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Small Space Living: Best Playhouse Ever

070208_playhouse.jpgColor us jealous. Super jealous. This 90-square-foot 'miniature manor' in Pennsylvania has sponge-painted walls, simulated hardwood floors, electricity, and a sleeping loft. It cost $10,000 to build and the kids don't even sleep in it! They go into their (probably real) mansion and sleep in their beds because this is only the backyard playhouse.

Sigh. We would have killed for something like this when we were kids. Come to think of it, we would kill for something like this now. Only we'd probably live in it, not just play. This playhouse along with a bunch of other charming small spaces is a part of a series of photographs on Yahoo about America At Home. See all the quirky small spaces featured here.

Did anyone have anything like this growing up? Has anyone built something like this for their kids? Will you adopt us?

Related Reads:

The Small House Society
Look! A Tree House

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inspiration, small space, playhouse

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Comments (15)

my inner child is..**envious**

posted by little flower on 2008-07-02 16:04:06
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sickening. i bet there is a lcd tv in there.... what happened to the idea of kids building forts with pillows and treeforts in a weekend WITH their parents?

posted by andrasklang on 2008-07-02 16:09:27
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the closest i ever got to this as kid or adult, was buying plans to DIY it in the backyard of my house in california. back then i was such a procrastinator, i kept putting it off and eventually my daughter got too old to be interested in it. boy did the ex keep bringing that one up as the years rolled along. i would totally live in something 3-4 times that size now though. i am so into the prefab mini designs now. ahh the irony.

posted by ubertimmo on 2008-07-02 16:10:41
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I'm involved in a group called HomeAid which provides housing for the homeless across the US. One of the annual fundraisers we have is called Project Playhouse. Local builders and architects donate their time to build elaborate playhouses to be auctioned off for charity. The houses are incredible. Check out designs from prior years... www.projectplayhouse.org

posted by lizzieS on 2008-07-02 16:22:57
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i'm pretty disgusted and amazed at the same time. amazed at the mini-ness of it all. disgusted at the lack of imagination a child would need to use it.
my dad built my sister and i a huge playhouse complex at our first house (playhouse on stilts, sandbox underneath, swings on the side etc). it was pretty impressive, but simple enough to let my sister and i make it our own. and it was big enough that even he could play with us (he's 6'5").
i feel sorry for the kids that get stuck with that playhouse.

posted by abbatron on 2008-07-02 16:25:37
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My dad (an architect) built me a playhouse in our backyard in Dallas, TX in (or around) 1989. It didn't have simulated hardwood floors, but it did have a sleeping loft and electricity!

posted by clairbear13 on 2008-07-02 16:28:24
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When I was a kid, one of my friends had an elaborate, beautiful playhouse that was designed to look like the actual house. I don't think it had electricity, though. However, she was totally "over" it and it was dirty inside with cobwebs everywhere. I used to beg her to let me help her clean it up and make it nice again, but she just couldn't have cared less. Arghh.

posted by avocado on 2008-07-02 16:39:48
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....Just like my friend with the huge trampoline who never even wanted to jump on it! What was wrong with those kids?

posted by avocado on 2008-07-02 16:40:35
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clairbear13, do you have pix of the lil house your dad built way back then? :-)

posted by little flower on 2008-07-02 18:59:17
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yea, I'm envious too, it is nicer than my house...

posted by Loreta on 2008-07-02 20:32:18
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wow. wasteful and not very stimulating.

posted by indiasoup on 2008-07-02 22:28:52
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Could have had a small summerhouse for that:
http://tinyurl.com/5ogbwa

posted by TRUE BLUE on 2008-07-03 01:18:01
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http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/10228

posted by Minyuette on 2008-07-03 11:44:30
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What was wrong with those kids is that they were so spoiled that they'd become bored with LIFE ITSELF. I feel sorry for these kids too, not jealous.

posted by Monkeyme on 2008-07-03 15:23:50
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My dear old dad built me a playhouse that had a tiny table and two chairs inside. It was based on a plan from a more generic swing/ladder/slide playhouse, and he added some of his own touches like cedar shingles and fireman's pole.

I envy my friend who took me to her childhood home to meet her dad and see the underground fort he dug in their backyard. He later build a pump to keep the groundwater out. She and her brother and dad were all beaming when they talked about how long it took to create and how many buckets of dirt they hauled out of there.

I think every kid needs a playhouse, a hideout, or a fort. These mini manor houses seem so complicated they would just take the fun out of it for me. The best play spaces are designed and built by kids, so I think simple is better. However, if I had a kid who drew up plans for an elaborate playhouse like that, I would build it with him or her. I am secretly hoping that this happens. . .

posted by raven on 2008-07-03 19:59:36
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