WITH thanks to a selfless act from a young girl, a Highway family was reunited with an heirloom thought to be lost after it was erroneously donated to the Kloof and Highway SPCA months ago.
In early December, Jenny-Lee Hiscock was perusing the vast array of good quality second-hand goods in one of the non-profit organisation’s stores when her eye came across the two-storey dollhouse.
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The wooden house was more than a metre in length and stood just under 1m in height. The front section opened up to four rooms that were adjoined to a hall with a flowing grand staircase. Before it was donated, it also underwent a refurbishment and was in top-notch condition.
Without hesitation, she purchased the luxury wooden house as a birthday present, which is just before Christmas, for her daughter, Jamie.
“Jamie was so excited and thrilled when she received the little doll’s house for her birthday and spent lots of time over Christmas and the school holiday playing with it, along with her sister,” said Hiscock.
After she learned of the mistaken donation to the local SPCA, Noelle Lee contacted the Highway Mail and sent out a plea for help to locate the missing family heirloom. The dollhouse was built in the late 70s, from the foundation up, by her father, Edryn Bricknell, for her daughter, who is now 45 years old.
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When Jamie-Lee Hiscock, a learner at Hillcrest Primary School, first heard about the story of her dollhouse, she was disappointed but was given the option by her mom to make the ultimate decision.
“She decided that it was best to return the doll’s house to the rightful owner. She said if it was our family we would want the same thing to happen to us,” said Hiscock.
Lee said she had given up hope as a few weeks passed after the article featured in the newspaper but was soon thrilled to receive Jenny’s email to say she had purchased the dollhouse and was wanting to return it.
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“Jenny and I arranged to meet in Waterfall and it is very exciting to have the little house back again and back in the family. Certainly a very big thank you to Jamie for giving up her birthday present,” said Lee.
While Jamie-Lee was sad to see the dollhouse go, she was happy it was going back to the right family and that Bricknell’s great grandchildren would get to play with it.
“The rightful owner is an amazing lady and deserved the dollhouse to be returned. I am so very proud of my daughter making this decision and that there was a lovely end to this story,” said Hiscock.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
