text: 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'
target: 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 Squatriti family sixty years ago, restoring items such as ceramic, tortoiseshell and mosaics .
  Descendants Federico Squatriti, 52, and his 82-year-old mother Gelsomina have carried on the family tradition .