The perfect fort or playhouse would have....

In My Humble Opinion
1

Grandpa and DH are going to build a fort or playhouse for the kiddos! Yay!

I think they are planning on a 10x12 area, and perhaps a story and a half with a loft. I heard some noise about a porch, but I don’t know if they were talking up- or downstairs. I suggested a fold down table. Grandpa likes Victorian and gingerbread styling.

I’m secretly hoping that when the kids grow out of the playhouse stage, I could use it for a storage shed.

Any suggestions? What would your fort have (besides a 1920’s style death ray… ha ha beat ya to it.)?

2

My fort would have:

*Electrical hookups, so I could have a little fridge in there, just like the Barenaked Ladies, as well as overhead lighting

*Optimally, a toilet so I wouldn’t have to come in the Big House to use one

*A shelf for my cookies, peanut butter, bread, & honey

*If elevated, a rope ladder that I could pull up

*Windows with screens. Make that a screen door, too.

*A secret entrance, exit, or room

*A mailbox

*Cupboards for my toys

*Maybe a place I could take a nap. This could consist of a mat on the floor, a hammock outside, or whatever. The loft might be cool for this.

*A cupola with spyglass, so I can spy on the neighbor kids

*A hidey-hole in the wall or floor for my most secret treasures

*A bench with storage underneath it, for toys and stuff

*A very very comfortable chair for reading

*A fan, supersafe so I can’t put my fingers in it.

A porch would be nice for spitting watermelon seeds off of.

Mrs. Furthur, who now wants one of these for her ownself

3

Well i was going to say something but further was pretty comprehensive.

Although what I was going to say was …nothing. Well, ok, maybe some interesting hidyholes and such. But the point is, whatever you give a kid, he’ll come up with his own use for it anyway.

Give them stuff that they can put to their own use. Maybe some hidyholes. Possibly a hammock (hammocks are cool).

4

•Ability to look good when neglected and in disrepair, for when the kids are grown and come back for wistful reminders of their far away childhoods.
•Waterproof roof.
•Squirt-gunports (Possibly for snowballs, too, depending on climate)
•Place to hide alien/time traveler/mythical creature that the kids befriend, but have to keep hidden. (According to Hollywood, this happens fairly often. Might as well be prepared.)
•Good supply of handiwipes/hand sanitizer. Possibly a sink, but a water supply might unfairly tip the scales in water-pistol wars.
•Decent ventilation.
•A “hidden” storage space (under a floorboard, or something) that the kids will stash things in during their teenage years, thinking you’ve forgotten all about it.

5

I think a “hidden passageway” to the loft might be interesting. Perhaps a hidden trapdoor in one corner with the ladder hidden in a closetspace below. During the fort’s twilight years as a toolshed, it could just be a closet.

Built-in beds in the loft would be cool, too, depending on what the height clearance is going to be. Great for sleepovers or stagings of Death of a Salesman.

Windowseats, with very cushy cushions indeed.

Flowerboxes, to go with the gingerbread.

I don’t think the fortress of any Doper’s child would be complete without bookshelves. Lots of them. Perhaps the hidden passageway to the loft could be behind a revolving one. How awesome would that be?

6

NO ICKY GIRLS!!!
Except for maybe Therasa A*. She makes me feel funny inside, in a good way.

*I signed up for Classmates for my elementary school in hopes she would be there but alas, she is not.

7

If the hideout is elevated, I know a great, cool touch. Combine a rope ladder to get in with a hanging cable trolley to get back down.

8

I actually ‘built’ and 'designed several when I was a kid.

One was out of an old camper shell. We sawed an old 1/4’’ inch thick piece of plywood in half (mostly) to make two doors - we sub divided it into two playhouses.

My dad built us a platform one after our attempts to build one failed. :slight_smile:

But I designed one that never got built - it was a fully enclosed one meant to be on the ground (because we didn’t have a tree big enough for it). I think it was about 8 by 8 (note, I was about 10 or 11 and wanted to design it with as few cuts as possible because I wasn’t allowed to use the power saw), which, incidentally, was the length of a standard plywood board.

Since it was so small, space was at a premium, so I had the thought of fold down benches and tables. But then I realized, maybe I want to sleep out there, so I made them fold out beds. But I also like to sit out side, so they were beds that didn’t come down from the wall, but rotated out - so rotate it inside on the pivot pin for a bed, rotate it outside and it is an exterior bench (and leaves more room on the inside.

When we were planning the one dad built in the tree, I had ideas about pulley systems and secret boxes built into the dead/hollow bits of the tree, but we never got that far. It had a sturdy ladder and platform, though, and a rail to keep us from rolling off of the edge accidentally (not that we were ever allowed to sleep up there).

I think that your fort, if they can’t have a porch, have a bump out mini-porch shelf they can have as a porch for their dolls. When it becomes yours, you can put a couple of cheery plants out there. :slight_smile: Don’t expect the grow out of it stage any time soon, though - I was still using ours as a place to hang out when they pulled it down around the time I turned nineteen.

9

Three words:

Pirate ship theme.

:cool:

10

[Bender]

… blackjack! and hookers! In fact, forget the fort.

[/Bender]

11

*If elevated, a firepole I could slide down

12

*A miniature working trebuchet

13

A moat. Just a little one, lined with stones and housing a few water dragons (by which I mean Koi, of course.)

Now for the Wet-Blanket o’ Adulthood: Make sure you check the building laws and get the permits you need. Friend of mine had to halt contruction because he planned to run water into the kid’s playhouse. Turned out that where he lives, running water or electrity into the playhouse made it a “house”, and he wasn’t allowed to build another house on his property. Intead, he inserted a threaded pipe that stuck out of the house about four inches that the kids could screw the lawnhose to, so it wasn’t a total loss, but it did require some backpedaling and tears.

14

Yes.

Yes!

Also, make the ship with water cannons that shoot at least 50 feet in all directions, with the option of making mud balls for the trebuchet.

15

Turrets

16

Don’t build it on an ancient indian burial ground.

17

If your kids end up liking it, they’ll be upset if you appropriate it after they’re gone! Nostalgia, you know.

Whatever the construction list turns out to include, it getting finished is kind of a biggie. Once it’s started, an interlude of a few months while the builders round up materials / do taxes / regain enthusiasm etc. is FOREVER for the kids. I speak from experience! My playhouse never did get completely finished, though Dad claims he never intended to put on a back wall, for safety reasons. Mmm hmmn.

(You have asked the kids what they want, right?)

Oh, and make it so it won’t get all mildewy and rotten if rain gets in.