Natural play with Ben Hutchinson Landscapes
Our dream cubby house
My wife had a cubby house as a child and absolutely loved it! It was always full of fun, kids and lots of pretend meals. There was mismatched crockery, hand-me-down furniture and a play kitchen with cupboards - she describes it as the best place ever when she was a kid! She recalls pinching her parent's banana lounge from the shed and squeezing it into her cubby because she needed a couch for her visitors! I, on the other hand, never had one but always dreamed of having one - now I do!
I had the pleasure of borrowing a Castle and Cubby cubby house for a Melbourne International Flower and Garden show project I created a few years back in my business and have loved them ever since! We have always had plans to get a Castle and Cubby cubby house so it was just a matter of timing really. When our cubby arrived, we were in the process of landscaping our backyard and we had integrated a dedicated space for it to live within the design because we knew it would be used and loved for many, many years. We have a big extended family, and we're always outside so it made complete sense to add even more fun to our new garden by adding a cubby house. It's messy, has chalk everywhere and lots of play food and dinosaurs in it, which for us means it's loved.
This cubby was a wonderful surprise for our Son's 4th birthday. Kellie was amazing and helped us with the design, offering much appreciated insights into the psyche of boys at play! He was over the moon, as well as being a bit in shock I think, when he walked out to see it in his garden.
We knew roughly what size we wanted but left the details up to the Castle and Cubby team and boy did they deliver! We were so impressed when we received the 3D render, it made understanding what the finished product would look like so much easier. Communication was great, design was great, the guys who installed it were great. They didn't take long to put it all together and did a brilliant job of constructing it on a purpose built deck we had already installed. I'm so pleased we got you to install it, it came up so well!
Sometimes it's a cafe, sometimes it's a science lab and sometimes it's a place to discover bugs hiding out of the rain - but it's a base in the backyard that he always returns to when he's looking for something. We have been using this space to eat lunch, snacks and serve up baby-chinos with scones, jam and cream. This cubby was the best thing we could have put in our garden, particularly in a pandemic year! The cubby is also a wonderful place to hide when it's raining, listening to the rain on the metal roof and watching the waterfall all around through the windows. We put battery operated string lights inside the cubby to create a cozy space when it's dark outside, or even after the sun goes down. I anticipate that the cubby will get used even more when our second son is old enough to get out there and play with his brother - and I can't wait to see that!
Read the full article here on the Castle and Cubby website - Natural play with Ben Hutchinson Landscapes