BANGS — It is a great place to play, and nearly 4-year-old Ty Joedward Adams clearly enjoys romping on the deck, swinging bridge and slide he and his granddad built together. His grandfather is Abe Adams, now 72, a longtime blacksmith who lives on the corner of U.S. 36 and Fairview Road, southwest of Mount Vernon.
With Ty starting to grow up, Adams started the house project partly as recovery therapy after the death of his wife, Sue, last August.
The start of the project was modest enough. Ty, called “Little Man” by Adams, wanted a slide. So Adams put it on a slope behind the home of Ty’s parents, Buck and Amy Adams, who live on Fairview Road just up the hill from Adams’ home. Rather than climbing the ladder to the slide, Adams decided to build a deck. Then came an 8-by-8-foot house, and, off to one side, a swinging bridge supported by the deck on each end. Because Ty didn’t want to climb steps to the deck from the slope on the upper side, Adams built a ramp.
Of course, all of this has to be painted, and Ty readily participated. But Adams said it was a little messy; as he explained, a 3-year-old isn’t that good with a paint brush. What to say when Ty asked his “Granderd,” as he calls Adams, if he was doing a good job?
As the work progressed, friends and neighbors stopped by, then brought materials to build the structure.
Doug, Mel and Steve Shannon supplied all the decking. Ruth and Guy VanNostrand brought the roofing material. And there were others who donated materials and came to watch during the 6 1/2 months of construction.
“It took a while,” Adams said, “but we got her done. Well almost; there is no interior in the house. The final touch will be an intercom between his mom in the home, and the house.”
In addition to playing in the playhouse they built together, Ty likes to fish with Granderd, and can name the bait he uses to catch bluegills and shell crackers.