From playhouses to real houses

Cheryl Kinsely, a landscape planner and builder for K. Hovnanian Homes, put the final touches on her “North Shore Bungalow” playhouse in the Fashion Island courtyard Thursday morning, sweeping the tiny, palm tree-lined front porch and making sure the miniature bamboo blinds were hung straight at each wee window.

The house’s backyard — dubbed “Na Hale Aloha,” or “The House of Aloha” in Hawaiian — features to-scale surfboards, a lifeguard tower and a raffia-covered Tiki bar. Little pairs of swim trunks dangle on a clothes line, completing the beachfront atmosphere.

The intricate miniature beach bungalow is one of 10 top-of-the line and over-the top children’s playhouses designed by some of the state’s top home builders that will be on display for Project Playhouse in the central courtyard of Fashion Island Saturday through Oct. 13. The proceeds from the event benefits HomeAid Orange County, a nonprofit organization that builds and renovates local homeless shelters.

“It’s amazing to see the things people come of up with each year,” Kinsely said. “The houses get more and more elaborate.”

The courtyard at Fashion Island has been transformed into a tiny but wealthy village of sorts. These miniature mansions include amenities such as plasma-screen televisions, running water and functional fireplaces.

An army of gardeners rushed Thursday morning to plant Lilliputian palm trees and delicate ferns into the immaculately landscaped facades.

Each building team consists of about 30 workers for one playhouse.

“Over the years, we’ve done everything, from lighthouse tower to several beach bungalows,” said Michael Schrock, principal of Urban Arena home builders. Schrock has been involved with the event for the past 15 years, sponsoring the construction of numerous luxury playhouses.

“It seems like every year, there’s a new innovation that everyone wants to do next year,” Schrock said. “One year, someone decided to have electricity, and then they all had electricity the next year, and then someone did a fireplace and now they all have fireplaces.”

This year’s Project Playhouse will feature a miniature Japanese teahouse with its own Shinto shrine, surrounded by bamboo plants.

Nearby will be a tiny ski lodge nestled into a cache of fur trees. There are playhouses with hardwood floors and hand-crafted wainscoting, and playhouses made to look like English country cottages, log cabins and lake-side vacation homes.

These are no bargain basement playhouses. The fanciful creations will be auctioned off at the end of the event for about $18,000 to $20,000, said Gina Cunningham, HomeAid Orange County’s director of development.

“It appeals to the child in us all,” Cunningham said.

But only very big children or ones with very big allowances can afford these playhouses, said Brandi Uehli, Project Playhouse committee co-chairwoman. Uehli also has worked as a builder for the event in years past, working on playhouses with themes such as a ’50s diner and Harry Potter.

“It’s adults who buy them; some use them for meditation rooms or they see something that speaks to them for whatever reason or matches their house, and they put it in the backyard.” Uehli said. “We’ve had grown men buy them.”