When it comes to the excessive and tacky commercialism of Christmas, there’s no greater philosopher than Charlie Brown. A Charlie Brown Christmas just celebrated its 50th anniversary, and, with consumerism infiltrating our tv’s and smartphone screens earlier than ever before, its message couldn’t be any more relevant. So forget getting your kids the same smartphone that adult professionals use. Instead, let their imaginations run wild with this amazing tiny oak playhouse.
This oak playhouse, by James O’Keefe, was built with roundwood timbers and waney edged planks and has wild flowers in its green roof. For those of us familiar with the Hobbit, there is truly no closer replica to Bilbo’s humble abode than this tiny playhouse.
Via Natural Homes:
The shape of the house was determined by the curve of the roundwood timbers [see 1], as such the was a compromise between the plan and what was available in the local woodlands. That’s something SunRay Kelley calls evolutionary architecture. The floor, resting on a rubble trench [2], was sunken to give more headroom for adults. All of the carpentry was done in a barn off-site and then assembled on-site [3]. The green roof was supported on base-boards that were heat treated to make them flexible enough to take the curve of the afters [4]. A waterproof membrane was laid over the base-boards and a grid of timbers built to carry the base for the green roof [5]. The green roof base is 100% recycled crushed brick and green compost [6] with drainage [7]. The materials and wildflowers for the roof were supplied by Lindum Green Roofs. Inside the house the walls are insulated with wool and then covered with reed ready for plastering with clay [8]. At the back of the tiny house is a half-circle window (below left and centre) with other triangular windows (below right).
That is one amazing little house! So forget getting your young ones some state-of-the-art (aka, soon-to-be-obsolete) smartphone that’s beyond their age, and instead consider building them their very own Hobbit-like playhouse. Click here for instructions on how to build this playhouse.
