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This project is one of the most beautiful yet challenging projects we will present. This
particular house was built by a builder for a home show competition for playhouses.
It won!
It may not be more difficult to build than a simple playhouse, but it has more detail and
trim work which dramatically increases the time and expense. This house follows typical
building practices of residential construction such as framed walls with sheathing,
covered by siding on the outside and drywall on the inside. The only thing it is missing
is the wall insulation!
Before we go further, let's cover some of the rules for this project:
We assume a basic level of framing and construction knowledge. For instance
when we say the roof pitch is 12/12, we need you to know what that means and
how to make the cuts for the roof rafters. If you do not and are willing to educate
yourself by reading up on those subjects you are unfamiliar with....go on to the
next rule.
Every item in this playhouse was made by hand...even the front and back doors.
The trim is simple 1x4, 1x6, 1x8 except for the gingerbread, and the front porch
posts and railings. You do not need to make the doors as detailed as these, but
you will need to make them yourself since there are no exterior doors of this size
available to purchase.
The exterior detail work....Siding, Window/Door Trim, Porch Posts, Railings,
Soffet, Fascia, and Plexiglas Windows, will cost you more than the cost of
materials for rest of the playhouse. Also you will spend 2/3 of your time in
building this project on finishing the outside.
Very Important....This article will not give you exact dimensions for every
measurement. We give you the critical lengths, widths and heights, and drawings
for unusual framing requirements, but you will have to adjust for variations in
measurements to make your project fit together.
You are now ready to build this beautiful structure.
Step 1: Frame the Floor system for the house following the drawing on the right.
Note: You can use a square corner floor as shown in our project or miter the floor
corner to equal the wall angle on the 10' wall as shown at right.
Measure and layout the entire outline of the playhouse including the porch. The
house and the porch are one floor...using the same joists and plywood flooring.
Use 2x8 pressure treated lumber on 16" joist spacing with a single band board around
the perimeter. Install 5/8" (or 3/4") tongue and grooved plywood flooring. Cut flush with
outline of floor at the band board.
Step 2: Measure, cut and frame the walls per the drawings. Wall height is 7'. Most
window opening will fit between 16" stud spacing. Use standard framing techniques,
including a double top plate.
Note: Window and door openings do not need jack studs, except 4' window. The
spacing for the windows and doors is small enough that the double top plate will carry
the load.
Step 3: Assemble, square up and install wall sections. Cover with 1/2" OSB (or
plywood) sheathing. Cut out window and door openings.
Step 4: Now we're done the easy part...on to the Roof System.
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Roof System
Step4: This roof is a standard gable roof running the 10 foot length of the house (1),
with an additional gable attached to cover 4' x 5' addition on the right side. (2)
All roof pitches are 12/12.
The only unusual framing detail about this roof is the 4 inch overhang at location "C".
See below for the framing technique used to form the 4" overhang of the gable.
Drawing at left represents the gable overhang framing. The 6 inch roof overhang is
separate and is in addition to this gable overhang.
Roof overhang can be built by overhanging the roof sheathing 6 inches past the last
roof rafter and attaching a 2 x 6 Fascia board (E) as shown on the photo above.
The Porch Roof is framed using standard hip roof techniques. You will determine the
individual board lengths, special cuts and angles needed as you frame this roof system.
The roof pitch is not critical. It falls 1 foot from the house to the gutter line.
Now on to the exterior trim details
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- Gingerbread Trim -
One of the most striking features of our Victorian playhouse is the lace like trim...which
we will affectionately call "gingerbread". A valuable benefit of this article is your ability
to copy the shape of the gingerbread trim so you can duplicate it.
Trim: All gable and roof gingerbread trim is made from 2 identical halves of the trim you
see in the pictures.
This technique offers the advantage of always having balanced looking trim no matter
what the shape. (It also cuts your drawing work in half).
For the gingerbread on your playhouse, your copies do not need to be exact duplicates
of the trim pictured here. If your style is close, it will look fine. Because of the mirror
image process for making the trim, no matter what it looks like it will be balanced.
The above trim is made from two
identical pieces that are 17" high and 17"
wide. The finished trim will be 17" high
and 34" wide. It is located at each end
of the main roof. Location "F" shown on
page 2 (This piece of trim is missing
from the picture, but the location is
marked)
Note: Because our roof pitch is 12/12,
all of our gable end gingerbread trim will
be as high as it is wide.
The trim piece to the left is used for the top of the porch posts as shown. Reference
location "B" pictured on page 2. Make 8 of them
All gingerbread trim should be made from 1/2" exterior plywood.
The trim piece to the right is for Gable "G" pictured on page 2. (Small Gable)
Fasten the two halves of all gable gingerbread pieces with a small scab of 1/2" plywood
on the back at the seam.
Fasten all trim to the back of the fascia board as shown to the right. (on the 1/2"
overhang the back of the fascia board has with the soffet).
The photo on left is the small
gable detail.
The outline below is the corner window gingerbread trim. Reference location "A" in
photographs.
Click Here to Next Page - Finishing the project.
Finishing the outside:
This style playhouse has more detail than most, so be ready for lots of work to make it
look like you want it to.
Siding: The siding material of our project is regular 3/4" pine boards. We ripped 1x8
pine boards in half to have the small stock necessary to give the look of clapboard
siding to scale.
For the Victorian look use cedar shake shingles as siding on the second floor gable
ends.
Window & Door Trim: Trim around the widows and doors both inside and outside is
standard 1x4 pine boards. Door jambs and casing is 1x4 and 1x6 pine stock.
Doors: Both doors will probably need to be hand made to fit the door openings you
framed. You can look at lumber supply places for "cut down" doors which are made for
attic eave access. They come as tall as 5' but are generally an interior door, which will
cause a problem with being used on an exterior project.
Windows: The windows pictured are an opening in the wall, with screen mounted on
the inside, and removable "Plexiglas" window panes on the outside. These windows are
an ingenious design where a simple piece of Plexiglas is cut to size and white plastic
tape is put on to look like individual panes of glass.
Porch: The columns and railing are purchased materials used on regular porches and
decks. As you look over the selection to buy, keep in mind that what you buy will need
to be cut down. Check to make sure after you cut down the railing pickets or the porch
columns that they still look appropriate. Finished columns are 72" long and pickets are
17" tall.
Other Trim: The oval windows are hand made with screening stapled to the inside.
The corner boards for the siding are simple 1x4's nailed together in an "L" shape to
cover the ends of the siding. Notice the angle cut at the top of the window trim. The
support blocks below the gable overhang are hand made out of solid pine boards glued
together and cut with a band saw. They are 5 " in each dimension.
Paint: As you can see the paint scheme can be rather bold and look good on this
house. Notice the aqua blue gable that matches the floor and coordinates with the pink
house.
Inside: You can complete the inside of your playhouse as much as you desire. Our
project house has a finished drywall interior with curtains and wallpaper...but remember
it was entered in a contest.
In addition to deciding on the interior finish, you can design a ladder up to the
attic/second floor as is pictured below if you desire.
On a project this complex you are bound to have questions...e-mail me and I will answer
your questions. Enjoy the challenge of building this beautiful addition to your back
yard.
