It may do little for resale value, but some home owners have managed to install slides inside their residences,to the delight of their kids and grown-up guests.
Scott Jones, 54, spent roughly $150,000 of a $10 million home renovation on the installation of a 28-foot slide made of mahogany that curves down to the main living area of his residence in Carmel, Indiana.
Expertise in residential slide construction is scarce, so Jones hired a boat builder to construct his two-ton slide using a veneering technique called cold-molding. The mahogany slide took 18 months to build and install. Jones said kids and adult guests alike use it: “I like everyone to have fun.”
Steve Kuhl, a Minneapolis-based home builder, spent between $8,000 and $9,000 to install a plastic chute in his home, valued at $1.3 million. He used computer software to make a three-dimensional rendering of the 22-foot slide to determine how to fit it into his house.
Kuhl says the slide is a source of both fun and exercise for his children, ages two and four: “If they want to do it again, they have to climb the stairs.”
He says adult guests indulge, too, especially when they imbibe: “I’ve had to clean up more than one cocktail from the slide.”
John and September Higham bought a home in Mountain View, California, in 1999 and decided to put a slide and other jungle gym equipment inside their residence because its backyard had a limited space for their children to play.
Mrs. Higham, an aerospace engineer, said the components of the slide cost $600 and took several days to install. Though her kids are now 21 and 18, they and their friends still ride the slide. “Kids don’t really grow out of these,” she said. [Wall Street Journal] — Mike Seemuth