For most people, a thrilling ride down a slide necessitates a trip to a park or adventure playground.
But for some families it doesn’t even involve stepping outside their door.
It may sound like every child’s dream, but a growing number of homeowners have installed indoor slides that enable them to zip from the top of the house to the bottom in a jiffy.
Here, SADIE NICHOLAS meets the families who’ve found a fun alternative to the boring old stairs...
Children adore it, but grown-ups go crazy!Charlie Freeman is an actor, musician and artist, and lives in Notting Hill, West London. Charlie says:
Every visitor immediately wants to whizz down my steel slide and who can blame them?
I did exactly the same thing when I viewed the property three years ago and was amazed how it instantly brought out the child in me.
Charlie Freeman is an actor, musician and artist, and lives in Notting Hill, West London. He says every visitor immediately wants to whizz down his steel slide - and who can blame them?
The top of the slide sits beneath a trap door in the floor of the master bedroom and transports you down to the sitting room below.
The woman I bought the house from was an artist with a real sense of fun. She told me one estate agent did herself a mischief while demonstrating it to a prospective buyer.
It’s quite a size and would look big in a kids’ playground. I always warn friends to be careful because you come down at quite a pace.
There isn’t a mat at the bottom, you’re supposed to just concentrate on what you’re doing and land on your feet. But after a few tipples at a party nobody’s interested in my advice. One friend suffered a broken coccyx after landing awkwardly and there have been a couple of split foreheads that needed stitching.
The top of the slide sits beneath a trap door in the floor of the master bedroom and transports him down to the sitting room below
But generally the slide is the most enormous fun. I’ve spent the past year renovating the house and, when it’s finished, I’ll throw a party for my family, including nieces and nephews who will be waiting patiently to play on the slide.
I have lots of godchildren and they love it. But the grown-ups have as much fun and I love seeing how joyous they are when they spot it.
It adds a real energy to my home, which spans 4,000 sq ft across four floors, including a basement that I’m converting into a cinema, spa and music recording studio.
I’d never seen a property with a slide between floors before and although my home has many great features, the slide is the biggest talking — and laughing — point.
It cost £11k and is worth every pennyJane Hughes, 59, owns Wye Valley Canoes and a neighbouring cafe, and lives next door in Glasbury, near Hay-on-Wye. She is divorced with two daughters, aged 29 and 30. Jane says:
On A glum day, one thing guaranteed to put a smile to my face is zipping down my large, funnel-style indoor slide. It runs from the open-plan living space to the front door of the Welsh Baptist chapel I bought for £170,000, and renovated six years ago.
Jane Hughes, 59, owns Wye Valley Canoes and a neighbouring cafe, and lives next door in Glasbury, near Hay-on-Wye. The slide runs from the open-plan living space to the front door of the Welsh Baptist chapel she bought for £170,000, and renovated six years ago
One day a local gentleman came into my cafe and said: ‘I hear you’ve bought the chapel — I hope you’ll have a slide in it!’
I thought: ‘What a great idea.’ The slide is German and cost £11,000. I rent out the property and a couple hired it for their joint 80th birthday party. They zoomed down the slide to greet everyone at the front door!
As for the gentleman who gave me the idea, I invited him to the housewarming and he was terribly amused that I’d gone for it.
Jump on and your stress slides awaySusanna Parry Michaelis, 47, is
