You don’t need a massive dollhouse to pack in a ton of play value.  There are plenty of excellent dollhouses on the market that won’t decimate your wallet or devour your floor space.  And you don’t need to worry about the digs feeling cramped—most of these dollhouses have multiple rooms to accommodate your little one’s storylines.

One awesome feature of dollhouses in this category is the tremendous variety.  From wooden dollhouses to plastic dollhouse; modern dollhouses to Victorian dollhouses, there’s loads of small dollhouse options.  Some are portable, which can make them a viable entertainment option at the grandparents’ house.  And we love how some of them close up completely (an excellent feature for hiding those messy rooms – if only we could make the same trick work on the kiddos’ actual rooms!).  There are even pop-up dollhouses to keep clutter to a minimum.

These dollhouses range from around $20 for the Manhattan Toy MiO Sleeping Place to around $170 for the Indigo Jamm Hascombe Dollhouse.  At the lower end of the price range, these picks are a great bet for testing whether a dollhouse is the type of toy your little one will enjoy. 

In this category we tested the Calico Critters Luxury Townhome Gift Set and the Fisher-Price Little People Surprise & Sounds Home.  Bottom line?  Both are great sets that come with furniture and figures, so your little one can get started right away.  The Surprise & Sounds Home comes at a lower price point and is targeted to slightly younger kids. 

Here are the small dollhouses you may want to consider: