Alessio Miniatures

It’s not the usual way of doing things, but when 13-year-old Scott Alessio began his self-named company in 1974, he started at the top. Selling dollhouse roof shingles – made of pine, to be specific – he found a need and filled it, eventually expanding into a miniature home center offering a wide range of unique structures and components.

All these years later, Scott’s son Andrew has joined him in the business. Proud to make all its items in the U.S.A., the family-run company located in Huntington Station, N.Y., uses precision woodworking and laser-cutting techniques to manufacture assembled dollhouses, along with the components and finishing elements to complete them. Their inventory includes a more-than-complete line of door and window styles, plus flooring, railings, trim and more.

With those first shingles, Scott hit upon the fact that, in a miniature home, the entire roof is visible, giving it a much more important role in the overall appearance.

Today, the original shingles are still here, but oh, how that line has grown! Yes, you can still find simple pine and cedar square styles, but the dizzying range of shapes and profiles would satisfy any Victorian architect. There are octagon and fishscale styles, of course, along with diamond, heart, and an impressive list of other profiles. Plus, they all work together, so you can recreate the intricate, multi-patterned installations that gave the Victorian era’s Shingle Style of architecture its name.

Not to be outdone, there are asphalt-strip shingles, too, in all the traditional styles and a near-rainbow of colors.

HBS/miniatures.com began offering Alessio Miniatures’ products just a few months ago and we don’t carry all their items, but if you know of something you think we should add, please tell us.

Scott Alessio may have started at the top, but his company has found ways to keep climbing: They’ve recently stepped up with easy-to-install folding attic stairs and easy-to-assemble spiral stairs, which means there’s no end in sight.