This playhouse is an ailing little girl’s quiet place. The HOA wants it gone

You can see the bright pink playhouse from Missouri 7, across a soybean field on the edge of a neighborhood called Rockhill, near the border of Blue Springs and Independence.

The 8-by-8-foot house has a porch with real flowers in pots and bird feeders. It has shingles and windows with screens. Inside is a chalkboard, stuffed animals and a reading nook.

“It is my world,” says Emma Monroe, a 6-year-old girl with health problems.

No, it is a shed, says the Rockhill Homeowners’ Association, and it must go.

Emma’s family and the HOA are locked in a familiar dispute. The family says the playhouse isn’t an eyesore and isn’t hurting anybody. The HOA says the rules are in place to protect everyone’s property values.

Lawyers are involved.

“This building remains unacceptable to the Rockhill HOA and needs to be removed immediately,” stated an Aug. 21 letter from attorney David Zeiler, who was hired by the HOA. “You have 15 days from the date of this letter to remove the building, and all appurtenances to it.”

Emma lives with her mother, Ashley Monroe, and her grandparents Bobbie and Benny Goolsby. They say they are the victims of selective enforcement of rules in a neighborhood that has other outbuildings and plenty of backyard play stations.

“It’s definitely not a shed,” Bobbie Goolsby said of the playhouse. “It’s never had a weed eater in it. It’s never had a shovel in it. That’s her safe place.”

Emma was born with health issues. She is prone to sudden fevers and breathing problems. She is being treated at a clinic for “various internal medicine, neurological, and psychosomatic conditions,” her doctor wrote this month in a letter to the HOA. “Her specific diagnoses are very similar to PTSD — post-traumatic stress disorder.”

The Goolsbys bought the $3,500 playhouse for Emma when she was 2 years old, and she has become very attached to it. When she began to resist her regular breathing treatments, the family found they could make them easier by combining them with reading sessions in the playhouse.

Earlier this year the family decided to move and went looking for a new home. A top consideration was that the playhouse would move with them.

Chiropractor Scott Hollis said the playhouse “is required and declared medically necessary for Ms. Monroe to have the use of her main non-intrusive environmental/situational quiet space, her sanctuary so to speak, in order for her to receive her medically prescribed breathing treatments, which are necessary for her day to day health and to avoid hospitalization.”

Bobbie Goolsby said both she and her real estate agent received verbal assurances from then-HOA president DeeAnn Myers that the playhouse would be fine. The Goolsbys had it relocated to their new backyard this spring before they even moved in. That’s when they began hearing that it was unacceptable.

“This item will be considered a shed (due to size/shape/dimension) and needs to be removed from the neighborhood promptly (within the next 10 days) as we have had numerous complaints due to its visibility from the entrance,” stated a May 10 letter from a management company hired by the HOA.

The Rockhill covenants say “no building, fence walls, residence, or other structure shall be commenced, erected, maintained, improved, altered, made or done without the prior written consent” of the HOA.

Myers did not respond to a request for comment, but she earlier addressed Bobbie Goolsby in the Rockhill chat room.

“We had a conversation about you putting in a fence and play set similar to what was already in the neighborhood,” she wrote. “I advised you to send requests in writing...for aproval. One person cannot approve a verbal request. This was never approved by the board. You and your Realtor knew the rules and had copies of the (covenants).”

There has been plenty of discussion about the situation in the chat room.

“I toured the ‘shed’ which is actually a real child’s playhouse,” wrote one resident. “It is very cute and is nowhere near an eyesore.... I’ve seen many other issues in this neighborhood that we should focus on compared to a playhouse.”

Another resident tried to put the dispute in context: “I hope every single person on this page is ready to tear up their fences, fountains, play sets, whatever, because there’s a metric ton of us technically in violation.”

A similar situation arose in 2015 in the Stonegate subdivision in Raymore. A 6-year-old girl with leukemia wanted a playhouse, but the HOA initially denied it. After reconsidering, board members changed their minds and approved it.

The Star last year reported a series of stories about disputes with “HOAs from hell.”

Bobbie Goolsby said her family will fight any legal action the Rockhill HOA might take against them. In the meantime, they are asking it to approve a fence, a new roof and new paint for their house. They are willing to paint the pink playhouse the same color as their home, if that would make a difference.

Emma began first grade this fall, but she spends much of her time at home in her playhouse.

“It’s sad,” Bobbie Goolsby said of the situation. “This little kid shouldn’t have to worry about grown adults fighting over a playhouse. She should be able to come out here and be free to play.”

This story was originally published September 28, 2017 at 2:01 PM with the headline "This playhouse is an ailing little girl’s quiet place. The HOA wants it gone."