Family playhouse Four generations have played in this playhouse, built in 1914. Jean Cripe Guyer (left) first played in it, followed by her daughter, granddaughters, and great-grandchildren. Pictured with her are baby Emery, Maryn, Lauren, Kim, Tara, Bailey, Ann, and Cole. Comet photo by Jennifer Archibald Maryn Worl plays in the same playhouse that first belonged to her great-grandmother, Jean Guyer. Maryn is 5 and Jean is 95.

Jean was just nine months old when the playhouse was built at 507 East Columbia Street, Flora, where Jean lives today.

Jean’s father, Elmer Cripe, had the playhouse built at the same time he built his family’s new home, in 1914.

Jean’s sister, Lois, was born in 1915. Jean has vivid memories of the two of them playing with their dolls in the playhouse.

“That playhouse meant everything to us,” she said. She remembers how it was furnished.

Cousins Maryn and Cole are having a tea party inside the playhouse. Comet photo by Jennifer Archibald “I can see it as plain as anything,” she said. “A table and chairs, child’s sofa and rocking chair…a curtain separated it into two rooms – a kitchen and living room. In the kitchen part, Grandpa had put up shelves in the corner, like a three-shelved corner cupboard. The corner cupboard was my favorite.”

Jean said they sometimes ate in the playhouse, but mostly they made pretend food, such as dandelion macaroni and cheese, and mud pies.

Besides cooking, the little girls took care of their dolls – dressing, feeding and rocking them, and putting them to bed.

Jean said they had even more fun when the neighbors came over. Some of the neighbors had playhouses, too. Jean and her sister always thought their playhouse was special because an adult could stand up inside.

Dolls Sisters Lois and Jean Cripe are pictured with their dolls. Jean said in those days, all she ever wanted for Christmas was a doll. The girls liked playing with their dolls in their playhouse. Photo provided In the winter, the playhouse turned into a smokehouse for the meat that had been butchered on the family farm.

“Then in the spring, we would hose it out and scrub it, and bring back the furniture,” Jean said.

The three succeeding generations have heard Jean’s stories about the playhouse, and many of their own experiences are based on those stories. The playhouse has been moved five times, all in Flora, to accommodate little girls in the family.

Jean and her husband, Lester, had three boys, and then their last child was a girl, Ann. Like her mother, Ann Sheagley said she also played with dolls in the playhouse. Two neighbor girls also had playhouses, and they visited back and forth.

Jean said when she was a child, they just had a coal oil lamp that sat on the table. With the new generation, Ann got an electric light in the playhouse.

Ann grew up, got married, and had two daughters, Kim and Tara. The girls first played in the playhouse at their grandma’s, but then it was moved to their house.

Tara said she always thought of the playhouse as her “childhood castle.”

By the time the playhouse was at her house, it no longer had the curtain dividing it into two rooms, but recalling her grandma’s stories, she had a curtain installed.

Tara remembers one special Christmas when Grandma and Grandpa Guyer bought new furniture for the playhouse. They had gotten it at an auction, and it was the old fashioned kind, made out of wood. The Guyers gave it a fresh coat of paint. Among the new furnishings were a refrigerator, rocking chair, and corner cupboard.

Tara Fure has two children, Cole and Emery. Cole has played in the family playhouse, and Emery will have her turn when she grows a little bigger.

After Kim and Tara grew up, the playhouse went back to Jean’s house. Kim (and husband Kevin Worl) have three daughters, Bailey, 14; Lauren, 11; and Maryn. They formerly lived in Kokomo, and the girls played in the playhouse when they visited at Jean’s house in Flora.

In 2007 the Worls moved to Flora, and this past summer, the playhouse was moved to their house at 308 East Main.

Kim said she thought about changing the furnishings, but she remembered all her grandma’s stories.

“I wanted to keep it oldlooking and simple, so the kids could use their imagination,” she said. Kim added that the children’s kitchen sets today are too big and wouldn’t leave much room to play.

Maryn sometimes eats breakfast in the playhouse, and has tea parties and plays with dolls, just like her greatgrandma did.

Although the playhouse has not been used as a smokehouse for years, every spring the little house is hosed and scrubbed.

The playhouse has been well cared for over the years. In the ‘90s, carpet was added, and the house was sided and a new roof put on.

Kim says it no longer has electricity, so they plan to reelectrify it and refurbish the front door.

Although Kim’s older daughters don’t play in the house anymore, they’re going to use it for sleepovers. Bailey already had friends overnight before the end of the summer. Kim said the room is just right for three girls.

Jean said this isn’t the first time the playhouse has been at 308 East Main. The Worls’ house was built in 1914 by Jean’s grandparents, John and Drusilla Cripe. When Jean was four, her mother died, and she and her sister and father went to live with her grandparents. The playhouse came with them.

Jean’s father remarried when she was 12. Her family continued to live at 308 E. Main, and her grandparents moved next door.

Jean and Lester married in 1935, and they bought her early childhood home at 507 East Columbia in 1943. They moved the playhouse there after Ann was born.

When local builder Charles Tritle constructed the playhouse in 1914, he probably never imagined that it would still be around almost a century later. He charged $25 to build it. The value now is priceless.