60 Enchanting Playhouses

Nurturing a budding architect or just looking for a modernist playhouse to suit your own contemporary home style? Look no further than this stunning European-designed Illinois. Visit smartplayhouse.com to check on the availability of this hard-to-find model.

Nestled in Ohio’s Amish country, Little Cottage Co. sells amazing prebuilt playhouses and kits at very reasonable prices. At as low as $156 for the DIY 8'x8’ floor kit at cottagekits.com, the Stratford Schoolhouse encourages children to play and learn at once — it doesn’t get much more win-win than that!

Perhaps some of the most extraordinary on our list, SmartPlayhouse structures are feats of minimalist modern design that give kids their own space or allow parents to reconnect with them in a new environment. We’re over the moon for this Kyoto design, which is perfect for homework, crafts, games and endless fun. Visit smartplayhouse.com for a quote.

Architect Samuel Austin took on a trendy architectural style with his Steampunk Gateway playhouse, part of a collaboration with Boulder, Colo.-based SoBo Homes. He calls it “a keyhole to the world behind the garden,” and it features gears, panels and studs formed by some of the coolest reclaimed materials around (wine corks — who knew?).

Jackson, Miss.-based architect and emerging playhouse designer Holly Gomez creates whimsical playhouse plans — and a few pre-made structures — through APlaceImagined. The first of those high-quality, pre-made houses features curved walls, a tongue-and-groove ceiling and a storybook door, and sells for $4,200 at aplaceimagined.com.

Wooden stairs and a rope bridge lead to this adorable playhouse. HGTV fan marcoscruzart says that cedar shingles on the sides and roof help keep the bugs away.

PoshTots’ Lil’ Rascals clubhouse is perfect for rambunctious boys — especially those who like to say, “No grownups allowed!” Their secret hideaway comes complete with a sliding peephole, a lookout telescope and matching-color interior, for $4,799 at poshtots.com.

In Minnesota, Modern Playhouse manufactures plainspoken play places for pint-sized minimalists. San Francisco designer Gitane Royce started the company two years ago as the ultimate DIY project. Her designs — like the durable recycled-plastic Dacha, based on a Russian garden house — are creative hubs where little ones are free to get a little messy. From $1,450 at modern-playhouse.com.

The focal point of HGTV fan nixie's backyard is a castle that features a spiral staircase, a covered 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.

HGTV fan nixie says her husband's "mad carpentry skills" are responsible for the special features in her yard. Here, at the White Rabbit's house in their Alice-in-Wonderland garden, the giant black feet are evidence of a possibly oversized inhabitant

HGTV fan dennisjp369 built this playhouse inside his garage to escape the New Mexico sun and to make sure he could take it apart and rebuild it — whether in the yard of his rental home or at the family's next home. "Amazingly, I only had to cut off one misplaced screw in order to drop the walls and move it out," he says. "The whole project took about two weeks working on a part-time basis. Now I've got a list of parents who would like me to help them build one for their kids in their backyards."

HGTV fan beckykay9595's father built her toddler son a ski chalet and her husband built the deck.

To celebrate the one-year anniversary of the adoption of her young daughter, HGTV fan sulkygirl designed this amazing tiki-hut playhouse. The playspace "combined her style, our style and our backyard," she says. "It was inspired by the amazing over-the-water bungalows in Bora Bora and Tahiti."

This adorable bungalow, built by HGTV fan sarah_o's husband for their kids, also features scaled-down landscaping; dwarf Alberta spruces anchor the corners.

This playhouse started as a kit but was greatly enhanced. "We added our own deck, roof, floor, insulation, drywall, vents and decor and ran electric cables for the lighting. Yup and even a door bell!" says HGTV fan mommyoftwins.

After a memorable vacation in a log cabin, HGTV fan suzyqswfl18's husband and their young grandson built a "mountain lodge" in their backyard.

Gorgeous garden beds and a wee porch set off the playhouse in HGTV fan SAS2010's yard.

"Built by Grandpa, this log cabin has been the perfect hangout for my son since kindergarten," says HGTV fan imjacobsmom. "It's held birthday parties, sleepovers, Monopoly nights, and now that he's a teen, movie and video-game marathons."

The enchanting path to the playhouse in HGTV fan Mr. Yardman1's backyard winds past colorful plantings.

The view from inside HGTV fan chicubergeek's playhouse includes a high-contrast collection of annuals and perennials.

Birds, a lion, frogs and other whimsical creatures decorate this Storybook Playhouse. Designed by Barbara Butler, it features a handdrawn, painted menagerie that can be customized for the children who'll use it. Cut-out spaces let in sunlight and invite little ones to play peek-a-boo. Working doors, shutters and a mail slot encourage visitors and notes.

Barbara Butler custom-designed the Belle Bungalow to be compact and colorful. It's tucked into a hillside and sits atop an existing retaining wall, so it doesn't take up much space on the client's lawn. A big deck juts out 2 feet from the playhouse, leaving room for monkey bars below; kids can enter via a rock climbing wall, rope net ladder or rung ladder. There's a slide for fast exits.

Designed for boys or girls, the Hidden Treasure Playhouse by Barbara Butler is big, measuring 63 square feet. It includes a two-story Lookout Tower, rock-climbing wall, rope net ladder and an interior loft with a railing and rung ladder. Some of Butler's playhouses are available as kits and come with redwood lumber, hardware and stain. You can also purchase a customized structure, plans or "build-it-yourself" parts, such as rock-climbing holds, to accessorize a playhouse. You'll need carpentry skills; the structures are not for novice builders.

Every two years since 1999, Barbara Butler Artist-Builder, Inc., has donated a playhouse to Rebuilding Together Peninsula, an organization that assists low-income homeowners in California's San Mateo and northern Santa Clara counties. Her angular, modern Oblique House was auctioned off in a 2011 fund-raiser. Inspired by Dr. Seuss, Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and Butler's high-school geometry teacher, this structure features secret escapes and hidden ladders.

Barbara Butler believes children need to exercise their imaginations as well as their bodies. Her Modern Playhouse, with its trapezoidal angles, rounded cut-outs and varied play features, encourages healthy activity while promoting agility, hand-eye coordination and self-confidence.

This combination fortress and castle, Fort Mediterranean, contains lots of fun hideaways, bridges and playhouses. Flag poles on either end of the 51 foot-long structure let kids hoist flags, so they warn each other about approaching knights and dragons. Design by Barbara Butler

Two big, colorful slides on each end of Barbara Butler's New Jersey Playland structure keep kids entertained and active. Swings hang below the catwalk, while child-sized benches with heart-shaped cut-outs provide a place to take a break.

Budding actors and actresses can take the stage at Castle Dragon Theater by Barbara Butler, right between a pair of the fire-breathing, hand-carved beasts. A secret maze lies behind the backdrop wall, while a castle clubhouse rises between two stately turrets. The theater is 26 feet deep, so there's room to explore and play.

Barbara Butler designed this stucco, Romeo and Juliet playhouse, which is open to the public, for the Turnberry Town Square Shopping Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The redwood structure with a Spanish tile roof is the Bakery/Cafe Playhouse. Children can enter via a spiral structure or stairs; a sliding pole offers a fast, fun exit. The stucco echoes the old-world, European look of nearby buildings.

As kids enter the Gateway Fortress, they climb a 10-foot Swinging Bridge Ramp to the Jailhouse Tower. Then they can dash across the 12-foot straight bridge to a big clubhouse. The clubhouse sits atop a deck with lots of play features underneath, such as monkey bars and parallel rings. Look closely to spot one of three belt swings hanging under the straight bridge. Design by Barbara Butler

Fort Harmony's olive green and tan colors help it blend into the landscape. Kids can climb in through a rope net ladder or rung ladder to reach a ship's wheel play accessory up top. Among other features and accessories, this playhouse by Barbara Butler has a tube slide, monkey bars, stainless steel fireman's pole, rock-climbing wall and a pulley bucket for sending up sandwiches or snacks.

A pretend-drawbridge welcomes kids to Castle Court, where a 10-foot swinging bridge connects the Gatehouse Tower to an 18-foot high, medieval Dodecagon Tower. There are bunk beds built into the Dodecagon Tower, along with a peephole, so children can guard against sneaky enemy attacks. (A dodecagon is a 12-sided polygon.) Design by Barbara Butler

For those kids who dream of being firefighters, now they can have a place that encourages their imagination. Outdoor playtime spent rescuing the neighborhood cat or riding around on a kid-size fire truck looking for adventure will afford a lifetime of memories. Photo courtesy of Lilliput Play Homes

Encourage your child's curiosity. Colorful plants or an organic veggie garden planted next to a child's play structure gives little ones a chance to learn about nature. Photo courtesy of Lilliput Play Homes