Barbara Butler Artist Builder

Designer & Builder of Treehouses, play structures and playhouses for kids

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Garden Potpourri: Barbara Butler playhouse to be auctioned

Join 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!













A few months ago, Coyote Point Museum sent a request asking if we would create/donate a playhouse made from re-claimed or re-purposed materials for their Tinkering by Twilight fund raising event. It was an exciting idea!

Around the same time, Barbara was contacted by former client, Michelle Furbershaw, who wanted to sell or donate her daughter, Josie's, Garden Playhouse. Barbara had made Josie's playhouse back in 1999 when she was 4 years old. After 11 loving years of use, Josie was no longer using the playhouse and it was sitting empty in the backyard.

It was a timely combination of events!



Josie and her mom decided to donate their playhouse which Barbara would then clean, repair, refurbish and enhance to create a new structure for the auction, to be purchased and enjoyed for another 11 years by a new family, and raise funds for a good cause. Recycling at it's creative best!

Garden Potpourri playhouse was created by adding a large front deck with steps up and a rung ladder out the cafe doors at the back. The railings are made from extra unused shutters gathered from different playhouses and a couple of abandoned ship's wheels. The skirting comes from all the left-over stained pieces of redwood saved and stored over the years but never used. Special touches were added such as the Top Secret Safe under the playhouse and step railings made from old stain sticks.

Here is the Garden Potpourri playhouse drying on our dock after a final coat of tung-oil.


















DONATION/AUCTION INFORMATION:

All proceeds donated to:
Coyote Point Museum,
San Mateo, CA
a non-profit organization for Environmental Education
Auction info:
Tinkering by Twilight gala event
on September 24, 2010
www.coyoteptmuseum.org

PLUS, other playhouses and animal habitats created by teams of designers, contractors, builders & suppliers will also be auctioned at this event. Children's playhouses & animal habitats will be an exciting and unique part of the live and silent auctions!

For more information, click here to go to the Coyote Point Museum website, or click here to go to our website.

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Robin Hoods Fort with 2 swings

Barbara'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!














The finished play structure looks exactly like the drawing Barbara does ahead of time.










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