Sunday, August 29, 2010

Our Castle on the Hill

Thanks to a permit from the city, neighborhood clean-up, and A LOT time and hard work from my dad, my kids now have a palace to call home.
Nestled in our trees we have a three story castle built for a knight and three little princesses.
One mans trash has become our treasure.
My dad collected piles and piles of supplies to make our dreams a reality.
Building started at the beginning of the summer just after school got out and was finally finished 2 1/2 months later.
For a long time all we could use was the sandbox on the bottom.
But when I saw the detail that went into the sandboxes boarder, I knew there were great things to come.
My dad put in the slides after he was done with framing so the kids could play while he worked. He got one slide from the pick-up and found the yellow slide in the classifieds. It came from a school that was getting new equipment.
I'm still in love with these bricks he made from cedar fencing.
The look they create is amazing.
On the bottom front corner he made a faux stone foundation. It's made of larger thicker pieces of cedar.
They were cut like a puzzle then sanded on the edges. Using different shades of wood really added to the realistic feel.
I love this piece of wood used to separate the stone from the brick. It has so much age and character.
When the masonry was complete he added a rock wall.
I love these posts he added to the sandbox entrance and front slide. Do you know what they are from?
He cut them from old ugly beds and painted them.
Another favorite and important part of the tree house is the tower.
Who knew adding little support beams to the bottom would add so much?
This is our roof before it was installed. Do you know what it is?
It's an old satellite dish.
We had a little roof raising party so we could get my brothers to come help lift it to the top.
This is the back side from our neighbors yard.
The inside is insulated and covered in old wood panelling. When I saw all the insulation I thought my dad was crazy, but it really helps keep the inside cool on hot summer days.We would like to paint and decorate but will have to wait till next summer.
I'm glad I got to watch my dad in action and even use a power tool here and there when he let me help.
Thanks again Pa Pa Jerry, your talents never cease to amaze us. I hope your work will be enjoyed for generations to come.

HERE are the parties I'm linking to.

72 comments:

  1. That is precious and so clever ! ! !

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  2. WOW! so cool. can i come play :) I posted about you on C.R.A.F.T. facebook page! please come on over and link this amazing castle up to MMM tomorrow!

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  3. I saw this yesterday when I picked up the book for Sarah. I love it! Maybe one day I can bring Tessa by and let her play in it for a few minutes? Your dad never ceases to amaze me!

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  4. I'm sending this link to my dad. Maybe I can con him into this adventure for his little Princess! :o)

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  5. That is amazing! Beyond amazing! What a great place for your kids to play and such good memories of their grandpa making it for them!!

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  6. This looks so awesome! I would love to have something so cool for my kids to play with!!!

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  7. A-Mazing!! What a lucky family you are to have such a handy relative!! Such a great place for your 'royalty' to make memories!!

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  8. Kalleen, I figured out that it wasn't you, when I ordered and the person's name finally came up. Oh well, I was kind of hoping it was your shop, because I am comfortable with you, after seeing all of the fabulous creations you come up with!

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  9. that is the best play house ever. now you can never move! :)

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  10. Completely amazing! I love the brick and masonry ideas! I will have to keep that in the back of my mind!

    Taylor
    www.maryjanesandgaloshes.com

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  11. I've never been so jealous of anything in my life! Can I adopt your dad next summer? Great job and I would love to see it next year after you've decorated.

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  12. WOW! i love it I wish i had something like that when i was a kid. i would love for my little ones to have something like this. With being a military family we don't have a place to call our own. But maybe in a few years when hubby retires i can get him to make something like this. PaPa Jerry does awesome work
    Michelle

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  13. this is THE most magical, amazing stupendous gift of a treehouse/castle i have ever seen!!!! so awesome!!
    what lucky kiddos with a wonderful grandpa :O)

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  14. This is the coolest thing I have ever seen!

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  15. that's an amazing play castle!!!!1 Is Jerry for hire???

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  16. That is so amazing. I've never seen its equal

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  17. Wow, that is AWESOME! Your dad is amazing! Your kiddos are blessed indeed...how fun!

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  18. This really is so amazing! LUCKY KIDS!

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  19. How amazingly fun for your family. Great job, Papa!

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  20. Whoa! This is amazing!!! Awesome work and I can't wait to see how you decorate the inside!

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  21. That is such a fantastic house/fort/castle. I want a dad/grandpa who's like yours!

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  22. That is INCREDIBLE. Can he come over and do ours??? :) I'll bet your kids love it. I seriously love all that detail. Wowzas!

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  23. What a wonderful thing your father did for you!

    I remember when you were all bummed about the city stopping the project.

    My favorite thing...it was from old materials. How cool that he really took the time to think this all out that way!

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  24. Guess the creativity runs in the family...

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  25. This is so amazing!!!! Does your father have a blog? If he does, I want to subscribe! WOW!!!

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  26. Amazing...I always wanted such a castle too...

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  27. The coolest treehouse ever!! What lucky kids to have such a talented grandpa! Such memories they will make! Love it! Sue

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  28. This is amazing!!!!So much fun for your kids!

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  29. This is the best.treehouse.ever. You need to enter this in a woodworking contest or send it to a woodworking magazine. Your Dad deserves the props!

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  30. Wow! What a project. It's incredible!

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  31. I love this so much, how cute, your kids are going to looove it for years to come. What awesome talent.

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  32. Way to use your resources. It turned out amazing. Look at that detail! I bet your kids play on that for hours!

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  33. You and your kids are So So So lucky! Amazing!

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  34. Unbelievable! Your Dad is aweseome!

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  35. So cool and beautiful!!! Your father is an astist! I wish my daugther could had one thing like that made by her grandfathers... but, not! Pour little girl! :-))))

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  36. I just wanted to stop by to spread the word about a friend's unborn baby that needs a lot of prayers. You can read more about it at my blog, and we are also do a little fundraiser for the family.

    http://lizzypost.blogspot.com/2010/08/owls-for-olivia.html

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  37. This is just incredible. I want to play in it! Can your dad come over here and do that to our treehouse?

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  38. This is just amazing! What a gift from your very talented Dad!

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  39. Whoa - your dad rocks! Is he looking for any extra grandchildren to spoil?!?

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  40. Love this!! If only we had big enough trees here for our children to have a tree house too.

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  41. way too cool! I'm glad your stinky neighbors lost the battle!

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  42. This has got to be the coolest thing ever! You've got some lucky kiddos!

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  43. That is so incredible! And I thought my playhouse (with windows, faux brick tile flooring and electricity) was awesome. This is just, as someone else said, the coolest thing ever!

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  44. Now that is awesome!! Those are some lucky kids! And what a great dad!

    ~ The Speckled Dog

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  45. Soooo, I'm pretty sure we're coming over to play soon. If my girls see this, it'll be VERY soon. :) They may actually move in.

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  46. OMG~ this is so so so good and it just "wow" me...i can't believe this, this is too good, your dad is really a great man and i am sure, the kids will enjoy it. even when i saw this myself (well, from you blog) i told myself, "wish i have one of this castle at home too" and i wanna fly straight to your house and play..anyway, im from malaysia! (:

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  47. my mouth is open in awe!

    unbelieveable.
    too cool to go to school!

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  48. THis is a beautiful story, post and project. What a magical place for your family.

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  49. Pa Pa Jerry has now set the bar for all grandpa's out there! He out did himself on this. Unbelievable craftmanship and talent. Hats off to Pa Pa Jerry.

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  50. AMAZING! Your kiddos will have fond memories all built around this fun play castle!!

    Your dad did a great job! What a wonderful grandfather :)

    Kara

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  51. Best. Castle. Ever. I am totally in love with this and would like to come over and play in it myself. Seriously. The whole thing is fantastic. I've had plans to make my son a little cabin on the cheap forever, but nothing that requires a building permit! Awesome, awesome, awesome.

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  52. A.MA.ZING! I love this and dare not show it to my son who would DEMAND his very own! What a terrific place for your kids to play and what an awesome Pa Pa!! Thanks for the compliments on the blog and I'm glad I did good with the Tree Hand project! My sis in law loves them! Thanks for sharing your creativity! Been loving all the new back to school looks too! Thanks for stopping by my little corner to say hello!

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  53. This is seriously cool! I wonder if my HOA board would approve of a structure this COOL in my backyard. Just wondering out loud.

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  54. So neat! What a great Dad you have! He could totally sell his tree house plan and make a bunch of money! :)

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  55. Hi - I'm linking over from Tatertots & Jello. I LOVE using recycled stuff to make something neat and I LOVE this! Thanks for sharing.

    Warmly, Michelle

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  56. This is incredible! What a great dad!

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  57. HOLY SMOKES! That is what I call a treehouse! Your kids are lucky ones. It is a true treasure.

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  58. Wow! Can I send my hubby over for some tutorials?!?

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  59. Oh My Goodness! What a dream come true for the royal family :)!! Your father should be up for "grandfather of the year" and come to think of it "father of the year" too! I'm sure every single task was done with love. I know it will be home to countless hours of fun and imagination gone wild!

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  60. This is the best castle I've seen yet! Love the wood bricks!

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  61. I can't believe I'm just now finding your blog! Thanks to OMTIWI, I get to check out the rest of your blog...

    This is crazy cool! You should be FAMOUS for this project..I pinned to Pinterest!

    The hubby's gonna faint when he sees this....it's right up his alley....but I'm sure our Homeowners Association would NEVER give us permission to do this..we might just have to move:-)

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  62. OH
    MY
    GAWD
    I have never seen something so amazing!!!

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