No Play Like Home
The landscape architects, interior designers and builders were making dozens of last-minute decisions.
Should they put flagstones on the walkway between the house and the driveway? Does the Adirondack chair look better on the porch or in the yard? Would gold trim on the flower box complement or overwhelm the green stripe already there?
All this fussing for playhouses.
But these are not the type you might find in a typical backyard: One, for instance, is in the style of a French castle, and another is fashioned after a Laguna Beach cottage.
No detail was overlooked on the 11 that went on display Friday at Fashion Island. The fanciful creations can be viewed for the next month before an auction Nov. 9. As it has for the past five years, the sale is expected to raise more than $100,000 for HomeAid, a nonprofit organization that builds shelters for the homeless.
“Every year it gets a little better,” said Michael Schrock, a landscape architect with Topia Associates of Newport Beach, which landscaped the cottage. “The houses are bigger, better, better made and come with more amenities.”
Indeed, the playhouses, all donated by local home builders and architects, resemble real homes more than they do the haphazardly built clubhouses kids are more likely to have.
One, in the style of a California bungalow, looks as if Frank Lloyd Wright designed it. Stone pillars support a tiny shingled roof over the front porch. The ceilings are graced with stained teak beams.
Nearly all the houses have electricity. A schoolhouse has desks and chalkboards, and a log cabin has a collection of stuffed forest animals around a stone fireplace.
And just so nobody thinks only little girls will be interested in the playhouses, there are several that were clearly designed with adventurous boys in mind.
Participating in the event for the first time, the Newport Beach Fire Fighters Assn. built an ultra-modern firehouse. There is also a pirate playhouse, distinguished by a crow’s nest and a gangplank.
Possibly the most extravagant of the playhouses is the Laguna Beach cottage. It is the only one with a detached garage holding a battery-powered Jeep. Hanging on one of the walls inside is a signed painting by Laguna Beach artist Robert Wyland.
All the amenities, including in some cases extensive landscaping, are included when the houses are sold.
Carole Dann, who designed the color scheme for two of the playhouses, said the houses this year are among the best she has seen.
“People really get into it,” said Dann, a principal with Color Consulting Associates of Newport Beach. “I know we look forward to this every year.”
HomeAid will conduct tours of the playhouses on weekends until the auction. Tickets for the auction, which includes dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe in Newport Beach, are $15 for adults and $5 for children under 12.
In the past, the houses have sold at auction for up to $27,000. Sound pricey? At least one of the builders, Shea Homes of Walnut, has already thought through that problem. This year, Shea, which built and donated the little red schoolhouse, is offering financing.
