Barbara grew up in upstate New York, one of eight children in a close-knit family, where active, outdoor play was a daily occurrence. Graduating from SUNY Cortland in 1978 with a BA in Political Science and attending graduate school at SUNY Binghamton for English, Barbara didn’t actually want to be the lawyer her mom wanted her to be. Instead she had fun learning the construction trade from her two contractor brothers and remodeled brownstones in Washington D.C. Also that year she went back to making art. After several years in NYC and D.C., she decided to pursue her interest in writing and went to graduate school at SUNY Binghamton. After graduate school, Barbara moved to San Francisco where she concentrated on writing, painting and sculpture. Her construction skills at first were just a means to make a living, while she focused on her artwork. Then in 1986, Barbara and friend Robert Forrest founded Outer Space Design and began specializing in artistic backyard design. In 1987, her first famous client, singer/song writer Bobby McFerrin (“Don’t Worry, Be Happy”) and his wife, Debbie asked for an unusual play structure for their two sons. Suddenly all of her loves fused together: art, outdoors, building with wood, children, family and play! Since then, Barbara has combined function with art to create hundreds of unique places where children can play.

After working several years as a sole proprietor, Barbara was joined in her play structure business in 1996 by future husband, Jeffrey Beal. Based in San Francisco, Barbara and Jeff accepted commissions across the country, building beautiful play structures on site. Barbara’s brother, James (general contractor and owner of Butler Construction, Los Angeles, CA) often joined the team. In 1997, after finishing the Connecticut Castle in the dead of winter with a foot of snow on the ground, the group decided to build play structures indoors (controlled climate, longer light, happier workers). They moved to their first shop and developed a unique, modular building system to make delivery and installation easier. In 1999, Barbara’s sister, Suzanne Butler, joined the team. Formerly Director of Training at American Skandia in Shelton, CT, Suzanne left the corporate world to become Barbara’s business partner and co-owner. The business incorporated and Barbara Butler Artist-Builder Inc. was born. Since then, Barbara and team have built more than 600 custom playhouses, play structures and tree forts, delivering and installing all over the country and internationally.