A little girl’s playhouse is at the center of a neighborhood controversy – after the homeowners association asked the family to take it down.
Emma Goolsby has a small pink playhouse in her backyard in Blue Springs, Missouri, that she has filled with flowers, books and crafts.
The six-year-old has a serious autoimmune disorder, and goes to her playhouse each day for breathing treatments, according to KSHB.
A little girl’s playhouse is at the center of a neighborhood controversy – after the homeowners association asked the family to take it down
Emma Goolsby has a small pink playhouse in her backyard in Blue Springs, Missouri, that she has filled with flowers, books and crafts
But the neighborhood’s homeowners association said the house violates a no-shed policy – and has told the family they have to take it down.
‘Our HOA bylaws say you can’t have a metal shed, but it doesn’t say anything about a playhouse,’ Emma’s grandmother Bobbie Goolsby told KSHB.
She said both she and her realtor specifically asked before buying the house and were told the playhouse would be fine.
‘It’s sad they’re picking on a child’s playhouse,’ she explained.
In an email on September 10 the HOA told the news station that the playhouse will have to be removed.
The association said it normally approves of wooden play-sets, but that this one in particular is in violation of its rules.
Other neighbors have said they don’t have any problems with the playhouse.
Emma’s family said they would be devastated if they had to remove the house – which serves as a safe space for the six-year-old. She is suffering from an autoimmune disorder and goes there for her breathing treatments. Emma is pictured with her mother
‘Our HOA bylaws say you can’t have a metal shed, but it doesn’t say anything about a playhouse,’ Emma’s grandmother Bobbie Goolsby (pictured) told KSHB
‘We would prefer not to take legal action, but will move forward if not resolved,’ the email said.
The association said the family had these guidelines prior to buying their home.
But the Goolsbys aren’t giving up so easily.
Emma said the playhouse is ‘my world,’ and her family has said they would all be ‘devastated’ if it had to be removed.
That is especially so because Emma’s family nearly lost her earlier in life to a serious autoimmune disorder.
It is not clear what the autoimmune disorder is, but Goolsby said the playhouse is Emma’s ‘safe space’ where she can go to feel better.