Building a playhouse

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Radio interview source: Jarret Magbee, CEO, The Garlinghouse Company

My dad built my daughter, Caroline, a playhouse out of lumber scraps from his woodworking projects. It is rectangular, with one door at the end and one in the middle. Dad added windows, put shingles on the roof, and decorative trim around the edges. When Caroline was nine, we converted the playhouse to a chicken coop when she started 4-H.

Jarret Magbee is the CEO of a company that sells plans for playhouses, and says little people don't need a whole lot of space, but it's up to you.

"Typically a playhouse is in the 4-, 6-, or 8-foot-wide realm, or somewhere in that area," Magbee says. "And the height of it is scaled to the child, and so usually the wall height is 6 feet instead of 8 feet. It's more like a 4-1/2-, 5-, or 6-foot plateline, so it's in proportion to the children that are playing inside."

It's unlikely that you'll need a permit to build a playhouse, but most builders recommend keeping it under 100 square feet, just the same.