My Life in the Little Brown House, part 22: Playhouse

The last structure associated with the little brown house was the playhouse, and this was the last addition to the buildings on the lot. It was a square structure, with latticework sides from about three feet up to the roofline. The roof sloped down from a central high point to the eaves all around the building. There were two entrances — a large central one on the east side and a smaller, narrower one on the northwest corner on the north side. Clarice and Vivian occupied the south half of the playhouse as their play area — I was in the northwest corner. I don’t recall Vincent and the younger brothers playing in it. On the south side ivy had been planted which grew up into the latticework and shaded the interior. The ivy may have been on the west side also.

One of my recollections of the playhouse is painting the latticework on the north side. I was doing it on a sunny day and for some reason decided to get my arms suntanned in the process. I ended up with rather painful sunburn on one of my upper arms — it was enough to develop in me a reluctance from then on to get a suntan. What develops as a natural result from working and being in the sun is fine, but a suntan in and for itself is another thing. The playhouse ended up rather ignominiously as a chicken house out on the farm, to where it was moved not long after we moved out there. The sides were boarded up as I recall and probably some sort of closures were put on the two openings. What happened to it eventually I don’t know.

My parents provided additional outside play equipment for us. There was a small swing near the southeast corner of the barn — it may have had as one of its supports the post at one end of a clothesline. Of more interest to me was the sand pile of or sandbox which was located just outside the fence in front of the chicken house (after it had been erected in the pasture). The sand may have been enclosed by a low enclosure of boards but of this I’m not certain. What I do remember was playing in the sand pile and liking it when the sand was wet so it could be formed into shapes for various purposes. The sand would gradually be dispensed in a number of ways — for example I think Clarice and Vivian would use it in their play cooking — requiring periodic replacement. The latter would doubtless come from the Johnson lumberyard and I remember my delight at the big heap of new, damp sand.
























Carl at a local playground, Ashland, Oregon, July 1990. Still playing in the sand.

There was also a coaster wagon, and I believe a scooter, provided by my parents and I have already mentioned the bicycle I had. When I was younger I believe I had a tricycle — somewhere there is a snapshot of my cousin Eugene and me on our respective tricycles. This must have been when I and he were quite young and Uncle Serenus and family were residing on the Peterson homestead. Just when he left it to start his seminary training I’m not sure but I suppose it was in the mid 1920s.




















Cousins Eugene and Carl on their tricycles