NEW CANAAN, Conn. (AP) – Andrew Oakes is almost 9 years old. He wants to spend his birthday at his grandfather’s barn, but he hasn’t built up the courage to ask yet.

That’s because the barn, tucked away to the side of his grandfather’s home in New Canaan, boasts more than horses, hay or old tools.

It’s a gigantic playhouse, with more amenities than a Chuck E. Cheese’s.

A new breed of luxury playhouses is being forged by wealthy families who want to pamper their children, builders said. The playhouses are bigger, more elaborate and can cost tens of thousands of dollars – or more.

“If you think of a house and all the amenities it has, that’s what they request now in their playhouses,” said Michelle Pollak, president of the design firm for La Petite Maison Playhouses in Denver. “They function as a small home but they’re for their kids.”

The nearly 10,000-square-foot entertainment barn is the quintessential example of an off-the-hook playhouse.

The multimillion-dollar complex is equipped with a half-court basketball gym, an arcade, a movie theater with oversized leather seats and a miniature bowling alley. It also has a stage with Broadway-style lighting, a dance studio, a French country-style kitchen and a large dining area.

And that doesn’t even include sleeping accommodations. The playhouse boasts two rooms – each with eight bunk beds, a suite and three bathrooms on the top floor of the barn. A pine staircase winds its way up through the three floors, tying the barn together.

“It’s really great,” Andrew said. “You can find refrigerators that look like drawers in the barn. I also like the movie theater and the bowling alley.”

Luxury playhouses are the newest craze for wealthy New Canaan families, said Nick Tangorro, a town assistant building inspector. He’s seen three pop up, including the barn, in the past few years.

“It’s just unusual,” Tangorro said. “You can rest assured I didn’t have one of those when I was a kid and I still don’t. I was just in awe when I looked at (the barn).”

Rodney and Beverly Hawes, both 67, designed and had the barn built for their 20 grandchildren, who occasionally visit from different parts of the country. For the Hawes, the playhouse is more of a gathering place for his family than a showpiece.

“We were running out of room in the house so it seemed like a good idea at the time,” said the former chief executive officer of Life Re Corp. “We think families ought to be together as often as possible. That’s what life is about – family.”

Pollak said a custom playhouse can cost between $10,000 and $75,000. Her company has only built about 300 playhouses since it was established in 1999 because the business fills a very small niche market, she said.

Pollak and Lynda Bontrager, co-owner of Custom Playhouses Inc. in Forest Lake, Minn., estimate about 1 percent of American families own a custom playhouse, whether built by a custom playhouse company or an independent contractor.

They also say the majority of their clients come from California. Both have seen how playhouses evolved from just simple structures to ones with chandeliers, fireplaces, security alarms and entertainment centers.

“They seem to want more or they want bigger,” Bontrager said.

The number of playhouses being produced is also rising. Bontrager’s company built only a half-dozen playhouses its first year in business, 10 years ago. Now, the company builds up to 40 a year, she said.

Karen Burmeister of Shorewood, Minn. had a playhouse recently built by Bontrager’s company for her 3 1/2-year-old daughter.

“We wanted something unique,” Burmeister said. “This was just something completely different.”

Two stone pillars grace the porch of their 10-by-12 square foot Swedish style cottage. The $22,000 playhouse has all the amenities of a home. It is fully insulated and sheet-rocked, with running water and electricity. It also has an operating electrical fireplace and a loft big enough to fit three adults.

Though the playhouse is meant for her daughter, Burmeister says the backyard cottage will be functional even after her child grows up.

“I’ll go out there to sew or read,” she said. “It will be mine.”