Unblinking eyes stare from decapitated heads and loose limbs are piled up on the shelves in what looks like a little shop of horrors . But what appears to be the final resting place of childhood toys is , in fact , a hospital where dolls in need of repair are given a new lease of life . The Hospital of Dolls , or Ospedale delle Bambole as it is known in Rome , was built by the Squatriti family 60 years ago and today their descendants , Federico Squatriti , 52 , and his 82-year-old mother Gelsomina continue the family tradition . Scroll down for video . Painstaking : Gelsomina Squatriti , 82 , works to restore a doll 's leg in the studio in Rome , Italy , which was set up 60 years ago by her relatives . Creepy : Hundreds of disembodied dolls and decapitated heads are piled up on the shelves of the shop , where they are given a new lease of life . Some of the toys have been left to rot in the Rome studio , while others , which have been painstakingly restored , are returned to their owners . The family business first began restoring delicate items such as ceramic , tortoiseshell and mosaics . But soon the dolls began to take over the shop . The mother and son team painstakingly restores hundreds of toys - carefully mending the porcelain heads and re-attaching the limbs . Now hundreds of disembodied toys are stacked on the shelves . Federico said : 'We started to restore dolls heads because they required the same methods as porcelain - the same colours , and so on . ' Unblinking : The family business first began restoring delicate items such as ceramic , tortoiseshell and mosaics . But soon the dolls took over . Hard-at-work : Squatriti family descendants , Federico , ( left ) , 52 , and his 82-year-old mother Gelsomina ( right ) continue the family tradition . Treasure trove : The studio in Rome is a antique-hunter 's dream . Ceramics , children 's toys and mosaics cover every surface of the doll hospital . Macabre : What looks like the final resting place of a child 's plaything is really a place where some of the toys are given a new lease of life . 'Maybe 40 years ago , the family started working on bodies as well , ' he added . Every member of Federico 's family has worked in the small shop and the ghoulish toys also have a long history - one dusty doll dates back to 1902 but now remains unclaimed in the treasure trove . There are hundreds of others that have been left to rot in the workshop - which stinks of enamel paint , glue and solvents . Handy : The mother and son team painstakingly restores hundreds of toys - carefully mending the porcelain heads and re-attaching the limbs . Lifeless : Every member of Federico 's family has worked in the small shop in Rome , Italy and the ghoulish toys also have a long history . Family history : The Hospital of Dolls , or Ospedale delle Bambole as it is known in Rome , was established by the Squatriti family 60 years ago . Frederico added : 'The best solution is to work well and work long enough . It 's something you do for your customers , not just for money . 'It 's satisfying for me , at the end of the day , to say to myself : `` I 've worked for 11 hours , the result came out beautifully and I managed to do it for a reasonable price '' . 'The people are happy and I am happy . It 's all beautiful . ' Toys in the Rome studio range from the traditional through to bizarre clown-like dolls which are covered in a thick layer of dust on the shelves . Heads and bodies : 'We started to restore dolls heads because they required the same methods as porcelain - the same colours , and so on ' Frederico said : 'The best solution is to work well and work long enough . It 's something you do for your customers , not just for money '
Heads and loose limbs are piled up on the shelves in the doll hospital , known as Ospedale delle Bambole in Rome . Shop was built by the Federico Squatriti family sixty years ago , restoring items such as ceramic , tortoiseshell and mosaics . Descendants SquatritiFederico Squatriti , 52 , and his 82-year-old mother Gelsomina have carried on the family tradition .