he'll make it. Goldstein is constantly looking at the items around him for ideas for objects to put in his miniature houses and rooms.

"They have to look like the real thing," he said. "You become really good at blueprint reading and engineering stuff."

Goldstein makes a point to travel often to add to the list of large as life scenes he can later re-create as miniatures. He went aboard a Navy ship once to investigate the boiler room for a shadow box he was working on for a seaman.

He recently attended the Comdex convention, where he found a small screen and miniature camera he'd like to eventually incorporate into a design. Past dollhouses have had real stained glass, elevators and indoor pools.

"I go everywhere," he said. "You tell me I can't do it, and I'll do it."

Probert usually isn't far behind. They travel together to get ideas, and Probert consistently hands Goldstein ideas he's torn out of magazines. But Probert also is the first one to tell him if something isn't right.

"If he doesn't like it, he'll tell me," Goldstein said. Probert stands by nodding profusely.

"I'm the only one who can get away with it," Probert added.

Goldstein and Probert met in Las Vegas as tour guide bus drivers. When Goldstein was injured, and could no longer drive a bus, Probert suggested he pick his hobby up again as his occupation.

The duo has been in business together for nearly a year. Goldstein takes care of the creative side; Probert is the businessman.

Together, however, they invented a light that provides realism for fireplaces, iron stoves, boilers and anything else with fire. Lights at hobby stores didn't cut it, Goldstein said.

"I didn't like what they had. It's not realistic at all," he said. "It glows. You need the flickering."

Goldstein's shadow box creations are priced between $350 and $3,800, depending on the detail. An antique shop scene Goldstein created took 2,000 hours to create. He worked on the replica of his grandmother's basement for eight hours a day for three months.

"People don't believe it when I tell them that," Probert said.

Goldstein is currently offering two six-week sessions of instruction in shadow box miniature scene making Sundays from 10 a.m. to noon at the Cobblestone Corner Tea Room inside the Antique Sampler Shoppes. The next session starts in April. Cost is $350, which includes most materials, including electrical wiring, wallpaper, paint, the box, stain and instructions.

"Sometimes they make things better than I can do it," Goldstein said. "And they never know they can do it."

An open house, celebrating the opening of Goldstein's booth at the Antique Sampler Shoppes, is slated for 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, also in the tea room.

Those interested can call 252-4145 or visit Goldstein's Web site at www.piperbydesign.com.


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