I checked this book out of the library numerous times between 1964 and 1966. I don’t think it was new at that time. A little girl and her family relocate to a home that used to belong to her grandmother/great-grandmother. While remodeling the house, a door that had been covered over was discovered. The hidden room had apparently been used as a hiding place during Indian raids. There is also a large, hollow tree in this story. I cannot recall if a leather trunk with the grandmother’s initials in nail heads, was found in the hidden room or the tree, but inside is a beautiful doll with beautiful clothes. One outfit was definitely an elegant riding habit. It is possible that the little girl was named after the grandmother so had the same initials as those on the trunk.
I hope this rings a bell with someone. I have tried, unsuccessfully, in the past to discover this long lost, well-loved treasure from my youth.
Maybe, Hitty, Her First 100 years. Hitty is the name of the doll. It seems to ring a bell with me also.
Or Magic Elizabeth?
Magic Elizabeth has too many things different from the description provided, and was first published in 1966, so it couldn’t have been checked out in 1964.
Could it be something by Helen Fuller Orton? I seem to remember one or two of her books involved secret panels and dolls…although I’m not sure they were in the same book.
The Wonderful Fashion Doll?
I’ve been looking for this same book for years, too! I think Mama Squirrel is correct: its The Wonderful Fashion Doll by Laura Bannon, published in 1953. Listed on Amazon from several sellers, but NOT cheap — $200+ to $800+