And for all the blood, sweat and tears, the 55-year-old self-employed contractor put into the unique home, he feels no remorse over the fact that no one will ever live in it. Nor do any of the other contractors who built homes to be auctioned off at a June charity event.

Demkowski and several other contractors and architects volunteered their time, tools and resources to build one-of-a kind and elaborate playhouses for a biennial auction to support the nonprofit organization Rebuilding Together.

The nationwide organization, formerly known as Christmas in April, specializes in forming volunteer partnerships with corporate companies to fix dilapidated houses and civic facilities for low-income, elderly and disabled residents. The auction, called "Dreams Happen," helps support the Redwood City branch of Rebuilding Together.

Demkowski's playhouse, christened "California Dreamin'," is on display with several other playhouses at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, where they can be viewed by shoppers before the June 7 charity auction.

Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer Perfect Getaway: At the Stanford Shopping Center, twins Megan (left) and Claire Buioochi ogle a playhouse built by Steve Demkowski, Mike Gillick and Steve Chevelle. The house will be auctioned at a Rebuilding Together charity event.

"Nothing prepared me for how hard this was going to be," the Willow Glen resident says. The seemingly two-story shingled house is really a single-room box with a 12-foot ceiling, a patio and a ladder that leads to a balcony and a slide. The whole house is designed for children to play in.

"Working on my own house is nothing compared to a kid's house," Demkowski says. "For the playhouse I had to drill and paint and do all kinds of work while crouching or sitting in awkward positions. It was really uncomfortable."

But the discomfort was worth enduring for the results. Demkowski and two other Willow Glen contractors worked off of a Palo Alto architect's designs to produce a cottage similar to those of the Willow Glen neighborhood it was built in.

"California Dreamin' was built in Willow Glen, looks like it belongs in Willow Glen, and I hope it goes to someone in Willow Glen," Demkowski says.

California Dreamin' has electrical wiring, five exterior lights and two interior wall sconces.

"Heck, you could put an armchair or a computer in there," laughs Demkowski.

"Maybe even a Jacuzzi," adds Mike Gillick of Gillick Consulting and Construction. Both he and Demkowski have worked on Rebuilding Together projects before, but this is the first time for both to participate in the Dreams Happen charity event.

Gillick and Demkowski, along with Steve Chevelle of Chevelle Construction—also of Willow Glen—were determined not to treat this project like child's play.

"The most challenging part was taking the architect's concept and getting his idea of what it needs to look like," Gillick said, "plus putting in what we wanted and making it look just right."

Photograph courtesy of Steve Demkowski Built to Last: Steve Chevelle works on a playhouse that will be auctioned at the Dreams Happen charity event on June 7. Chevelle worked with Mike Gillick and Steve Demkowski for three months building the house in Demkowski's driveway.

"Steve and I are very particular in that both of us have remodeled our homes and done things that no one else would do to their own homes," Gillick said.

An example of the playhouse's uniqueness is its roof, which Gillick says will last a hundred years. Demkowski's team went all out to waterproof the roof with copper lining and other weather-resistant materials.

"Actually, you could even step inside and hose the whole thing out to clean it," Demkowski said.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature decided to test the house and its builders' patience with rain during a couple weekends.

"Ah! It was terrible!" Demkowski says, though he can laugh about it now. "I had this tarp stretched across the work area and it worked really well" to keep the area dry, "until the winds came and wrapped it around my electrical wire, so that was the end of that. It was a nightmare; we were soaking wet."

Demkowski was also grateful that his neighbors were supportive while the playhouse was being constructed in his driveway.

"My neighbors are great," he says. "I was shooting nails with my nail gun at 10:30 at night."

But he says no one complained, although one person did ask what he was doing.

"And as soon as I told her it was for a charity, that was all she needed to hear," he says.

Once the house was completed, the next major hurdle was to transport it to the Stanford Shopping Center.

Rebuilding Together sent a truck to Demkowski's home and staff helped hoist the house onto the trailer and carry it down Willow Street on the wrong side of the road so as to avoid low-hanging telephone cables.

California Dreamin' arrived intact at the Stanford Shopping Center, where it waits bids along with a boathouse, a castle, a Harry Potter­inspired cottage called Raven's Claw, and a Hansel and Gretel house built by a Girl Scout troop.

It was the eclectic mix of houses at the 2001 auction that inspired and intrigued architect Terry Beaubois to design California Dreamin' for this year's charity event.

"I was impressed with other houses in the past, their creativity and quality; the bar was pretty high as far as the designs," Beaubois says. "I thought it was a wonderful opportunity. It was one of the most challenging designs I've ever made. Rewarding but challenging."

Photograph courtesy of Steve Demkowski Location, Location, Location: California Dreamin', a playhouse that will be auctioned at the Dreams Happen charity event on June 7, was built by contractor Steve Demkowski and his fellow contractors Mike Gillick and Steve Chevelle.

"Steve and I both have gray hair, so we wanted to show the young guys how it's done," Beaubois says. "Even one of the organizers was teasing us about how the professionals weren't to be outdone by the Girl Scouts."

Nevertheless, the three-man team is proud of its project; the materials alone are estimated at $24,000, Demkowski says. "Every one of those houses up for auction is a bargain" compared to the cost of the design, materials and labor required to build them.

However, he warns against getting caught up in the actual dollars it cost to build a playhouse of this magnitude.

"I've seen other contractors get upset that for all their hard work and money, their playhouses are auctioned off for less than what they think their worth, and you just can't go into this with that attitude," he says.

Demkowski's hope is that the playhouse's final bid is ample and that the purchase price helps Rebuilding Together reach its goal of raising a quarter of a million dollars—the same amount raised in 2001.

All the houses will begin with an opening bid of $1,800. Last time the lowest bid for a house was $6,000 and the highest was $31,000, says Lorretta Cullinane, executive director for Rebuilding Together Peninsula, whose jurisdiction is from Daly City to Sunnyvale. Willow Glen is within the jurisdiction of Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley.

The 2003 Dreams Happen auction is the Peninsula branch's sixth, and its sole source of funding, which it uses to pay for its office and staff for two years. During the past six auctions the branch has accumulated about $1 million, she says.

The Junior League of Palo Alto created the branch in 1989. The first program was completed in April 1990, when 500 volunteers renovated 18 homes and community facilities. Since its founding, Rebuilding Together Peninsula has repaired 589 homes and 125 community facilities, making $17.625 million worth of repairs with 51,800 volunteers.

The idea of auctioning playhouses was "to give us consistent revenue we could count on. Corporate donations and service organizations help, but not enough to run the office throughout the year. So we wanted to be different and create an event that has lots of draw and ties in with what we do, which is home repair," Cullinane says.

Rebuilding Together changed its name from Christmas in April in 2001 to a name that reflected the organization's outreach efforts. The organization also wanted to remove seasonal limitations from its name.

Traditionally, the organization would select a needy household or community service building and send volunteers to fix it up on the last Saturday of April, called National Rebuilding Day.

The live auction will include dinner, drinks and dancing to a 1970s and 1980s theme band.

"Hopefully, very, very rich people" will bid on the houses, Demkowski chuckles.

For Demkowski, reflecting back on what at the time seemed like quite an ordeal was worth all the time and energy.

"It's like having a baby, you know?" he says. "The first one was such hard work, but once we got the house on the truck and everyone was so excited to see how great it looked, there's just no way anyone could keep me away from making another house next time."

Gillick agrees.

"Our imagination has been opened," he says.

Beaubois is also up to the challenge.

"I would like to do this again. I think I know everything I need to to design a playhouse, but I look forward to being more creative next time." he says.

The Dreams Happen Playhouse Auction and Gala on June 7 starts at 6:30 p.m. in the Stanford Shopping Center. Tickets are $85.

For more information on Dreams Happen or Rebuilding Together, write P.O. Box 4031, Menlo Park, 94026-4031, call 650.366.6597 or visit www.rebuildingtogetherpeninsula.org.