Contents Introduction
Just Do It
1 2
Highland Treehouse, Seattle 000 The White (Oak) House and Mooney Brewhouse, Glenmont, Ohio 000
It’s Not the Destination— The Journey, Updated
Treehouse Spa, Bastrop, Texas 000 Jack’s Treehouse, near Seattle 000 Valley View, Southern Oregon 000 The Hackberry Farmhouse, Mart, Texas 000
The Treehouses at Treehouse Point The Temple of the Blue Moon 00 Trillium 00 Upper Pond 00 Bonbibi 00 Greek Gazebo 00 The Hermitage 00 The Bird Blind 00 The Burl 00 Planning and Permitting, or What I Learned the Hard Way from Treehouse Point 00
3
6
A Tour of Multiple-tree Designs
Hidden Hollow Treehouse, Sandwich, Massachusetts 000
7
A Walk in the Woods— Inspiring Treehouses Collected from All Over Majestree, Out ‘n’ About, Takilma, Oregon 000 Santuario de Basurto, Woodinville, Washington 000 The Hemloft, Whistler, California 000 Rocky Mountain High, Evergreen, Colorado 000 Dick and Charlie’s Tearoom, Caddo Lake, near Uncertain, Texas 000 Attie Jonker’s Treehouses 000 Lion’s Lair, San Antonio, Texas 000
Treehouse U
The Lunch House, San Antonio, Texas 000
Tree Selection 101 000
Cabin in the Trees, Ann Arbor, Michigan 000
Treehouse Design Logic 000 Treehouse Hardware 101 000 Platform Design 101 000 Rules of Thumb 000 Platform Construction Basics 000 Safety First 000 Building Your Treehouse 000
The Attic, San Antonio, Texas 000 The French Gardner’s House, Annapolis, Maryland 000 Roderick Romero’s Treehouses 000 Dogwood Farm Treehouse 000 Lake Spectacle Treehouse 000 J.Em Treehouse 000 Lake Nest Treehouse 000 Old N.W. Road House 000 James “B’fer” Roth’s Treehouses 000
4
Putting It All Together— the WC Ranch Treehouse, Merrill, Oregon
Michael’s Memorial, Warren, Vermont 000 Zeno Mountain Farm, Lincoln, Vermont 000 Topridge, Upstate New York 000 Drynachan Lodge Treehouse, Cawdor, Scotland 000 Baumhaus Sauna, Baiersbronn, Germany 000 Tyrolean Treetop, Mariastein, Austria 000
5
Art Farm, Kalamata, Greece 000
A Tour of Single-tree Designs John and Alex’s Serious Treehouse, Washington State 000 Alex’s Graffiti Studio, Mid-Atlantic States 000
Tongabezi Lodge Treehouse, Livingston, Zambia 000 Oddballs’ Palm Island Lodge Treehouse, Botswana 000 Tarangire Treetops, Tanzania 000 One Love Island, Ngomeni, Kenya 000
Cottage Lake Treehouse, Washington State 000
Sources 000
The Witch House, Ibiza, Spain 000
Index 000
The Spirit House, Rhinebeck, New York 000
Acknowledgments 000
The Irish Cottage, Huntington Beach, California 000
2
Dylan’s Africa 000
Contents Introduction
Just Do It
1 2
Highland Treehouse, Seattle 000 The White (Oak) House and Mooney Brewhouse, Glenmont, Ohio 000
It’s Not the Destination— The Journey, Updated
Treehouse Spa, Bastrop, Texas 000 Jack’s Treehouse, near Seattle 000 Valley View, Southern Oregon 000 The Hackberry Farmhouse, Mart, Texas 000
The Treehouses at Treehouse Point The Temple of the Blue Moon 00 Trillium 00 Upper Pond 00 Bonbibi 00 Greek Gazebo 00 The Hermitage 00 The Bird Blind 00 The Burl 00 Planning and Permitting, or What I Learned the Hard Way from Treehouse Point 00
3
6
A Tour of Multiple-tree Designs
Hidden Hollow Treehouse, Sandwich, Massachusetts 000
7
A Walk in the Woods— Inspiring Treehouses Collected from All Over Majestree, Out ‘n’ About, Takilma, Oregon 000 Santuario de Basurto, Woodinville, Washington 000 The Hemloft, Whistler, California 000 Rocky Mountain High, Evergreen, Colorado 000 Dick and Charlie’s Tearoom, Caddo Lake, near Uncertain, Texas 000 Attie Jonker’s Treehouses 000 Lion’s Lair, San Antonio, Texas 000
Treehouse U
The Lunch House, San Antonio, Texas 000
Tree Selection 101 000
Cabin in the Trees, Ann Arbor, Michigan 000
Treehouse Design Logic 000 Treehouse Hardware 101 000 Platform Design 101 000 Rules of Thumb 000 Platform Construction Basics 000 Safety First 000 Building Your Treehouse 000
The Attic, San Antonio, Texas 000 The French Gardner’s House, Annapolis, Maryland 000 Roderick Romero’s Treehouses 000 Dogwood Farm Treehouse 000 Lake Spectacle Treehouse 000 J.Em Treehouse 000 Lake Nest Treehouse 000 Old N.W. Road House 000 James “B’fer” Roth’s Treehouses 000
4
Putting It All Together— the WC Ranch Treehouse, Merrill, Oregon
Michael’s Memorial, Warren, Vermont 000 Zeno Mountain Farm, Lincoln, Vermont 000 Topridge, Upstate New York 000 Drynachan Lodge Treehouse, Cawdor, Scotland 000 Baumhaus Sauna, Baiersbronn, Germany 000 Tyrolean Treetop, Mariastein, Austria 000
5
Art Farm, Kalamata, Greece 000
A Tour of Single-tree Designs John and Alex’s Serious Treehouse, Washington State 000 Alex’s Graffiti Studio, Mid-Atlantic States 000
Tongabezi Lodge Treehouse, Livingston, Zambia 000 Oddballs’ Palm Island Lodge Treehouse, Botswana 000 Tarangire Treetops, Tanzania 000 One Love Island, Ngomeni, Kenya 000
Cottage Lake Treehouse, Washington State 000
Sources 000
The Witch House, Ibiza, Spain 000
Index 000
The Spirit House, Rhinebeck, New York 000
Acknowledgments 000
The Irish Cottage, Huntington Beach, California 000
2
Dylan’s Africa 000
Introduction
Just Do It Shine Road on Washington’s Olympic
I am blown away by the variety and splendor of treehouses today. The
Peninsula overlooks a beautiful stretch
creativity and craftsmanship that people bring to building in trees fills
of the Salish Sea. From high in the
me with joy. Never in my wildest dreams could I have fathomed the
arms of a mature broadleaf maple, the view becomes even more outstanding. This bougher was built in 2006 for a
depth and breadth of this worldwide movement. It is truly glorious.
teaching workshop. We got as far as
Traveling the world in pursuit of treehouses, I have the privilege of
placing the salvaged fir floor planks,
reporting on how things look on the front lines. The United States is
but left the safety measures for the
leading the charge, with several treehouse-only building companies
owner to complete. Dragging driftwood
and countless contractors offering the service. Europe is in the midst
up steep stairs from the beach below, he crafted an extraordinary railing that sets this treehouse apart from any
of a treehouse renaissance. There, the Germans are leading the way with outfits like the Baumbarons, lead by Johannes Schelle and one
other. Now it serves as an open-air
of our earliest workshop participants, Christopher Richter. Andreas
bedroom for the owner and his family,
Wenning, also based in Germany, is breaking the rules with breath-
or his intrepid guests.
taking modernist arborial sculptures.
ABOVE AND RIGHT:
Inserting a TAB
and adding a Dynamic Triangle 4
5
Introduction
Just Do It Shine Road on Washington’s Olympic
I am blown away by the variety and splendor of treehouses today. The
Peninsula overlooks a beautiful stretch
creativity and craftsmanship that people bring to building in trees fills
of the Salish Sea. From high in the
me with joy. Never in my wildest dreams could I have fathomed the
arms of a mature broadleaf maple, the view becomes even more outstanding. This bougher was built in 2006 for a
depth and breadth of this worldwide movement. It is truly glorious.
teaching workshop. We got as far as
Traveling the world in pursuit of treehouses, I have the privilege of
placing the salvaged fir floor planks,
reporting on how things look on the front lines. The United States is
but left the safety measures for the
leading the charge, with several treehouse-only building companies
owner to complete. Dragging driftwood
and countless contractors offering the service. Europe is in the midst
up steep stairs from the beach below, he crafted an extraordinary railing that sets this treehouse apart from any
of a treehouse renaissance. There, the Germans are leading the way with outfits like the Baumbarons, lead by Johannes Schelle and one
other. Now it serves as an open-air
of our earliest workshop participants, Christopher Richter. Andreas
bedroom for the owner and his family,
Wenning, also based in Germany, is breaking the rules with breath-
or his intrepid guests.
taking modernist arborial sculptures.
ABOVE AND RIGHT:
Inserting a TAB
and adding a Dynamic Triangle 4
5
OPPOSITE:
ABOVE:
Mirror Cube, Treehotel
One Love Island
Ngomeni, Kenya 6
7
OPPOSITE:
ABOVE:
Mirror Cube, Treehotel
One Love Island
Ngomeni, Kenya 6
7
5 8
A Tour of Single-tree Designs Finding a tree large enough to support a treehouse on its own can be a challenge in its own right. How you go about supporting the treehouse once you do is a challenge of a different kind. In fact, there are many ways to build in single trees.
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5 8
A Tour of Single-tree Designs Finding a tree large enough to support a treehouse on its own can be a challenge in its own right. How you go about supporting the treehouse once you do is a challenge of a different kind. In fact, there are many ways to build in single trees.
9
John and Alex’s Serious Treehouse Washington State
OVERLEAF: Mooney Brewhouse, Glenmont, Ohio
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11
John and Alex’s Serious Treehouse Washington State
OVERLEAF: Mooney Brewhouse, Glenmont, Ohio
10
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Drynachan Lodge Treehouse Scotland The Wall Street Journal magazine was lying out at my sister-in-law’s house when she remembered to show me an article about a young family that was transforming their ancient Scottish family estate into a partridge-shooting lodge. And they had a treehouse. Only weeks later Judy and I found ourselves hurtling through the desolate Scottish moors in a rental car, searching out the Drynachan Valley and the current Thane of Cawdor and builder of said structure. Lord Cawdor, or Collin as he prefers to be called, moved his new wife Isabella to this eighty-square mile family estate in 1994 with the intention of sprucing up a land that had been in the family for eighthundred years and to be closer to the place where he would raise a family. Trained as an architect at Pratt Institute in New York City, he instead wandered into finance and found himself commuting between London and “the farm” on weekends. Meanwhile, his four children were growing up in an idyllic setting. As a way of connecting with them, he built his masterwork in ancient alders between 2003 and 2005 on the banks of the River Findhorn. It was built for the kids, but it was really a therapy project for Collin to get away from thoughts of work back in London.
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15
Drynachan Lodge Treehouse Scotland The Wall Street Journal magazine was lying out at my sister-in-law’s house when she remembered to show me an article about a young family that was transforming their ancient Scottish family estate into a partridge-shooting lodge. And they had a treehouse. Only weeks later Judy and I found ourselves hurtling through the desolate Scottish moors in a rental car, searching out the Drynachan Valley and the current Thane of Cawdor and builder of said structure. Lord Cawdor, or Collin as he prefers to be called, moved his new wife Isabella to this eighty-square mile family estate in 1994 with the intention of sprucing up a land that had been in the family for eighthundred years and to be closer to the place where he would raise a family. Trained as an architect at Pratt Institute in New York City, he instead wandered into finance and found himself commuting between London and “the farm” on weekends. Meanwhile, his four children were growing up in an idyllic setting. As a way of connecting with them, he built his masterwork in ancient alders between 2003 and 2005 on the banks of the River Findhorn. It was built for the kids, but it was really a therapy project for Collin to get away from thoughts of work back in London.
14
15