Isabel Burnell
Isabel is the oldest daughter of the Burnells. She uses her age to assert power over her younger siblings and boasts to her schoolmates about the doll's house.
Kezia Burnell
Kezia Burnell is the youngest Burnell girl. The little realistic miniature lamp in the doll's house catches her attention. She doesn't understand why the Kelvey sisters aren't allowed to talk with them or see their doll's house.
Lil Kelvey
Lil Kelvey is the older Kelvey daughter. She wears a dress made from the Burnells' old tablecloth. She accepts the prejudice and teasing directed at her with a shame-filled smile and calmness.
Else Kelvey
Else Kelvey is the younger Kelvey daughter. She is a quiet girl with huge, owl-like eyes. She rarely smiles or speaks, and she holds on to her sister's dress at all times.
Aunt Beryl
Aunt Beryl is the Burnell children's aunt who lives at the house with them. Aunt Beryl believes the smell of paint on the doll's house is strong enough to make a person sick. Mean-spirited and cruel, at the end of the story she shouts coldly at the Kelvey children to leave the courtyard and reprimands Kezia for having brought them in.
The Burnells' Mother
Isabel, Lottie, and Kezia's mother allows the girls to bring two children at a time to view the doll's house after school. Her class prejudice is made clear by her rule that the children from school may not enter the house, and by her refusal to let her daughters even speak to the working-class Kelvey children.
Pat
Pat is a servant of the Burnell household. He helps carry the doll's house into the courtyard and picks the girls up from school in a buggy.
Lottie Burnell
Lottie is the middle sister of the Burnell girls. She defers to Isabel's authority.
