#PlayHouzz

“white rabbet” is inspired by both a song (by the Jefferson Airplane) and the method of joinery used for the playhouse structure. The song, which refers to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, establishes the theme and characters: Rabbet/Rabbit, Caterpillar, Chessboard, Red Queen, White Knight, and Dormouse. The Red Queen and White Knight are painted marine grade plywood. The Red Queen is designed to be lowered and fixed to permit access to NorthPark. Both the Queen and Knight allow a child to play and climb in them. Access to the Red Queen is by rope through a door in the bottom. The checkerboard panels are painted marine grade plywood. Door pulls are repurposed chess pieces. The two figures may be removed to create a play composition in the landscape or used as dollhouses. The redwood grid alone becomes a climbing structure and, long after childhood, converts nicely to an armature for wisteria or pumpkin vines.

The structure is designed to create opportunities for adventure for a child to feel larger, smaller, and imagine anything at all……no pills necessary.

The structure is composed of smooth finished redwood 3”x 3”x 7’4 members on a 22” grid with eased edges for gripping. The overall size of the frame is an 88 inch cube. The overall height, with the platform is 94”, with the Red Queen lowered for transport. The figures are extruded shapes to simplify cutting and assembly. The complexity of composition belies the playhouse’s relative economy of materials and ease of assembly.