Playhouses You Can Build: Indoor and Backyard Designs (Weekend Project Book Series) [Paperback]

David Stiles (Author), Jeanie Stiles (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1999 | Series: Weekend Project Book Series

Build a lifetime of Memories

Whether simple or architecturally fanciful, a playhouse can be a magical place for your child. David and Jeanie Stiles use their own experiences to guide the amateur carpenter through the steps necessary to build an imaginative playhouse -- for the backyard, basement or playroom.

Designed to be put together with easy-to-obtain materials and common handyman tools, with clear step-by-step diagrams, these playhouses can be constructed by anyone who has basic carpentry skills (or a willingness to learn) and a weekend or two of spare time.

Projects include: A cardboard-box playhouse, a gingerbread playhouse, a fiberglass whale, a barn bed playhouse, a spook playhouse, a U.F.O. playhouse, a tree house, a log playhouse, a garden trellis playhouse, a three-legged fort and a complete selection of accessories.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Packed with diagrams, tips and easy-to-follow instructions, this manual provides detailed instructions for constructing 14 different models of houses. -- Stacie Gentile, The Calgary Sun, May 20, 2000

About the Author

David Stiles is a designer'/builder and together, with his wife Jeanie, has authored fifteen books, including Sheds: The Do-It-Yourself Guide, Revised Edition (Firefly 1998), The Treehouse Book (which won the ALA Notable Children's Book Award), and Cabins (Firefly 2001). A graduate of the Pratt Institute and the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, Italy, David is the winner of two awards from the New York Planning Commission for his designs for The Playground for All Children.

David and Jeanie's articles have appeared in several magazines and newspapers including House Beautiful, Better Homes and Gardens, Country Living, Home Mechanix, Rebecca's Gardens, and The New York Times. They have appeared on numerous television programs, including Lifetime Television Our Home and the Discovery Channel's Home Matters shows. They divide their time between New York City and East Hampton, N.Y. where they live in a barn which they renovated themselves.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Firefly Books (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1552093158
• ISBN-13: 978-1552093153
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,185 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #54 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > How-to & Home Improvements > Building & Construction
  • #68 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > How-to & Home Improvements > Home Design > Design & Construction
  • #69 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > How-to & Home Improvements > Home Repair

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book has everything!, October 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Playhouses You Can Build: Indoor and Backyard Designs (Weekend Project Book Series) (Paperback)

Someone gave this book to my daughter for her birthday and we decided to build the traditional playhouse that is on the cover. Although it took almost a month of weekends, it was well worth the time! She and her friends spend all their play dates in it and we always know where they are. This looks like the most advanced project in the book and I am a weekend carpenter, but didn't have any trouble following the plans. We are working on the "Spook House" for Halloween and the whole family is having fun adding their imput! Highly recommend this book for anyone with any building experience.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Clear, Well documented plans for building a treehouse, August 21, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Playhouses You Can Build (A Weekend Project Book) (Paperback)

All winter long I had promised my kids that I would build them a treehouse in the spring. So, when the flowers started popping up, and they hadn't forgotten, I had to do something. I had once seen a treehouse web page that mentioned David Stiles other out of print book, "Tree House Book". I couldn't track that down, so I bought this one instead.

This book only had one treehouse design, but it was just right for my situation. (A reasonably straight tree, with the fort built around it). What's very nice about the book is that David goes into detail on _ALL_ the tools and materials you will need, including a detailed shopping list. As I'm a woodworking novice, this helped tremendously. I was able to go to my local lumberyard with the book, and I got everything I needed in one trip.

The treehouse went up just as the book stated, with only a few minor customizations.

If you'ld like to see the finished product, I've put together a web page:
http://www.gusick.com/Treehouse

- Robert Gusic

44 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Fell short at a critical step, October 3, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Playhouses You Can Build: Indoor and Backyard Designs (Weekend Project Book Series) (Paperback)

I hoped that this book would help me build a playhouse for my young daughter. Although it appears to be very detailed, it is not for the novice woodworker. There was no diagram to show how the walls were to be built and I was left to my own devices to figure out how to do it (which, being a novice, I was unable to do). I telephoned the author about this problem who admitted that the diagram was not in the book but he could not explain to me how to do what I wanted. I gave up and bought a Norm Abrams videotape and plans.