Windy Miller will struggle to hold the attention of children watching videos indoors now Wood Wizards, the master playhouse craftsmen have added this fabulous replica windmill to their range.

Handcrafted from the finest hardwoods and other quality wood and materials, the windmill is solidly constructed using traditional construction methods making the playhouse as solidly built as the customer's own home and with plenty of child-safe features added with safety in mind.

Joan Burns, managing partner of Wood Wizards, a family firm based in rural North Yorkshire, explains "There are many companies supplying brightly coloured plastic outdoor playhouses, but as these are structures which will grace the family garden for some years we wanted to cater for parents seeking a more aesthetic look which will actually enhance their garden design at the same time as providing a fabulous fun environment for the children to play outdoors."  "All the children who have seen the windmill have been captivated by it and it certainly helps to tempt them outdoors and away from the games consoles." 

As the playhouses are handbuilt, Wood Wizards only undertake a limited number of commissions a year, ensuring the play environments are elite as well as exciting.  Further details of the exclusive play environments including indoor designs such as the smugglers cottage, castle or shop can be found on the Wood Wizards website.

Once upon a time childrens' playhouses were nothing more imaginative than wobbly tree houses, paper-thin Wendy Houses or garden dens made from sticks and old sheets.  Then Wood Wizards worked their magic and created a whole new miniature world, full of adventures.

The Skipton family business specialises in child-sized houses, intricate and cosy handbuilt wooden structures scaled to fit into normal rooms.

Any adult trying to climb inside one would feel like Alice in Wonderland when she drank the potion that made her grow like a giant.

These houses are strictly for the children.  Once inside they're transported to magical worlds, such as a fisherman's den, a fairy tail castle with twisting turrets, or an enchanting teddy bears' picnic.

Because they fit into normal rooms, the playhouses can be used as bedrooms as well as play areas.

They are lovingly made by Barry Adamson and his partner Joan Burns.  It all started when Joan decided to build a playhouse for her twin grandsons.

"Joan had always loved and made dolls' houses but she wanted to go up a scale," says Barry.  "We had a spare bedroom which was perfect for an indoor playhouse and one winter night we put a plan into action."

The couple created a sturdy child-sized house in the style of a smuggler's cottage, complete with treasure chest, mini cannon, wooden barrel and model parrot, to about a third of the scale of a normal house.  With its own roof, front door, working windows, fitted lights and a living area and a bedroom, it's like a miniature version of a real seaside cottage.  It has gutters, ivy crawling up the walls, even a mini door knocker, and is furnished with a tiny cooking range, which looks real even though it's made from wood and painted black, and a little table, chairs and child's bed.

"It's perfect for grandchildren - they don't' want to come out once they're in there," laughs Barry.

The couple - Joan is an artist and seamstress and Barry has been making furniture most of his life - either make the mini furnishings or buy them from antique shops and bespoke furniture stores.  They often pick up pieces on overseas travels and have brought items back from places like Canada and Portugal.

Joan and Barry start with measuring up the room and deciding how the playhouses will fit into it, before drawing up a plan.  The houses are made from wood, painted to look like stone.  Wood pieces are cut, coated in polyfilla-like-substance, then coated in about six layers of pint and varnish.

The couple enjoyed making the little smuggler's cottage so much they decided to set up Wood Wizards.  "Initially we used an outbuilding as a studio, then expanded to our current premises in Stirton near Skipton," says Barry.  "We've found there's a real market for the playhouses.  Obviously they only suit bigger homes, because they have to fit into a spare room, but we make them for outdoor use too".

There's nothing else like them.  Most playhouses are glorified sheds, but we pay close attention to detail and try to make them as much like 'grown-up' buildings as possible.  It isn't until people actually see the attention to detail and 'magic touches' that they can really appreciate how wonderful these playhouses are.

"Our designer Stuart Peacock has produced six main designs but we work closely with clients and take their suggestions on board, if they want something like a boat instead of a house we'll work on that.  We'll try and fit them into awkward places, inside an extension, or sometimes they are free-standing.  And we value the ideas of children as much as their parents."

The other Wood Wizards' designs are: a medieval-style castle with a drawbridge and coat of arms, where dashing knights can fight dragons and rescue princesses; a cute teddy bear's picnic shop; a fabulous windmill with working sails; a grand manor complete with canopied bed; and a miniature railway with a mini Hogwarts Express-style steam train moving along a track.

Barry and Joan showcased their 16ft windmill at the Great Yorkshire Show this summer.  "Sourcing items for the windmill was hard work but very rewarding," says Joan, who is responsible for much of the exquisite furnishings.  The windmill's interior details include rustic wooden chairs, a copper kettle, bags of flour, some old-fashioned weighing scales, even a straw cockerel to add to the rural feel.

As well as being wonderful play areas, the houses have an educational element.  "These days so many children just sit in front of computer games all day, doing nothing more imaginative than fighting aliens," says Barry.  "These houses are places where children can use their imaginations, do some role playing and escape to another world.  And because they are in the style of historical and unusual buildings, children learn from their style and furnishings".

The little homes are portable and child-friendly, with no plugs, covered lights, and rounded corners.  The handcrafted structure and attention to detail and safety have earned Wood Wizards a place in the Guild of Master Craftsmen.

It's the garden feature guaranteed to put even Charlie Dimmock's finest efforts well and truly in the shade.  For, although Britain's backyards might be bulging with gazebos, decking and fountains thanks to fellow experts on TV's Groundforce, very few families can boast their own WINDMILL.

This 16ft-high handbuilt masterpiece could soon make you the envy of your neighbours - providing, of course, you've got plenty of space and thousands of pounds to spare.

It's the creation of North Yorkshire firm Wood Wizards, which specialises in out-of-the-ordinary playhouses.  And although the very idea would have literary adventurer Don Quixote spinning in his grave, bosses at Wood Wizards are sure there'll be no shortage of people eager to bring a touch of mill magic to their children's lives.

Barry Adamson, the master craftsman joiner who built the playhouse, said: "I just think there's something captivating about windmills that really does appeal to the young and the young at heart."  But folk who, like Quixote, have an aversion to windmills, need not worry - according to Barry, the only limit on what he will turn his hand to is provided by the customer's imagination.  He said: "We'll do smuggler's cottages, trains, teddy bears' picnics - whatever takes their fancy".

· Don Quixote - the eponymous hero of Miguel de Cervantes' classic 17th century novel - famously mistook a cluster of windmills for giants and was caught up by their sails after charging them on his mule.

WOOD Wizard founder and partner Joan Burns started thinking on a grander scale with the arrival of her twin grandsons. 

She and partner Barry Adamson set about creating what basically amounts to a miniature house within a house.  The child-sized fisherman's cottage that now sits in Joan and Barry's spare bedroom near Skipton was the inspiration for the launch of Wood Wizards; specialists in unique, bespoke children's play areas. 

Joan explained: "When my twin grandsons were born I intended to convert our spare bedroom into a nursery but after looking around there was nothing on the market that was interesting and engaging.  In the past I had been asked to make traditional wooden playhouses for outside so thought why can't we make one for indoors?  I spoke to Barry about the idea and he loved it".

It's obvious that Wood Wizards is a labour of love for Barry and Joan.  The sheer attention to detail apparent in the fisherman's cottage is testament to this.  Joan spent hours laboriously making the wooden exterior look like stone by covering the individual pieces in Polyfilla and then applying six separate coats of paint.  The interior has been plastered, painted and decorated and the kitchen boasts a miniature table and chairs, full crockery set and scale replica hearth.

"There really is nothing like it in the market place," said Joan.  Each individual piece takes around three months from commission to completion but Joan and Barry hope to reduce this timescale as they increase the workforce and refine working practices.

Wood Wizards intend to market their creations to the higher income home owners and commercially, to hotels, restaurants and pubs looking for that individual touch that will distinguish them from the local 'Wacky Wally's Fun Shack' franchise.  They currently have around a dozen designs, which can be adapted for either interior or exterior use.

Joan and Barry set up full time in August 2003 and have recently finished work on their second piece, 'The Flying Windmill' which, is currently sitting on their drive in Skipton.  "The windmill is roughly 18ft wide by 18ft high" explained Joan.  "So, as you can imagine, it's attracting quite a lot of interest from passers by". 

Wood Wizards intend to showcase the windmill and other designs at the Great Yorkshire Show in July.  "We have the product so now it's a case of making people aware of who we are and what we do".

A family firm that designs and builds large-scale playhouses has been awarded membership to the Guild of Master Craftsmen.

Wood Wizards, based in Stirton near Skipton, create unique and hand crafted indoor and outdoor play environments.  The wooden playhouses - including working windmills, rolling train carriages and castles with turrets and drawbridges - are designed to fit in existing rooms inside customers' homes or fully weatherproofed for construction in their gardens.

The company was examined by the Guild inspectors and customers were also asked about the quality of the Wood Wizards craftsmanship.

"The Guild was extremely impressed by our work, and made an extremely speedy decision to welcome us into their exclusive organisation," said Wood Wizards partner Barry Adamson.

"As a leading manufacturer of full-size hand-built wooden playhouses, the Guild recognised our unique approach to providing children with a play envirnonment that stimulated both their physical and imaginative development."

Children can now have their own house - or castle or train - in their home.

A team of wood craftsmen have launched a new indoor playhouse custom design and build sevice.  It would also appeal to play groups looking for something a bit different from the Fisher Price plastic models.

Wood Wizards is a family firm based in rural North Yorkshire.  It is offering a range of individually designed and built wooden play environments scaled to fit an entire room.

Each playhouse features several internal rooms fitted out as kitchens, bedrooms and living rooms in a style appropriate to the playhouse design.

Customers can choose from design templates including a smuggler's cottage, shop, castle and other styles.  The final design depends on the physical attributes of the room in which the playhouse will be erected and any personal stylistic touches.  For those who prefer, outdoor options such as windmills are available.

The Wood Wizards craftsmen begin the process of creating a dream play environment by analysing the space in which the playhouse will be located.  Working closely with the customer, the Wood Wizards designers create a tailor made playhouse specifically for that space using all the special designs and features requested by the client.

The playhouse itself is hand crafted from the finest hardwoods and other quality wood and materials.  The building is erected in the room itself using traditional construction methods making the playhouse as solidly built as the customer's own home.

As the playhouses are hand built, Wood Wizards only undertake a limited number of commissions a year, ensuring the play environments are elite as well as exciting.

Further details of the exlusive play environments, designs and features can be found by ringing Barry Adamson on 01756 794220.

Joan Burns has always been fascinated by playhouses and when her twin grandsons were conceived, she began planning a child-sized complete house which would fit into a spare bedroom in her converted barn near Skipton. Though her vast garden could easily have accommodated a traditional wooden playhouse, Joan wanted something that could be used all year round. Her partner, craftsman joiner Barry Adamson shared her vision and together they have created one of the most exclusive mini properties in the country.

The fisherman's' cottage they built in a bedroom, is about a third of the scale of a "grown up" house. The timber framed home wouldn't look out of place in Whitby and boasts its own roof, front door, working windows, lights and an upstairs bedroom with child sized bed. The inside has been plastered, painted and decorated and even has its own miniature cooking range, tiny tables and chairs and a miniature mac, sou'wester and wellies.  Needless to say, Joan's grandsons love it and so do family and friends. Estate agents would say it has the "wow factor".

Joan, who is an artist and an adept seamstress, spent hours making pieces of wood look like stone. She says: "We covered them in Pollyfilla and put six coats of paint on each piece. Then we had to apply a coat of fire resistant varnish on them". The roof tiles were also painted and cut by hand. "It was very enjoyable", says Barry. We loved making the house and we also found that we loved working together. That's why we thought we'd try and take it further. We are convinced there's a market.

"There's nothing like them anywhere. You can get playhouses outside, but nothing like this, to this standard and certainly nothing indoors. "We also think they'd be perfect for grandparents' houses".

So what started as a surprise for the family has grown into a small, rural business specialising in bespoke, child-sized houses within houses. The couple have turned an outbuilding into a workshop and the dinky des res's are retailing from £8000.00. Joan and Barry have decided to call themselves Wood Wizards, which is apt for a couple building magical houses.

The Fisherman's cottage is the show home, but they have drawn up detailed plans for a castle with turrets and towers and a working drawbridge; a teddy Bears Picnic Shop with till and scales; a Windmill with working sails; a Grand Manor; a Smuggler's Cottage, and every would-be train driver's dream, a child sized railway with a carriage that moves backwards and forwards on an oak track.

Joan says; "They are magical and they're fun, but also educational "Children have so much fun role playing in the houses, using their imaginations. They're also somewhere a child can escape to, a land of make believe".

The size of the tiny houses will depend on the size of your room. "Ideally you want to display three sides of the house if you want it to look realistic, but the rooms don't have to be enormous," says Barry. "The bedroom we used to house the smugglers cottage is 2.4 metres high 4.2 metres long and 3.4 metres wide."

The miniature homes, which are portable, are child friendly and have to adhere to safety standards. Barry says: "Safety is a big issue. There are no plugs inside. The lights are covered and we use LED lighting that isn't going to burn little fingers. The windows are toughened safety glass, and as far as we can we've rounded off corners."

The cottage has minute attention to detail to make it as realistic as possible. It has gutters, silk ivy climbing up the walls and a little door knocker. It is so effective that one friend asked Barry and Joan from where they had sourced their miniature cast iron fire. In fact, it's fashioned from wood and painted black.

Joan and Barry are keen to expand into the commercial market. "We hope that hotels might be interested in them as a play facility," says Joan. They are suitable for children from about two years upwards. Though Barry says: "We've had a 15-year-old in the cottage and he thinks it's great. My daughter, who is 11, slept in the bed when she came to stay and thought it fantastic.

"The other week, we had a five-year-old playing in cottage. When it was time to go home and her mother went upstairs to get her, we heard her screaming," I'm not coming out!"