Like many kids, you probably spent your childhood dreaming of owning an elaborate Victorian dollhouse complete with tiny furniture, wooden columns, and miniature porches. And perhaps, if you dreamt a little bigger, your imagination envisioned a dollhouse that was just your size, where you could escape into your own enchanted hideaway, hosting tea parties with dolls and rabbits, reading on the little terrace, and inviting your friends over to play in an Alice in Wonderland-style world that grown-ups couldn't touch.
Well, that's precisely what Stephen Chernicky and his wife had in mind when they founded Lilliput Play Homes, a company that makes ornate, kid-size Victorian mansions and castles.
"More than twenty years ago, my wife and I searched for a playhouse for our daughter, Alyssa, but were unable to discover a product special enough for our little girl," they wrote on their website. Indeed, these luxury playhomes are like something out of a fairytale, with their own beautifully-decorated spirals, turrets, terraces, and chimneys. Each design is customized with the preferences of the buyer in mind, and they even come with electricity, plumbing, and air-conditioning installed.
But, darling as they may be, these cute little houses come with quite the price tag, with many selling for $20,000 or more.
Still, in this world that is now so filled with children glued to video games and lost in virtual reality, it's precious to see these tiny bastions of creativity and imagination, where all the playing is done outdoors and where a child's mind can still roam free.
