Unique Playhouses to Be Sold

Got room in your backyard for a baseball stadium? A pirate fort? How about a castle or a school house? Don’t think so? How about if they were miniatures, say 8 feet by 10 feet?

If you’re tempted, make a note of the 1996 Project Playhouse charity auction in Newport Beach.

Eleven one-of-a-kind architect-designed children’s playhouses are on display in front of Robinsons-May at Fashion Island in Newport Beach through Nov. 9, when they will be sold to the highest bidders.

Tickets to the playhouse auction are $15 for adults and $5 for children under 12. The price includes dinner provided by the Hard Rock Cafe Newport Beach and a weekend tour of the playhouses.

Now in its fifth year, the playhouse auction has raised $430,000 to help add more than 450 shelter beds for homeless families and children in Orange County.

The money from the event will go to HomeAid Orange County, the nonprofit organization established by the Building Industry Assn. that builds and renovates shelters for the transitionally homeless.

More than 12,000 transitionally homeless people are without shelter in Orange County because of catastrophic illness, unexpected loss of job, spousal desertion or abandonment, and many need only 30 days to 18 months to get back on their feet.

This year’s playhouses, which measure 8 by 10 feet, their builders and architects:

* “Animal House” by Centex Homes and Hezmalhalch Architects: a western barn complete with weather vane and hitching post.

* “Daydream Depot” by the law firm of Cox, Castle & Nicholson and Blair Ballard Architects: a slice of a late 19th century downtown featuring a general store, civic center, puppet theater and soda fountain.

* “Le Chateau des Enfants” by Etco Homes and Bassenian/Lagoni Architects: a French countryside castle with tower and loft.

* “Field for Dreams” by Fieldstone Communities and BBG Architects: a miniature baseball stadium.

* “Third Alarm Fire House” by the Newport Beach Fire Fighters Assn. and LPA architects: a fire station complete with a working fire hose, gauges and a fireman’s sliding pole.

* “Nursery Rhyme Cottage” by Pardee Construction Co. and Bassenian/Lagoni Architects: a cottage themed to “The Little Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe” nursery rhyme.

* “Honey Bear Cabin” by Presley Homes’ Southern California Region and JBZ Dorius Architecture and Planning: a log cabin.

* “Home Room” by Shea Homes and BBG Architects: a little red school house. For the first time, financing will be offered, through Shea Mortgage.

* “Laguna Cottage” by TriMark Development and Bassenian/Lagoni Architects: a Laguna Beach cottage with detached garage.

* “Captain Bluebeard’s Fort” by Valentine Construction and DesignArch: a fort-outpost with watchtower and gangplank.

* “School Days” by William Lyon Homes and Bassenian/Lagoni Architects: an old-fashioned one-room school house.

For more information, call (800) 522-6664.