If you build it, they will come... "they" being the kitties of course :)  Behold...

The Ultimate Kitty Playhouse

The above picture is the first concept of the playhouse.  I actually created a 3D model of it in CAD :)  I've had the idea to do this for some time now.  Having a house and garage now, the ability to do projects like this are finally a reality again!  Any of you who have cats will know that to buy playhouses that are even 1/3 the size of this one costs a ridiculous amount of money!!!  Seriously.  A third of what you see in that picture might cost you $150-$200 at PetSMART!  So I was like... nah, I don't think so!  I'll make my own... even more epic than ANYTHING you could find in the store!! :)

It didn't quite come out like the CAD picture you see above.  But... in my opinion... it came out even better :) ...

Click here if you want to see the construction pictures!

And now... onto the fun...

Because of its size and weight, I had to carry it from the garage in pieces.  I left the ladders detached, the top detached, and then the main part of the playhouse was in two sections.  The above pictures follow the course of me bringing in the ladders, top piece and left main section.  Much as I expected, even just the pieces themselves aroused kitty curiosity, and they couldn't resist checking things out.  Note in the second picture from the left... Crichton's on this end, Angel on the far end... and Belle was actually inside the tube :)

Here they check out the right main section... the one with the neat tower on the end.  And as you might conclude from the picture on the right above... I think they might be diggin' that tower thing! :)

Leave it to the boy :)  I'm just glad I was able to grab some pictures :)

Completely assembled... some "minor glitches" worked out :)
...and now the fun begins...

Despite me using the power drill to screw in all the screws connecting everything, having the Dremel out to cut off the end of a screw that stuck through the little house, and having to hacksaw new flats on a big screw I stripped out when mounting the top piece, they STILL couldn't stay away! :)

Over and under, in and out, up and down... right from the start, they just couldn't get enough of this thing.  And I couldn't seem to snap pictures fast enough :)

At first, it looks like Angel is trying to attack and bite Belle!  Oh but wait... she just wanted to give her a back rub :)

In my opinion, here's one of the best action shots of the entire day :)

Again I say... leave it to the boy! :)  Here's a great series of pictures, snapped one right after the other, of Crichton being his mischievous little self.  The middle picture above definitely goes in my "best of" category :)

It was Sunday morning when I first set up the playhouse... and the photo ops went non-stop the whole day!  As they explored a little more and became more familiar with the playhouse, that's when they started figuring out the cool places to sit, lay, chase each other, or just plain perch for the best view of the room.

The above pictures are dedicated to Angel and Crichton... who never fail to be an absolute joy to watch and take pictures of :)  Second picture in from the right... "best of" material, definitely :)

The pictures never seem to end, huh? :)  The first picture on the left above... I managed to catch Crichton taking a break from the playhouse madness... basking in the afternoon sun coming through the front door.  The right two pictures above I think are absolutely adorable!  Belle is such a cutie... with the second picture in front the right definitely being "best of" material... head out one end, tail out the other :)  And then of course... the second picture in from the left... if Belle could talk, what do you suppose she's saying in that picture? :)

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The above series of pictures are hilarious.  Just check 'em out in order...

1) Crichton: "Ho hum... diggin' this... just kinda hangin' out..."

2) Crichton: "Ho hum... hum... hey... what the... there's a... !!!!"

3) Crichton: *paw* *swat* *paw*

Above are a couple good overall shots of the playhouse.  I'm so happy how nice it came out.  It looks really good sitting in the front room... colors and everything!  I'm good! *pats self on back* :)  Of course, it took about 10x longer than I thought it would to build... but hey... it was worth it :)

And the final pictures of the set... the above pictures were taken well into the evening.  The quality isn't so good because I didn't want to ruin the mood using a flash... so the light was a little too low.  They still came out wonderful though I think... with the first picture on the left of Crichton being, in my opinion, one of the absolute cutest pictures of the day :)  He's such a great cat.

Well... they all are... otherwise, I guess I wouldn't have spent two weeks building them the ultimate playhouse, huh? :)