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At Home in the Modern World

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House Party!

All it takes to play is a healthy imagination, 
but a modern playhouse adds to the fun.

modern playhouse, best modern playhouses

While the debate rages on between the benefits of free play versus structured play, we can all agree that these play structures make 
any modern family home so much 
merrier. For a little perspective—–
in more ways than one—–we turned to the Dwell team’s toddlers, Cedar Foss, Oliver Blue, and Madeleine McKinley-Hinson, who were all more 
than happy to pick a house, move in, and let the good times roll.

  • modern playhouse circle assembled

    Circle House

    • Designed by: Gitane Royce
    • Price: $1,299.00

    Pros
    We wish more grown-up homes had the simple, no-frills good looks of Royce’s design—–but then again, most American houses aren’t “inspired by Scandinavian fishing cottages from the modernist era.” Madeleine proudly concurs.

    If you’ve ever built an Ivar shelving system from Ikea, you’ve tackled a far more challenging construction project than this. The wood panels of the Circle House, sourced from responsibly managed domestic forests, pack flat.

    Cons
    With a price tag like this, you better hope that your kids are as into real estate as you are. You wouldn’t want an ignored Circle House to end up in a foreclosure auction (or more likely, on Craigslist).

    We wish Royce took the Scandinavian fishing cottage inspiration to the extreme. This is another one we’d love to set up outside—but as yet, it’s intended purely for indoor use.

  • house blanket

    House Blanket

    • Designed by: Donna Wilson
    • Price: $408.00

    Pros
    Donna Wilson has a playful, universally good-humored approach to design (and the fandom of a certain associate editor). Her House Blanket typifies this fun-loving, anything-goes attitude. There’s no assembly required and the House Blanket is always ready to transform the nearest piece of furniture into a fictional and very, very cozy fort.

    Cons
    While it may ratchet up the cost even further, we wish the House Blanket were larger—it barely covers up the two chairs put underneath it, leaving hardly any room to play. Ultimately, this is just a rectangular blanket with a houselike pattern on it. It could use more inventiveness—perhaps a unique, more architectural shape that could drape in interesting ways, or cutouts and characters to take it to the next level.



     

  • villa_julia_javier_mariscal_playhouse

    Villa Julia

    • Designed by: Javier Mariscal
    • Made by: Magis
    • Price: $274.00

    Pros
    Anyone who’s ever played in a household appliance box knows that cardboard is perhaps the most kid-friendly building material around—and it’s used here to great effect. Precious, but not too precious, architectural, but not too severe, the easily constructed Villa Julia just might be the perfect playhouse.

    The tiny chimney and fireplace are among the classy details that make this design a hit with all ages.

    Cons
    The Villa’s cardboard construction means it’s easy to “customize.” Coloring in the walls is good; tearing out a window frame or bending an entire wall, not so much. We estimate the Villa’s lifespan to be two to three years, tops.

    Eighteen-month-old Oliver was the perfect fit for the Villa Julia’s compact interior, but we suspect that he–and older, bigger kids–would soon outgrow it.

  • True_Modern_Playhouse__Edgar_Blazona

    TrueModern Playhouse

    • Price: $1,350.00

    Pros
    Durable and dependable, the TrueModern Playhouse has great genes. Blazona has been designing grown-up backyard prefabs for over a decade at Modular Dwellings.

    Although our testers seemed to enjoy the rough-and-tumble appeal of some of the more flexible (read: destructible) designs, this more refined and larger-scale playhouse constructed from Baltic birch would be an ideal retreat for older children.

    Cons
    Putting this puppy together is definitely a job for both mom and dad—requiring some heavy lifting and a couple of hours. You’ll want to measure twice before assembling, as it does take up quite a bit of space and likely won’t be going anywhere anytime soon after assembly.

    At this scale and price, we’d love for it to be an outdoor design, but the finishes aren’t intended to hold up to the elements. A custom rain cover will be available soon.

  • Ultimate_Safari_Maze_Playhut

    Ultimate Safari Maze

    • Made by: Playhut
    • Price: $49.00-60.00

    Pros
    Constructed from a nylon-like nonwoven material slung between springy edges, the Ultimate Safari Maze pops into action or neatly tucks away into the included tote bag just like those handy visors for your car’s windshield. That makes for easy setup and transport.

    Our test crew­—especially Cedar—loved crawling through the maze’s modular tunnels, while the design nerds among us appreciated the brightly colored, almost Memphis-like animal prints.

    Cons
    While we love the fact that you can set up the maze any which way (and combine it with other Playhut products), just like in the grown-up modular building industry, the connections that link the various pieces are less than ideal. Instead of having male and female connection points on opposing pieces, all of the maze’s Velcro and plastic connectors are hermaphroditic—making it overly complicated and unwieldy to assemble. Try explaining that to a two-year-old.

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