I first visited Cheekwood in 2012 at the launch of their summer exhibit,"Treehouses: Great Works of Literature." Nashville-area architects dreamed up seven treehouse structures inspired by great works of literature and installed them throughout the Cheekwood landscape. I am a fool for both treehouses and literature, so I was wonderstruck.

During the summer of 2015, the botanical garden debuted an exhibit of nine enormous human sculptures by internationally acclaimed Spanish artist Jaume Plensa. "Human Landscape" combined human figures with texts from around the world placed within the natural landscape. Breathtaking.

So I couldn’t wait to check in on this summer’s exhibit, "International Playhouses," which opened in May and runs through Sept. 4. My daughters and I followed our map to take in all six playhouses, designed by Nashville-area architects, landscape architects and artists to represent the global destinations the Cheek family visited in the 1920s and 1930s. The structures are based on their documented trips to India, Scotland, Spain, Chile and Japan.

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"International Playhouses" represents the architecture of global destinations the Cheek family visited in the 1920s and 1930s.
"International Playhouses" represents the architecture of global destinations the Cheek family visited in the 1920s and 1930s. - ... "By far, our favorite playhouse was Monsoon Pavilion, designed by Rachel DeBacker Architecture in tribute to the Cheek family’s visit to India in 1927. The bright parasol roof is enchanting and represents the powerful forces of monsoon rains and the sun’s rays in India. My daughters and I could have spent the afternoon inside on the swings, chatting in the filtered light." © Jenni Frankenberg Veal