The 10-foot tall playhouse built by Doug Richards will be raffled off by Veterans and Families of Seeley Lake this summer.
Doug Richards added fun touches to the playhouse including many carved cutouts for decoration.
The doodle that three months later became the entrance to a playhouse.
SEELEY LAKE - It started with a doodle.
The doodle was a simple drawing of a bear, standing behind a wooden gate with his front paws hanging over the door.
Now almost three months later that doodle has become a teal-trimmed house, just big enough for a few children to fill with their imagination.
Seeley Lake resident Doug Richards has constructed 11 playhouses for fundraisers in Washington and Montana over the years. The 12th filled his garage-cum-workshop this spring.
The playhouse stands about ten feet high. The design is simple- four walls and a pitched roof. Two walls have windows at the right height for children to see through them and the entrance is a hinged gate with a carved wooden bear guarding it- the evolution of Richards' original doodle. There is a toy box on the inside and flower box on the outside and the floor is carpeted.
Richards humbly maintains that he is not a master carpenter by any means.
"As a commercial artist, I fake my way through it," he said. "My main goals are to make something kids like and want to play with that's safe."
Pyramid Mountain Lumber and Crescent Mountain Builders donated materials for the project and as Richards said, "It ain't coming apart."
This isn't the first playhouse Richards has made in Seeley. Two years ago he built a country cottage to be raffled off by Seeley Lake Elementary. Before that it was a pirate ship built for the high school.
This rendition was built as a fundraiser for the Veterans and Families of Seeley Lake. Richards is a Marine veteran and approached the local Veterans group offering to build the playhouse to use as a fundraiser.
"I believe strongly in taking care of our veterans," said Richards. "I thought it was about time to maybe do something more aggressive and build a playhouse."
Tickets will be sold through August, when the drawing will be held. Tickets are $2 each or three for $5. They are being sold at Cory's Valley Market or by getting in touch with any members of the Veterans and Families group. Part of the funds raised will be donated to a veterans' pantry in Kalispell.
"I always say this will be the last one," says Richards. "But I don't know."
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