Step2 Gather & Grille Playhouse

We chose this to establish a dramatic play center outside for our preschool program (we are at a public elementary school and have a separate playground for our preschoolers). Our children range in age from 3 to 5 1/2 and developmentally range in age from 1 to 6. This was the answer. All of the children are able to access it, it allows the teachers to see easily into it, and 5-6 children can use it at the same time (more often try). It really encourages the children to have parties and invite each other to come and eat ... just right for our our door play space. It shipped quickly, and our custodian said it was easy to put together (just a few screws). I'm quite certain it would work well for a home, home or center based day care, or even a school. Well designed.

I bought this playhouse at the end of January in 2011. It has withstood Austin heat, cold, storms, and drought and lots and lots of play. Two more grandchildren are almost old enough to play with it, and I'm sure they will love it like the others. I put a little picnic table next to it, and the children have produced many wonderful pretend meals. One thing I really appreciate about this playhouse, having had it so long, is that that you can easily get replacement parts, and they're reasonably priced. I replaced the decals a few years ago, and I've just ordered the second replacement doorbell. It is amazing the original decals and doorbell lasted as long as they did. The doorbell, especially, gets constant use. Little ones LOVE to ring it (over and over and over, and each time you have to say, "Who is it?"). The playhouse was expensive for me, but I'm very glad I got it.

The concept itself is great and the kids love it but it was super difficult to put together. none of the holes were drilled, just indentations and some of the spots were very difficult to reach. You have to have a good drill to put this together and a lot of patience. The instructions are lousy.

I purchased this item for my grandson's 3rd birthday, he absolutely loves it. This house is very sturdy and the open air design allows quite a few kids to play in it together, I even fit in it. The bbq section is a big hit but I recommend purchasing various food items to promote the imagination. My son put it together without any assitance from anyone....he said it was fairly simple. I recommend this over the more expensive model...which I contemplated....but it was just a big house with nothing to do.

My daughter got this from her grandparents and uncle for her 3rd birthday. It was put together in a little over an hour with 3 people (and with very clean language - little frustration). It is being used by her and her 1.5 year old brother, along with several neighborhood kids who have been over to play. 2 toddlers comfortably fit inside, while 1-2 others can hang out in the "BBQ area". She loves the grill and the grill utensils (keeps telling me "Mommy, I have work to do.") Seems sturdy but in the interest of fairness we've only had it a few days. My only complaints are that the doorbell didn't work right out of the box (I contacted the company so we'll see what happens with that) and that the windows have no shutters (yes, we knew that going in, but our neighbor has another Step2 playhouse with shutters so my daughter was slightly disappointed this one had none - but the grill and other features like sink and stove seem to make up for that fact).Overall, it's a great little house and I judging from the use it's gotten just in the few days since it's been assembled, our toddlers would highly recommend it!

This product is cute, sturdy, and a good size. An adult can easily sit in the house with a child. My two year old can spend hours at a time playing with this house. It was a great Christmas present, and have no doubt she will enjoy it for years to come.

The box was sealed with no issues however inside one piece was bent with a puncture mark and another piece looked like it had cracked and the plastic melted to seal the crack. There was also a sealed package of parts that was to have 3 hooks for the grill parts and there were 2.

We have had this playhouse for 2 years now and stored it inside for winter. It was easy to assemble and my kids enjoy playing with it. However, all of the stickers have peeled off. I called customer service and after 20+minutes on hold, the woman told me it would cost $25 for replacement stickers. I asked her how a $430 playhouse does not offer replacement stickers?" She was so rude and replied "yup, that's right" and hung up on me. Now, I would've paid the $ for them but her rudeness was unbeleivable (and plus she hung up on me!) I always buy step 2 products...not any more! I will not buy from a company that does not stand behind their products and has such awful customer service. I wrote a review on the step 2 website, it was up for about 3 minutes, then it was taken down. If that doesn't speak volumes!!! So, if you choose to go ahead with this very expensive purchase, beware of the terrible service if anything goes wrong!