Making Dreams Happen
As we roll through June, Barbara has been reminiscing about all the play structures we built for a very special event: The Dreams Happen Playhouse Auction!
Every two years since 1999, Barbara donated a custom play structure to the biannual event. The last playhouse auction was in 2019..
Dreams Happen was a major fundraising event benefiting Rebuilding Together Peninsula, a non-profit organization that helps seniors and disadvantaged community members by organizing volunteers to performing vital upgrades and repairs to homes and community centers in need. Rebuilding Together believes that everyone deserves a solid roof over their head and recognizes how difficult home repairs can be for the elderly and those with disabilities.
Every two years Dreams Happen would bring together architects & builders from around the Bay Area to design and built playhouses that were displayed at the Stanford Mall through May and then auctioned off at the Dreams Happen Gala in early June.
Although they no longer hold the Dreams Happen Auction, Rebuilding Together Peninsula continues to make our community safer and healthier. We encourage you to visit their website and to volunteer!
Dreams Happen 1999: The Castle
Barbara was first asked to participate in the 1999 Dreams Happen Gala, although a bit on late notice. Even so, she was able to build and deliver this charming castle, suited to a variety of imaginative play scenarios. The Castle was raffled off and the winner donated the octagon to a local daycare, where it quickly became very popular.
Dreams Happen 2001: Le Petit Chalet
For the next Dreams Happen, Barbara was determined to knock their socks off, so she designed and built Le Petit Chalet, a fairytale dream! It sits two stories high, with a balcony and lots of windows and doors and of course, a variety of hand-carved details.
Back at the shop, the structure was painstakingly carved and stained by hand before being loaded onto the truck that would take it to the Stanford Shopping Mall.
The winners of Le Petit Chalet had Barbara add a bridge with swings to the play structure when installing it at their home.
Dreams Happen 2003: Count Rococo’s Castle
In 2003 Barbara continued the fairytale trend with Count Rococo’s Castle, drawbridge included! One cannot help but feel like royalty in this pint-sized castled, complete with turrets, jailbar windows and climbing tower. One never knows when they will need to storm the castle!
Unlike most of our play structures, the playhouses going to Dreams Happen must be transported in one piece, so that they can be installed at the mall quickly with a forklift at 5am. Small parts could be added after the main house was placed but we had to be done & out by 10am! This means special trucks are used to load up and haul them down to Palo Alto.
This castle has enough balconies, windows and peepholes to keep any child entertained for hours!
Dreams Happen 2005: The Wild Oasis
Barbara went wild with the carvings on this two-story playhouse! Every side is hand-carved by Barbara and hand-stained with a variety of iconic wild animals.
After the truck ride from our old shop in South San Francisco to the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, the structures still have to get to the mall plaza, which means a ride through the parking lot on a heavy duty forklift.
The Wild Oasis is both delightfully playful and artistically impressive.
Dreams Happen 2007: Wizards Hideout
In 2007 we’re back to the fairytale theme, but this time with a playhouse that looks like it belongs deep in the woods. Someplace you might stumble across while exploring moss covered forests. There’s some magic going on inside the Wizard’s Hideout!
Each playhouse is built with donated materials and staged with donated items to fully show off the structure.
Dreams Happen 2009: Coyote Creek Outpost
After a long day of rustlin’ up some cattle, Coyote Creek Outpost is the perfect cowgirl (or cowboy) rest stop. This playhouse is full of rustic features like knotted rope railings, stone walls and wagon wheel accents.
The two-story outpost required a heavy duty telescoping fork-lift to get it from our workshop doors on to the “low-boy” flatbed trailer for delivery.
The winding stairs add some fun architectural interest and a fun way up to the 2nd story!
Dreams Happen 2011: Oblique House
For the 2011 event, Barbara wanted to make something modern, colorful and fun! Oblique House was named after all the angles! (Also in the running was “Acute House”.)
Dreams Happen 2013: Home is Where the Heart Is
One of Barbara’s favorite Dreams Happen playhouses - simple, spacious, practical, bold. This playhouse is completely waterproof with a large loft inside.
Dreams Happen 2015: The Play’s the Thing
The Play’s the Thing is the perfect combination of theater, climbing tower and relaxing retreat.
Lots of shuttered windows provide light when needed, but can shut out the baddies when needed.
A ticket window provides truly immersive play opportunities.
Want to see The Play’s the Thing in its final home? Check it out here!
Dreams Happen 2017: Castleland Playhouse
Can you even imagine having this sprawling castle playhouse in your backyard!? This castle is made for royalty; young or old, small or large!
With numerous ways up and down and around and around you’ll get dizzy with all the fun ways to play on this castle!
Dreams Happen 2019: Amalgamated Headquarters
My personal favorite of all the Dreams Happen playhouses! I love all the colors, they are just on the edge of being overwhelming, but somehow it all works out just right.
One part theater, one part playground, and one part quiet retreat, this structure is a fusion of physical and imaginative activity.
This was the last year that Dreams Happen auctioned playhouses. We are so proud that for 20 years we supported Rebuilding Together Peninsula by designing, building & donating 11 unique playhouses to be auctioned. Many thanks to all our suppliers who donated materials year after year and to the families who bought these playhouses at the auction. It was a lot of work but Barbara sure misses it!
