Hogarin Play Set


Introducing...a new acquisition! Presenting a Hogarin play set from 1973, purchased recently on eBay. Hogarin is a brand of Modisa, a now-defunct company based in Spain that produced a range of doll houses, play sets, furniture, dolls, and accessories in the 1970s.

First, a little background...

I first became acquainted with Hogarin when reading a 2007 post by Mini Modern a few years ago, which included photos about an eBay sale of two Villa Hogarin houses and many boxed sets. I was completely taken with the design of the houses, which resembled German bungalows from the 60s. Then, in 2010, I read about Florine's Hogarin on her blog (including her humorous take on the house's inhabitants!), and really enjoyed looking at all the detailed photos.

Photo courtesy of My Vintage Houses

Photo courtesy of My Vintage Houses
About a month ago, there was a GORGEOUS two-story Hogarin on eBay within driving distance (Florine tipped me off), but the Buy-it-Now price was incredibly high and out of my reach.So, it went to someone else :(

Photo from eBay listing
Photo from eBay listing
Photo from eBay listing
So, for now, I will have to console myself with my first Hogarin play set and hopefully one day I can add a house to my collection. It came intact with its plastic cover, and is a toy store with brightly colored walls and shelving. The colors and lines reminded me of Modella room boxes, and I recalled that blogger diepuppenstubensammlerin, who has an amazing Modella collection, wrote an article in Dolls Houses Past and Present in 2011 about the history of the room boxes. She notes that the "die-casting machines, molds, and other patents" were likely sold to Spain, because the Hogarin play sets and room boxes look quite similar to the Modella sets. You can see this in the fabrication of the chairs, credenzas, and tables.Check out diepuppenstubensammlerin's Flickr stream of her Modella sets -- worth a look!

Here are some photos of my set. I do love the miniature room boxes on the side wall shelves, the shape of the main shelving, and the Saarinen-like Tulip chair.











The set also came with the original catalogue, and it was great to see pictures of other sets available in 1973.










For more Hogarin eye candy, look at El Cuartin de Juguete's blog. Great photos and information, and the blog has photos of the same set. 

Photo courtesy of El Cuartin de Juguete
It has been very interesting for me to find out a bit more about Hogarin, and I would love to hear more from anyone! 
Share some pictures and information about your Hogarins!


Tick, tick...! Time is slipping away to enter the Call of the Small/Cubebot Challenge, which ends on December 1. Get your entries in for your chance to win $200 from AREAWARE! Good luck!