Making Kid's Dreams Come True
Watertown Daily News
August 2, 2007
Kyle Hayes
Watertown native Barbara A. Butler, founder of Barbara Butler Artist-Builder, Inc. still fits into one of the hiding places in the Paddock Street home where she grew up. The home helped inspire her creations.
Fancy treehouses, pirate ships and towering castles can be figments of any child’s imagination, but for Barbara A. Butler, they are all in a day’s work.
Ms. Butler, a Watertown native, is the founder of Barbara Butler Artist-Builder Inc. in San Francisco, Calif. Year-round she travels the globe to castles in France or to the homes of the wealthy in
South Korea to build play structures.
But before her next trip to Seoul, South Korea, she decided to make a long-awaited visit to
Northern New Yorkwith her sisters, Suzanne M. and Eileen E. Butler, and Eileen’s husband, Bradford Furlong.
“I haven’t been back to
Watertownin 30 years,” Barbara Butler said. “I came back with the family for my sister’s (Suzanne) high school reunion and decided to come back to my old house.”
The house that she grew up in with her parents, the late James J. and Elizabeth Butler, is at 262 Paddock St., Watertown.
Its hiding spots, nooks, and crannies, and hallways inspired her designs for play structures, she said.
“There is a big tree that I had never even thought about building a tree house on, but now that I look at it, it’d be great,” said Ms. Butler.
One of the biggest influences from her childhood home was a speaking tube that ran from the kitchen to the master bedroom. The tube is no longer in the house, but as she walked through the home July 23 she pointed out many of the spots she hid in.
“I took a lot of inspiration from the house. I add a lot of frilly details and architecture to the things I make because of that house,” she said. “And I try and put speaking tubes, ones I‘ve made, into all my play structures.”
She said jails in play structures are “the biggest thing since sliced bread.” She often collaborates with children more than with parents, asking them about the things they enjoy and want to see in the play structures.
“I always make sure there’s a secret back door to the jails,” Ms. Butler said. “We don’t want anyone locking themselves in.”
Ms. Butler is working on a play structure in Las Vegas and is in the beginning stages of building a playhouse for a family in
Seoul.
“They actually flew me to Texas to pick out a tree for the
Las Vegas project,” she said. “We found the biggest tree we could and they transplanted it back in
Nevada.”
For each custom-made structure she normally makes one trip to the site to get an idea of the area, the land, and the surrounding environment. Then she returns to her studio in
California to design a structure based on her artistic abilities and the requirements from the parents and children who will be utilizing the structure.
BUILDING FOR CELELBRITIES
The result of her hard work and long hours has been hundreds of play structures, treehouses and forts built around the world. Celebrities such as Val Kilmer, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith and Kevin Kline have commissioned her to build backyard palaces on their estates.
“One of my favorite trips was to a 16th-century castle in
France,” said Ms. Butler. “We stayed right at this castle; it was just romantic. The family wanted us to build a Western-style play structure.
Ms. Butler graduated from SUNY Cortland, where she studied political science. She took graduate courses in English literature at
Binghamton
University. She is married to Jeffrey S. Beal.
“I dabbled in the arts for awhile; I wasn’t too sure what I wanted to do with my life,” Ms. Butler said.
She started working in construction with her brothers, James and Robert Butler, in
Washington, D.C., and remodeling brownstone houses near Capitol Hill. Then she decided to move to
San Franciscoand started a business with a friend doing work on backyards, hot tubs and decks.
“I never really thought about doing play structures until 1987 when Bobby McFerrin asked us to build a structure for his home,” she said.
Her company now employs about 15 people who help build the structures and transport them. However, the business is still largely based around Ms. Butler’s family.
“My sister Suzanne quit her job in
Connecticut to come handle much of the business, my brother James helps with the drafting and my niece helps with the books,” she said.
While she can’t disclose the name of the people in
Seoulshe will be working for, she said that they are a prominent family in the area.
“I can’t give too many details, but it’s a very nice family that enjoys art,” she said. “I love doing work for families like this that appreciate it and will enjoy everything about it.”
For Media & Publicity Inquiries, or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Jeanette Brown
Sarah Hall Productions, Inc.
670 Broadway - Suite 504
New York, NY 10012
Email: jeanette@shpny.com
Phone:(212) 529-1598
Fax:(212) 529-3171
