Ten Hills Playhouse
Today’s parents often find themselves competing with social media, the latest tween idol, or video game to hold the attention of their young children. But what if you could craft a brief hiatus from these things by creating a nurturing haven for your child’s imagination? That is the promise of the playhouse, with hidden entrances to find, lofts to climb, and secret pass codes to enter.
Leroy and Wanda Lapinski of Fallston, Maryland transformed a 10 by 12 foot shed into a playhouse for their grandchildren with the help of their daughter and son-in-law, Adriane and Mark Seay and their good friend, Laurie Gallagher. “Adriane, Mark, and Laurie really turned it into a kid-friendly structure. They built the porch, the play kitchen, and a bed. Adriane and Mark have even slept out there together with my grandchildren, Brennan (8) and Logan (6),” says Wanda.
“The playhouse is set up with a workbench and art projects. It’s a great place for the children to play. Our granddaughter Ashlee (3) lives in New York and when she comes to visit a lot of the neighborhood children come to play,” continues Wanda.If you are not as ambitious as the Lapinskis, there are several companies who build custom playhouses delivered right to your door. HomePlace Structures in New Holland, Pennsylvania offers 10 different playhouse styles to choose from that are all built by local Amish craftsmen in Lancaster County. “I think playhouses have become more popular because they can be brought to your own backyard and so it becomes a place that your children don’t want to leave,” says Fan Smucker, design consultant for HomePlace Structures.
“Within those 10 styles, you can have your playhouse customized in color and size. You can also add options like an electrical package, finished interior walls, lofts, decks, and even add children’s furniture,” says Smucker.
The Lapinskis built this beautifully decorated playhouse to meet the needs of their grandchildren when they come to visit.
HomePlace Structures can bring a fully assembled playhouse to most homes as long as their trailer can back into the spot where the structure will rest. They can also send their customers a modular section kit so that the homeowners can build it themselves, find someone locally to construct it, or have HomePlace professionals put it together on site. Most houses can be put together in one day.
“Our most popular playhouse is our backyard cottage because it is a smaller house [available in 6 by 8 foot and 8 by 8 foot] so it is an easy structure to incorporate into your yard even if you don’t have a lot of space,” says Smucker. The backyard cottage starts at $2,995, but playhouses can range from about $2,000 to $12,000.
Brook Langston and his wife Amber are the owners of Custom Playhouses, which is located in Shelley, Idaho but ships to all of the 48 contiguous states. This forward-thinking couple have plans to revolutionize the intricacies of the playhouse design that include computer-assisted craftsmanship, electronic mechanisms that create secret passwords to enter, and customized kids’ furniture that make little girls feel like princesses. “We feel passionate about building a medium through our playhouses that brings children and parents together,” says Langston.
Custom Playhouses can even build a playhouse that matches the homeowner’s actual house. “We’ve done a couple of replicas. We build a high-quality playhouse so that it is still comfortable to play in during the winter time,” says Langston.
Another playhouse retailer, PoshTots, offers luxury playhouses available online and in print catalog. The most popular is a playhouse with pre-fabricated panels that can be shipped to the customers’ home and assembled by the homeowner (i.e. Princess Cottage, $4,999 and Cotton Candy Manor, $8,999). These two popular pre-fabricated models have painted walls, placed windows, and stained hardwood floors that fit together like a puzzle. The average size models take three men who have never put it together before about three to four hours with just an electric screwdriver and a rubber mallet.
“Hands down the prefabs are popular because they’re easy to put together, delivery is faster, and they are a little more affordable. I have had the Storybook Bungalow, a prefab playhouse, at home for my children for seven years and it is still in great condition. My kids have gone from playing house to going out there to do homework and read in their fort,” says Andrea Edmunds, vice president of marketing for PoshTots in Glen Allen, Virginia.
A sylvan twist on the terrestrial playhouse, tree houses have come a long way from a few pieces of wood placed haphazardly among the limbs of a tree. Six years ago, Pamela and Mario VillaSanta of Lutherville, Maryland had a custom tree house built in their backyard made of pine with a shingle roof for their then seven and nine-year-old children Gianni and Laura. It has electricity, a refrigerator, tables, chairs, and many of the comforts of home. “The kids use it every day starting in the spring. It has swings, a rock climbing wall, a zip line, and a sliding board attached to it,” says Pamela.
Courtesy Posh Tots
Gianni, now 13, uses it as a fort to hide out in during paint ball wars and also as a skateboard club. “It’s just a lot of fun to play on and a lot of friends come to hang out.
The skateboard club is cool because I can paint and make skateboards in the tree house,” he says.This backyard structure allows the VillaSantas to watch their children growing and having fun. “I know where the kids are and they are all together and I can keep an eye on them particularly now that the children are older and adventurous and it is nice to know where they are. As they got older, they’ve found new uses for it,” says Pamela.
While the custom playhouses and tree houses keep growing children occupied and happy, what’s to become of the structures when they leave home? “We bought this shed specifically to be made into a playhouse for the grandchildren. After they are grown, we figured we would convert it into an area for my gardening tools or a workroom for my husband,” says Wanda.
Pamela and Mario VillaSanta had this custom tree house built with all the bells and whistles including swings, a rock climbing wall and a zip line.
That is just what Kim and Dave Wiest of Baltimore wanted when they went looking for a backyard cottage to match the style of their home. “We wanted a shed because we are converting our garage into a kitchen, but we were looking for something a little different. It has high peaks like our house and we had them make it bigger (10 by 16 feet) because Dave is six foot six. It’s his shed and all his tools are in it,” explains Kim.
The Wiests use their playhouse as a functional shed and they have landscaped around it so that it fits beautifully into their backyard landscape. They also built a brick ramp for the shed that serves as a patio as well as a quick and easy way to get the snow blower, lawn mower, and wheel barrel in and out of the structure. “The shed helps to keep everything organized. Dave put up shelves, cabinets, pegboard, and storage in the rafters; it makes everything very accessible,” says Kim.
In a society where children grow up too fast, an outdoor playhouse is an outlet for children to build lasting memories outside, engaging in independent, creative play. And when the children are ready to leave the nest, playhouses can begin their second lives as an attractive and functional storage space.
Jennifer K. Dansicker works on Editorial Special Projects for ChesapeakeHome.
Contacts:
Custom Playhouses: customplayhouses.com or 208-357-0454
HomePlace Structures: homeplacestructures.com or 866-768-8465
PoshTots: poshtots.com or 866-767-4868
