I know it’s fall and the weather is encouraging us to stay indoors with our books and hot drinks. But maybe now is the time to plan our gardens and even playhouses for next spring.
I saw this elaborate Victorian mansion playhouse at the Children’s garden in Kingsbrae Gardens, St. Andrews, New Brunswick. More about this world renown public garden another time. But first the O’Neill Playhouse….
was built by a local ship builder around 1840 for Gladys Forster, aged five.
When I saw this beautiful nineteenth century playhouse I started thinking that there must be kits that you can purchase to build one of your own.
Lilliput
This playhouse sells for a mid range price of $5,500. Yes, there are more expensive ones. Well if you can’t afford a home of your own, maybe you can buy a scaled down version for a percentage of the cost.
Alternatively you can just buy the DIY plans and parts list for $200 that doesn’t include lumber, shingles or paint. So I clicked on the parts list to see what it did include: windows, trims, shutters, doors, hardware and a doorbell!
The one above is from Kidkraft for only $300 however it is quite a bit smaller at 56″ x 46″ as opposed to the one above that was 96″ x 72″.
Sometimes they can be quite hideous.
Fat Hutch
Fat Hutch
This one also runs at $2000 but it seems to include everything.
Lilliput
And just so the boys don’t feel left out.
There are barns, two-story mansions and sheds – your pocketbook is the limit.
I think they are a little sterile. Personally I like the idea of designing and building your own play (or tree) house.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I used to have a playhouse when I was a child. It was built just like a real house. It had two rooms…I inherited it from my Mother and Aunt…it had been theirs when they were children. My grandmother (notice lower case g) had it torn down when I was 6 so that she could put in a vegetable garden. I was devastated! Thanks for the blog visit!
Jill
Your playhouse sounded wonderful. I hope you have photos. I grew up wishing for a real dollhouse – the realities of apartment living!