Day 5 on site at the Contra Costa Jewish Day School and great progress! The Tube Slide has been installed and the rubber resilient surface material (RSM) has been poured by Playgrounds Unlimited.Here, Sean from playgrounds Unlimited, checks to make sure that the RSM is 2-1/2″ thick, the required thickness…
Here’s a peek at one of Barbara’s latest projects, from start to finish: Barbara started with a design sketch that combined rustic tree stumps & limbs with rugged construction to create a rough & tumble outdoor play structure. Early on in the process, Barbara & Jeff went on site to…
A few weeks ago we installed our classic Robin Hoods Fort with 3′ long bridge over 1 swing. It fits beautifully into a small backyards. This installation is almost complete: Jeff will return the following day to remove the bracing (which keeps the bridge level while the concrete footings set…
Read MoreBig Day on site: the crawl tunnel tube is added in between Clubhouse #1 and Clubhouse #2! They will keep it wrapped in plastic sheeting until everything else on site is done, but this fun play element is in place and just waiting for kids to crawl through it. Next…
Read MoreI thought it would be nice to take a few minutes and share a custom play structure installation we finished over a year ago. When I came across these photos, it made me smile! We had a great installation in Pasadena. Meet the crew: James getting ready to install the…
Day 2 the crew continues with the installation of Contra Costa Jewish Day School’s play structure:
Now that the ledgers have been installed (see Day 1) the guys bring in the clubhouse floor framing, bolting the frames to the ledgers…
Barbara and crew are back on site at the Contra Costa Jewish Day School playground where they are installing a public use, fully enclosed, ADA Handicap Accessible play structure custom designed to run above the playground on top of existing 8′ high concrete pla…
Read MoreThe day before we arrive, the school yard sits empty, waiting for the magic to begin…
Josie (almost 16 years old now) stopped by our shop last Sunday with her mom, Michelle, to visit her old Garden Playhouse. Josie enjoyed her Barbara Butler Garden Playhouse from age 3 to 15 and then decided to donate it to help raise money for a good cause. Barbara collaborated by throwing her skills at refurbishing and re-creating the playhouse, using reclaimed materials…
Read MoreNew, exciting, public use play structure that Barbara custom-designed for the Contra Costa Jewish Day School in Lafayette, CA. It will be a fully enclosed, self-contained redwood & rope netting play structure built up on top of 8′ high concrete planter boxes and running along the edge of the play space…
Read MoreJoin us at the September 24th fund raising event for Coyote Point Museum!
Barbara’s “Garden Potpourri” playhouse, made from 100% reclaimed materials, will be auctioned to highest bidder!
Read MoreBarbara’s “pre-designed” Robin Hood’s Fort is popular for good reasons: lot’s of play activities, choose how many swings (1, 2 or 3), add features like a roof, choose your style of railing (rope or wood), pick the configuration that works best for your yard (how about the rock wall on the front?) and choose your own colors!
During the initial design process, Barbara, Jeff & Marco spend a day doing a “stick-out” on site, using rough strips of wood to layout the shape of the Clubhouse on the hillside.
Read MoreCrooked Gap Clubhouse is custom designed to fit on the side of a very challenging hill. The entrance ramp let’s kids walk across to the Clubhouse deck which is perched on the hillside…
Read MoreThis gently used Hideaway Fort is “For Sale by Owner” on our web site for the incredibly low price of $2,500.
Located in Davis, CA it is just waiting for it’s new home. You will have to transport and re-assemble (or you can hire us to do it). Well worth it – the cost is over $12,000 new!
Barbara and crew finished installing this tree fort in May but we haven’t had time to post it to our website yet. So here is a sneak preview of Verde Tree Fort: all combinations of green on the outside…
Read MoreThe Cozy Cabin is our smallest playhouse: perfectly sized for kids ages 1 to 5 years old. It will fit in a corner, on a deck, inside a play room or in the middle of a garden! Young children love to go inside, close the door, open the shutters, slide the “peek-a-boo”, put mail in the mail slot, peek through the cut-outs and then invite you in. It is exactly right for their size.
Here’s a new design I’m hoping to build. I use the caveman program PAINT to draw my ideas right on the photo. I like the restrictions of the Paint program – not very many choices, can only undo about 7 steps, makes me feel like a kid!
Read MoreEvery spring & summer, when there are “holes” in our build/install schedule, our crew goes out and refurbishes some older ones. It is amazing how resilient redwood is.
Read MoreBarbara’s tree houses were featured in the Insight page of the July Real Estate & Design issue of Hamptons Magazine. The article featured an image her East Hampton Treehouse, designed and built in 2007 and referenced her newest tree house, The Long Island Treehouse, just built and installed in Southampton two months ago.
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