In our May issue, I wrote about the Handwerker Gingerbread Playhouse, a charming little structure built in the late 1880s by Dr. John Handwerker. His children played in it, and after they grew up, the good doctor actually used it as his office. Over the years, it even housed a beauty salon, until it was finally moved to the grounds of the Woodruff-Fontaine House, where it has been fully restored.
You can read the whole (rather complicated) story here. I'll take a quick nap in my La-Z-Boy while you do that.
Done? All right, then you can imagine my astonishment when a local subscriber (I'll only identify her as A.L.) sent me the email below:
I just read your column and felt the need to share a photo of the playhouse in my backyard in East Memphis. The home was built in 1981 (so not the same degree of history) although no one in the neighborhood knows the story of the playhouse. A previous owner tried to donate it to Victorian Village but the logistics of moving it were too complicated.
When we purchased the home in 2020, the playhouse was in need of repair and we debated tearing it down and instead repainted it, replaced the roof, and added gutters. I don’t know its future but my children are enjoying it for now. Thank you for your research on the Handwerker house. I enjoyed reading it and connecting it to my playhouse.
So little on in the outside, but surprisingly spacious on the inside. This view is taken from the front turret, looking towards the back door.
I contacted A.L. immediately and asked for more information. There wasn't much she could tell me, but she confirmed that the tiny thing — barely 250 square feet — has electricity, but no plumbing, so it could serve as a nice guest house for anybody who never needed to take a bath or use the bathroom. (I work with some people like that.)
What's interesting is the colorful paint job. When the original (or at least older) playhouse was relocated to Victorian Village, it was white for a while, then they repainted it in bright Victorian colors. Sometimes in 2006, when the building needed minor repairs, the Handwerker family asked that it be restored to its original all-white configuration.
So that tells us that THIS building was constructed by someone who had visited (and carefully studied) the Handwerker Playhouse during those years when it sported the non-original paint job. You will note that the "new" playhouse has the same style and color stained-glass windows as the Handwerker Playhouse.
I've been writing my "Ask Vance" column for something like 35 years. It's amazing (to me, anyway) that nobody has asked me a question about this little building before — the previous owners, neighbors, anybody who had noticed such a structure standing in River Oaks.
So I implore my half-dozen readers to think very hard, and then tell me if they knew who built this charming little playhouse. I'll mention their names in this column so they'll get credit for their fine work. Well, only if they wish to become world-famous, of course.
A few other photos below, showing the place inside and out, courtesy of the owner. (Click each one for a larger view.) Look closely, and you'll see that it even has air-conditioning!
