Auction of Playhouses Will Benefit Homeless

If you think it’s time for you and your family to escape reality even for a few hours, you might want to see an exhibition of fanciful playhouses on display Saturdays and Sundays through Oct. 13 at Fashion Island in Newport Beach.

The playhouses--ranging from the Moulin Rouge, depicting 19th century Paris complete with a miniature cabaret, to the Pirate’s Hideaway, a wrecked pirate ship wedged into a rocky bluff--were created and donated by Southern California home builders and their design teams to raise funds for the homeless.

Known as Project Playhouse, the 10th annual fund-raiser will benefit HomeAid, a nonprofit organization founded by the Orange County chapter of the Building Industry Assn. of Southern California in 1989 to build and renovate temporary housing for the homeless. For a third year, HomeAid Greater Los Angeles and Ventura Counties is also a participant.

Last year, HomeAid raised $365,000 through Project Playhouse. At auction, the playhouses fetched $6,000 to $34,000 each.

Some of the funds this year will be raised through $5 tours of the playhouses from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Other funds will be raised through the auction of nine playhouses at a dinner party, catered by Wolfgang Puck Casual Dining, at Fashion Island on Oct. 13, starting at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 for adults, $40 at the door; $15 for children 12 and younger; free to those younger than 3. Family packages are available at $75 for two adults and two children.

A 10th playhouse--Playtime on Broadway with its makeup vanity, mini-ballet barre and mirror--will be given away in a drawing. Tickets, at $5 each, may be purchased at HomeAid Orange County in Irvine and at the Fashion Island concierge desk.

The Sorcerer’s Castle playhouse, with a secret fireplace and disappearing ladder, also will be given away in a drawing. Tickets, at $5 each, are available from HomeAid Greater Los Angeles and Ventura Counties at the concierge desk of the Oaks Mall in Thousand Oaks, where that playhouse is on display.

The drawing for this prize will be held Oct 12 at the Oaks Mall. The winner need not be present to win. For more information, call HomeAid Orange County at (949) 553-9510.