I purchased this based on the recommendations of others and they were right.  At around 6 foot it does stand tall-however if the kitties like it I like it.  My little girl cat loves the houses-she is the one to sleep in them.  My boy cat chooses the upper bunk to sit on.  She also likes to go up to the upper bunks and hang out.  

As far as the balls go-destroyed-he loved playing with the balls and I am going to buy some replacement balls.

It was easy to assemble.  My only complaint is that there a screws on the bottom-and when I moved the house-I put two huge scratches into my hardwood floor.  

I was initially hesitant about the faux fur-it seems to be good quality and there have not been any allergy issues.  This has plenty of scratching posts and they love scratching up against them.

The bottom platform is where they go when it is cleaning time.  I would buy this all over again.