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Luxury can have a variety of meanings depending on whom you ask. For kids and pets, these entertaining accommodations provide the ultimate luxury—fun.

 Thinking Outside the House


Kids’ Quarters

There is nothing grander than the imagination of a child. From tea parties for teddy bears to magic carpet rides on mom’s antique Oriental rug, the make-believe capacity of a child never seems to deplete. Enter Lilliput Play Homes, a Pennsylvania-based company that provides a whimsical way to play house.

Lilliput was established in 1989, when Steve Chernicky and his wife were searching for a playhouse for their then 18-month-old daughter. “We couldn’t find anything but log cabins and little plastic houses,” Chernicky says. “So I built a Victorian-style playhouse for her and that was our first Victorian mansion. From there I built a fire house for my nephew.”

Thinking Outside the House

 

When interest gained momentum, Chernicky began building the homes full-time in 1995 and specializing in classical designs that emulate his love for historic structures. Offering pre-designed play homes from $3,000 to $20,000, Lilliput also builds custom play homes and villages (complete with amenities like electricity and hardwood floors) that can fetch upwards of $50,000.

“A playhouse is more of a caricature of a house,” Chernicky says. “The doors and windows have to be oversized to make it functional. So we take the main features of the house, whether it be a turret, trim-work or stonework and use those features to create a custom playhouse.”