A playhouse reminiscent of the realms of fantasy novels has been making appearances around town this summer. Lawrence High School students constructed the Hobbit-inspired playhouse as a class project, and it will be raffled off Friday as part of an annual fundraiser for Douglas County CASA, or Court Appointed Special Advocates.

This is the first year that the playhouse was made by students as part of the longstanding CASA fundraiser, said Diana Frederick, CASA executive director. Frederick said what the students came up with was unique.

“When you’ve done playhouses for more than 20 years, it’s really hard to come up with something fresh,” she said. “We were really pleased by the theme.”

The playhouse — dome-shaped with round windows and an ornate, circular front door — was designed to look like a house from the Shire, where the Hobbits live in the novels by J.R.R. Tolkien. But there are some additions, such as a climbing wall, lookout tower and slide.

LHS students in a capstone architecture and engineering class made the playhouse for their semester project last spring, said Charlie Lauts, who teaches the class. The project was the first of its kind for the students, who usually construct things on a much smaller scale, Lauts said.

“We have never done anything as big as that,” she said. “It’s the first time we have built anything that you could actually walk through.”

Eight students worked on the project, which included making the design, 3-D drawings and materials lists for two potential playhouses, and then presenting both ideas to the CASA board of directors, Lauts said.

“The biggest benefit that the kids got out of it is that it was real-world experience, from creating the sketch ideas, to making it 3-D on a computer, to making it in real life,” she said, noting that LHS woodworking teacher Jay Hundley also helped out with construction.

Seth Israel, a senior at LHS who worked on the project and would like to be an architect, said the experience taught him a lot, from technical terms to learning about working with different types of wood and screws.

“It was really cool to be away from the pencils and paper and actually be able to work with something hands-on,” Israel said.

In years past, the playhouses have been constructed and donated by a variety of local builders, architects and construction firms, but recently the project has skipped a few years, and Frederick said she was glad to have students involved.

“When you do something like this for 20 years, it got harder and harder each year to find someone to donate and build,” Frederick said.

CASA volunteers are trained to advocate for children who have been abused and neglected and are under the protection of the court, and Frederick said it was meaningful to have local high school students helping other youth.

“The playhouse is a really meaningful fundraiser for us because it’s the symbol of a home and a reminder of the joys of childhood, and so many children served by CASA miss out on some of those joys,” she said.

First Construction donated the materials for the playhouse, and Eagle Trailer provided the trailer to move it around town, Frederick said. Lauts’ students will make another playhouse this school year as part of a yearlong course, and in the future students from both high schools at the district’s newly opened College and Career Center will construct the playhouses. Frederick said she is looking forward to the partnership.

“It’s going to be really fun to see the ideas they come up with, especially with a whole year to work on it,” she said.

Raffle tickets for a chance to win the playhouse can be purchased with a $5 donation through Thursday on CASA’s website at dccasa.org or until noon Friday at its office, 1009 New Hampshire St. The raffle will take place at 7 p.m. Friday at Abe and Jake’s Landing, 8 E. Sixth St. The winner does not have to be present, Frederick said.