Fairy Cottage This adorable playhouse used to be an old garden shed.
A Schoolhouse Play Structure Nestled in Ohio's Amish country, Small Cottage Co. sells excellent prebuilt playhouses and kits at very reasonable rates. As low as $156 for your DIY 8'x8' flooring kit at cottagekits.com, the Stratford Schoolhouse encourages children to play and learn at once -- it doesn't get a whole lot more win-win than that!
A Stylish Kyoto Playhouse Perhaps some of their most extraordinary on our listing, SmartPlayhouse constructions are feats of minimalist modern design that give kids their own room or allow parents to reconnect together in a new environment. We're over the moon with this Kyoto design, which is perfect for crafts, homework, games and endless fun. Visit smartplayhouse.com for a quotation.
Dreamy Play Cottage Inside this Victorian-style playhouse is a smart playspace match for any young woman's imagination. A ladder leads to a loft.
Steampunk Stomping Ground Architect Samuel Austin took to a stylish architectural design with his Steampunk Gateway playhouse, a portion of a cooperation with Boulder, Colo.-based SoBo Homes. He calls it "a keyhole into the entire world supporting the garden," and it features gears, panels and studs formed by some of the trendiest reclaimed materials around (wine corks -- who knew?) .
A Magical Place Jackson, Miss.-based architect and emerging playhouse designer Holly Gomez creates whimsical playhouse programs -- and a couple of pre-made structures -- throughout APlaceImagined. The first of those high-quality, pre-made houses features curved walls, a tongue-and-groove ceiling plus a storybook door, and sells for $4,200 in aplaceimagined.com.
Fun Entrance Wooden stairs and a rope bridge direct to the adorable playhouse. RMSer marcoscruzart says that cedar shingles onto the roof and sides keep the bugs away.
Little Rascals Playhouse PoshTots' Lil' Rascals clubhouse is perfect for rambunctious boys -- particularly those who like to say, "No grownups allowed!" Their secret hideaway also includes a sliding peephole, an appearance telescope and matching-color interior, for $4,799 in poshtots.com.
Russian Doll In Minnesota, Modern Playhouse produces plainspoken play places for pint-sized minimalists. San Francisco designer Gitane Royce began the company two decades ago as the ultimate DIY project. Her designs -- like the durable recycled-plastic Dacha, based on a Russian garden home -- are imaginative hubs where little ones are free to have a bit messy. From $1,450 in modern-playhouse. com.
A Cozy Hobbit House Wooden Wonders' hobbit holes turn backyards into whimsical wonderlands. The brand-new playhouse variant Woodshire, produced in Unity, Maine, is an enclosed space ideal for summer sleepovers and imagination-filled play dates, from $2,390 at www.wooden-wonders.com.
An Eco-Friendly Playhouse Another inventive creation from Boulder, Colo., is by Kathleen Bevers, Carolyn Braaksma and Heidi Spaly, who made this green playhouse as part of the Colorado Green Building Guild's first-annual Playhouse Design Competition. It takes an artful approach to lighting, color and shapes, playing off the very best qualities of each.
An Abstract Castle Another design for the Colorado Green Building Guild's playhouse competition really caught our attention. Rodwin Architecture and Skycastle Homes joined forces to make an abstract architecture that appeals to kids' love of climbing trees. Sustainably forested wood and a bicycle are just two great attributes, even though a shaded lookout landing lets kids scope their environment.
Fantasy Plus The focus of RMSer nixie's garden is a castle that features a spiral staircase, a coated slide and a bridge that connects the two towers. Nixie says the swing under the bridge between the two towers is her 6-year-old's "favorite part of the yard" Inside there's a sandbox.
House of the White Rabbit RMSer nixie says her husband's "mad carpentry abilities" are responsible for the distinctive features in her yard. Here, at the White Rabbit's home within their Alice-in-Wonderland garden, the giant black toes are signs of a potentially oversize inhabitant
Total Playground Designed by Steve Appolloni, this contemporary-style playhouse features a bridge, pond and adjoining pergola.
Color-Block Playhouse In Boulder, Colo., Robert Ross' firm, Fieldwork Architecture, concentrates on custom outbuildings that fit the special surroundings of backyards, farms, ranches and much more. There is plenty to love about his mod playhouse design in bright, primary colours. Astroturf hideaway holes along with a climbing wall make it even more fun for little ones.
A Victorian Mansion PoshTots has great houses for girls. The Richmond, Va.-based firm supplies a pale yellow Victorian mansion with all the classic hallmarks -- a porch, turrets, cedar-shingled gable, scrollwork details -- with countless customized options available, from $23,400 at poshtots.com.
Saving Space Here's a fantastic solution for the small yard: A miniature treehouse tops a tool shed.
A Mod Modular Playhouse Designer Edgar Blazona, of Berkeley, Calif.-based Modular Dwellings, made this MD-20 True Modern indoor playhouse in the same spirit of his company's grown-up-sized prefab abodes. With curved edges for security, eco-friendly materials, removable colour panels and excellent visibility, it sells for $1,350 at truemodern.com.
The Movable Playhouse RMSer dennisjp369 built this playhouse in his garage to escape the New Mexico sunlight and also to make sure that he can take it apart and reconstruct it -- whether in the lawn of his rental home or in the family's next house. "Amazingly, I just had to cut one off lost screw in order to shed the walls and transfer it out," he says. "The entire project took approximately two weeks working on a part-time basis. Now I have a list of parents who'd like me to assist them construct one for their kids in their backyards."
An Environmentally Sound Modern Playhouse Architects Michelle W. Lee, Rosemary Fivian and George Russell came together to make this environmentally friendly contemporary playhouse for local charities Growing Gardens along with the Colorado Green Building Guild. The contrasting tones of reclaimed wood look amazing, and how the lighting casts shadows inside it's striking.
A Mini Hipster Hive Hard to think of a better way to get the kids anxious for cool design than this Hobbiken playhouse out of SmartPlayhouse. Stop by smartplayhouse.com to get a quote.
Getting Ready for the Slopes RMSer beckykay9595's father built her toddler boy a ski chalet along with her husband built the deck.
A Small Residence Charleston, S.C.-based designer Michelle Pollak brings her gracious talents to La Petite Maison playhouses which are just as magical as they sound. The custom-built cottages, which may include little luxuries like air conditioning, and indoor lighting, functioning kitchens, media rooms and pretty architectural details, begin at $9,000, through lapetitemaison.com.
Polynesian-Style Playhouse To celebrate the one-year anniversary of the adoption of her young daughter, RMSer sulkygirl made this amazing tiki-hut playhouse. The playspace "combined her style, our style and our backyard," she says. "It was inspired by the wonderful over-the-water bungalows at Bora Bora and Tahiti."
Cool Kiddie Cabana The simple drop goes sleek at the hands of Modern Cabana, who made this trendy Kiddo playhouse from translucent polygal, FSC-certified timber and non-toxic finishes. Chalk paint inside walls makes it interesting for kids to get crafty inside, for $2,200 and free delivery.
Just Perfect This cute bungalow, built by RMSer sarah_o's husband to get their kids, also includes scaled-down landscaping; dwarf Alberta spruces anchor the corners.
A Charmingly Crooked Home Glen Halliday's Portland, Maine-based company, Kids Crooked House, famously appeared on TLC's Kate Plus 8. This fanciful deluxe design is his most popular, and can be delivered as seven ready-to-assemble, handmade panels at any of 10 colours, beginning at $2,149 in kidscrookedhouse.com.
A Progressive Playhouse Kevin Akey, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based AZD Architects, generates houses that unite contemporary and traditional sensibilities in a contemporary world. He made this progressive playhouse structure in precisely the same spirit as his former personal home. What a marvelous miniature!
Customized Kit This playhouse began as a kit but was greatly improved. "We included our own deck, roof, floor, insulation, drywall, vents and decor and ran electric cables for the lighting. Yup and just a door bell!" States RMSer mommyoftwins.
A Japanese Farmhouse Play Structure Architect Bob Borson is a fervent advocate for Dallas CASA's Parade of Playhouses charity raffle, which can help assign supporters to abused or neglected children. Borson's 2010 invention for the contest was a slatted rural Japanese farmhouse that a homeowner in New Zealand later replicated -- right down to the reed-grass interior and cedar-shake shingle roof!
Reliving the Memories After a memorable holiday in a log cabin, RMSer suzyqswfl18's husband and his young grandson built a "mountain lodge" in their garden.
Pretty Landscaping Gorgeous garden beds and a wee porch set off the playhouse in RMSer SAS2010's lawn.
Dual-Purpose Construction The brief door on the right leads to some two-story playhouse; around the opposite side of this structure, Mom and Dad can store their gardening equipment.
Family Living, Outdoors This playhouse a part of the backyard hangout area. The view from the balcony provides a good view of the fire pit and a waterfall.
A Playhouse for Scallywags In Paso Robles, Calif., Daniels Wood Land imitates the treehouse appearance with constructions like its "shipwrecked" deluxe Scallywag Sloop. Kids play like pirates beneath the ingenious mini world, which has three entrances (one through the trunk of a pretend tree), a trapdoor, a huge boat mast and multiple nautical-themed props. Go to danielswoodland.com for costs.
Adapting to the Times "Built by Grandpa, this log cabin has become the perfect hangout for the son since kindergarten," states RMSer imjacobsmom. "It's held birthday parties, sleepovers, Monopoly nights, and now that he's a teen, film and video-game marathons."
Woodland Path The enchanting path to the playhouse at RMSer Mr. Yardman1's backyard winds beyond colorful plantings.
Colorful Cottage Garden The view from within RMSer chicubergeek's playhouse includes a high-contrast assortment of annuals and perennials.
An Earth-Friendly Playhouse LEED AP architect Andy Creath and his company, Green Roofs Colorado, collaborated on this earth-friendly playhouse as part of a Boulder-based design for Growing Gardens, which rewards the city's community backyard education centre. The recycled-pallet structure has a sliding chalkboard door, botanical boxes and a tiny porch.
Malibu Lighthouse Play Structure Maybe the nation's premier playhouse builder, San Francisco-based Barbara Butler's layouts demonstrate that the sky's the limit for creativity. Her Malibu Lighthouse play structure, complete with a rope ladder, porthole windows and a lookout tower, invites hours upon hours make-believe, for $59,890 in barbarabutler.com.
Just Like Home Using its Spanish roof tiles, flat roof and custom doorway, this wonderful playhouse is a miniature version of the family home. An observation deck on the shirt provides a exceptional view of the lawn; a suspension bridge and two slides increase the fun.
Picturesque Scene Colorful flowers and lots of steppingstones complete the distance around Cate and Sarah's playhouse.
After the Playhouse When the kids grow up, a few playhouses take on a second life -- and a few have more than one. This enchanting playhouse was repurposed to its initial state, a garden shed, once the child left for school. Design by Robin LaMonte
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