If you step inside resident Cathy Roach’s apartment at Presbyterian Village North (PVN) you’ll find a room unlike any other.
“Some people have an office or a second bedroom, I decided to make mine into a doll room,” Cathy said.
This carefully curated room filled with shelves, displays an assortment of nearly 1,000 dolls including Barbies, American Girl Dolls, Cabbage Patch Kids, Madame Alexander, Beatrix Potter and many more. Her showcase represents half of the collection she once owned before moving to PVN in 2025.
“My husband built many of the shelves, even the one in the window,” Cathy said, “That’s why there’s dolls from floor to ceiling.”
Cathy’s doll fascination began in childhood when her mother introduced her to the Madame Alexander collection.
“Madame Alexander was a famous American doll maker. She started with cloth dolls, in the 40s she did composition and in the 60s she started doing little hard plastic dolls,” she shared.
Today, her collection reflects both her travels and dedication. Dolls from around the world sit alongside another cherished collection inspired by Beatrix Potter, creator of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. In preparation for her move to PVN, Cathy decided to share her collection by donating part of it to the Dallas Public Library in downtown Dallas.
“So now if you go to the Dallas Public Library there’s a little Cathy Roach collection and one of them was from the first edition of one of her books, so they were really excited about that,” Cathy said with a big smile.
As for the future of these dolls – they aren’t going anywhere. The plan is to keep most of them in her home to share with friends and family, perhaps passing along only a select few through donations.
