Incredible playhouse: yours for just £85,000

The ultimate Wendy house has gone on display in Harrods: at a cost of £85,000. It's unlike anything you have ever seen before: a jaw-dropping vision in hand-crafted wood, copper and satin. It took a team of six craftsmen ten weeks to make it, and the end result is a turreted dream for any wannabe princess. But would anyone really spend that much on a playhouse?

The playhouse - called Room for a Princess - has to be seen to be believed. The exterior is made from tulipwood and cedar, but each turret is finished with hand-beaten copper, there's a satin curtain across the entrance, and the floor is an intricate pattern of American walnut, maple and oak.

The company behind the creation is The Master Wishmakers. It insists it doesn't use any of what it calls 'theme park trickery', but hand carves and builds its creations from scratch in the UK.
%VIRTUAL-ArticleSidebar-shopping%
Stunning
It prides itself on making playhouses as unique one-offs, so this particular house isn't for sale. Instead it functions as a dressing-up room for the store. It also doubles as a sales tool for the company - which has installed screens so that shoppers can view some of their other creations.

Harrods told the Daily Mail that they have had interest from a number of people - including shoppers from the Middle East as well as celebrity parents and Royals. However, they have not revealed how many have sold through the store. The Master Wishmakers, meanwhile, have only said they have been 'exceptionally busy'.

The company has clients all over the world - from New York to Dubai. Past projects have included an adventurer's house: a two storey house complete with a handcrafted kitchen, bedroom, and a garage for the mini jeep. There's also the Wonky Tonk - which is designed to look like a home-built den - but one that will last for generations. Then there's Folly Flower Cottage - a tumbledown two storey cottage with a slide to make getting down from the top more straightforward.

Article continues below

Cost
The playhouses are incredible, but it's worth putting the cost into perspective. For £85,000 you could take your pick from any number of real properties. You could have anything from a one bedroom flat in central Kendal or Bournemouth, to a two bedroom house in Mansfield or Warrington, or a three bed terrace in Liverpool or Preston.

Alternatively you could pay for four years at university (with average course costs of just over £10,000 and average living costs just over £12,000), or you could send them to private school for their secondary years.

But what do you think? If you had the money, would you buy one?

Shopping on AOL Money
Cheap Christmas jumpers: from Asda to Oxfam
How much is Britain's most expensive cup of tea?
Kitchen retailers accused of 'yo-yo' pricing