A Lawrence architect, artist and builders have pooled their talents to construct a children’s playhouse.

The structure will be raffled to raise money for the Douglas County Court Appointed Special Advocate program. The 12th annual Casa 4 CASA fund-raiser begins Friday and runs through July 20.

The benefit allows community members to sign up to win the playhouse with a donation to CASA. To enter the giveaway, a donation of at least $1 must be made.

The CASA program trains volunteers to represent abused and neglected children in court. This is the 12th year of operation for the Douglas County branch of the national program.

This year, benefit organizers decided to add another week to allow for more donations after discovering that a similar fund-raiser in Barton County lasted months.

“We decided that Lawrence was big enough to support a longer fund-raiser,” said Sarah Hill, co-chairwoman of Casa 4 CASA.

In past years, the playhouse has taken such shapes as a firehouse, lighthouse or other design. This year’s playhouse is described as whimsical, built to resemble the way a child might draw a house.

The idea came together thanks to connections of benefit co-chairwoman Tracy Ford Stacey. Groene Brothers Construction had built her house, and offered to build this year’s playhouse after learning of the project.

Jonathan Groene, Lawrence, works on this year's CASA playhouse, being built by Groene Brothers Construction. The playhouse, which is 8 feet by 8 feet by 12 feet, will be raffled off to raise money for Douglas County Court Appointed Special Advocates.

“It has all sort of steam-rolled from there,” Stacey said. “It really became a community effort.”

Groene Brothers brought in Dan Sabatini and Associates to design the playhouse, inspired by the work of local artist Joelle Ford. Ford, who is Stacey’s mother, is known for her child-like style and will paint the inside and outside of the house.

It will be unveiled Friday at a premiere party for CASA contributors at the Ludington-Thatcher House, 1630 Tenn.

Last year’s donations reached an unprecedented $19,000, and organizers said they were hoping to raise even more in this year’s extended time frame.

CASA director Kerry Gaines said donations would be used to expand and diversify CASA’s volunteer base, which stands at 47 volunteers.

“If we could get more volunteers and actually have the funds to monitor and train them, that would be the key for us,” Gaines said.