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Customized Wood Play Structures Create Backyard Fantasies
Barbara Butler's Creations Bring out the Kid in All of Us By Katherine Bontrager
. The family was delighted by the pictures of her past creations and called her in to tackle their own challenge. Butler worked with a landscape architect to figure out how to handle the difficult terrain. The architect built support walls, and the freeform thinking began. With no set plan, short of a budget, Butler asked the girls what they wanted in their dream playground. "They picked out a lot of the stuff they wanted," Lucy says. "Since they love acting and putting on shows and dressing up, we included a stage and a curtain."
The end result was a source of wonderment to all involved – a play area incorporated into the hillside and decorated with the local flora. The girls love the new addition, as do Mom and Dad. "All they want to do is play," Lucy says, laughing. "I just think it's a great place for them to have make-believe play, and it really encourages their imaginative process." Lucy says it is an investment that will endure for years, and grow with her girls. The fact that it can be fun for grown-ups, too, doesn't hurt any either. "There are areas for people to sit and hang out and play with the girls," Lucy says. "My mom even went down the slide, and she's 70, and she can climb around on everything. People are amazed when they see it."
A final bonus is that the family doesn't have to trek to nearby parks, because the girls would rather play in their own yard. And the neighborhood kids have definitely noticed – most of the girls' friends prefer to play at their house. "It was definitely worth it," Lucy says. "We are totally happy we did it."
