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The Treehouse: An Essay Reflecting on Life, Family, Neighborhood, and Memories

• Author: James P. Blaylock

Back in the mid-1980s, when my wife, Viki, and I had been living in downtown Orange for 10 years, I decided to build a treehouse out of redwood fence lumber in a Fuerte avocado tree that sat in the corner of our backyard. I was well past 30 at the time, and the tree was probably twice my age and 40 feet high. We had two young sons, John and Danny, and so it might seem that I wanted to build the treehouse for them—and I did—but I also wanted to build it for me. Anything worth doing has a number of solidly good reasons for getting done. And in any event, a treehouse is its own excuse.

Illustration by Meream Pacayra

One thing I discovered is that the tree and the treehouse are in some sense the same thing. Like essays, no two treehouses are alike. The differences have everything to do with the trees (or minds) they’re built in, and so this essay has as much to do with the tree as with the house.

I’ll take a moment to point out that avocado trees work like cold storage; the fruit on a Fuerte lasts so long on the tree that you can be fooled into believing that the crop is perpetual, which, like other passing fancies, is momentarily heartening. And the Fuerte avocado is simply the best-tasting avocado grown in Southern California. It’s less common these days than the Hass avocado, partly because Hass trees tend to be low growing. You can get at most of the fruit with a picker. A Fuerte is a larger tree, growing toward the sun for reasons of its own rather than the practical purpose of pickability. We had a 15-foot fiberglass picker with a canvas bag on the end and an ancient fruit-picking ladder that was 12 feet high. Standing on the third rung from the top, with my knees braced against the top rung and my feet planted at the outer edges so that I was less likely to break through the weather-beaten dowel that I stood on, I couldn’t get anywhere near the avocados in the top half of the tree. Sooner or later they would come down of their own accord, and I can tell you from experience that a one-pound avocado falling from 30 or 40 feet onto the top of your head can be a shocking thing.

I like to build things out of redwood—that was part of why I wanted to build the treehouse: I envisioned a sort of Craftsman bungalow in the branches. The thing about avocado trees, however, is that the limbs won’t hold much weight, comparatively speaking. Since the treehouse was likely to be inhabited by a tribe of neighborhood children from time to time, I decided to build it on posts bolted to concrete piers on the ground so that it appeared to be a treehouse but wasn’t dependent on limbs for support. The structure would be two stories: the bottom story a garden shed, the treehouse above it accessible by a three-tiered staircase leading to a veranda. I built the bottom story first and topped it with plywood to make a floor for the house that would sit on top. Then I climbed onto the plywood to figure out what the house itself might look like.

From that vantage point I discovered there was a heavy, U-shaped limb growing out horizontally some six feet above the level of the floor, call it 14 or 15 feet off the ground. That limb, I could see now, would restrict both the height and the width of the house. I could have foreseen this problem by climbing our rickety old ladder and measuring the height of the limb with a tape measure, but I hadn’t done so.

It came to me that the limb might weave in and out of the house through holes in the walls. Except that the limb alone would pretty much occupy the house, which wasn’t ideal. After muddling around with it for a while, I settled on a split-level roof—two feet of its width built lower down so that a section of the limb loomed a few inches above it. The rest of the roof was high enough to accommodate grown humans if they were inclined to stand up inside (if grown humans were allowed into the treehouse at all). The artfully hooked limb would seem to embrace the top of the house, passing above the top of the door like a floating lintel. A couple of other heavy limbs angled away from what would be the veranda—ascending avenues for anyone who wanted to venture into the upper realms. 

Over the following weeks and months, I built and installed windows that opened inward, and I set a trap door low in the back wall with toeholds and handles outside that would allow someone to creep up and down unseen like Dracula on the wall of his castle. The whole structure was clad with vertical fence boards with wood lath for battens. I put on a shingle roof and hung a swag lamp in a corner and another lamp over the stairs outside to accommodate the possums and raccoons that would make use of the place at night. And so it was finished.

The christening of the treehouse nearly coincided with the death of one of our neighbors, Bill Mitchell. Back when we first moved into the house in 1977, the Mitchell family two doors down had already lived there for years. Their backyard was an immense garden where Bill, who was well past 80, grew lettuce, onions, and rows and rows of black-eyed peas. He was fond of those peas. From time to time in the summer months, we’d find a paper bag full of them on our front porch. When they stopped appearing, we knew that black-eyed pea season was over, taking summer with it. There came a time when Bill was too old to tend to his garden, and they stopped appearing altogether.

One year we had a bumper crop of avocados. Thinking about Bill’s generosity and neighborliness, I loaded our son John into the coaster wagon (built up with oak slats on the sides) and heaped in avocados and paper sacks until John was pretty well buried. We went off down the sidewalk, filling bags with avocados and leaving them on front porches. John’s 37 now. I’ll have to ask him whether he remembers that adventure, but probably what he’ll remember is my talking about it. It’s true that most of our recollections change subtly each time we recall them, the essence ideally getting better with age. It occurred to Viki and me recently that the Mitchells had been the reigning old-timers when we moved into the neighborhood, the two of us being in our mid-20s. Now somehow we’ve become the old-timers. Funny how that happens.

It’s a fact that neither Viki nor I could eat avocados when we were kids. We grew up in Anaheim, where many of the houses in the neighborhoods came with mature avocado trees. My family had two of them. The avocados were slimy things to my mind, and it was a sort of horror to watch my parents eating them with salt and pepper or smashing them onto toast. I tried to pick around them in salads, but it was nearly impossible because they share their wealth with every shred of lettuce.

Later, as a freshman in college, I wrote an essay about the horrors of the avocado, which baffled the teacher, not because she was a fan of avocados but because she had asked us to write an essay on a novel we’d been studying in class. That avocado essay was the first time in my life I’d ignored a teacher’s assignment and had written a finished essay entirely on a whim. I got a D- on the paper, which I no doubt deserved. When I think back on it now, I realize that her comment, which began with “This is funny, but …” probably did as much to encourage my writing as any previous teachers’ comments, and to heck with the lousy grade. That’s another debt I owe to avocados, which were useful to me even while I was insulting them.

The treehouse is still standing, unlike the tree itself. It has been around for 30-odd years now and has led to considerations about the life of a tree and about life in general. In the years after the treehouse was open for business, that U-shaped limb got heavier and heavier, the healthy tree growing in bulk and weight. In time, the limb settled onto the corner of the roof, and in heavy Santa Ana winds it shifted ominously, the treehouse along with it. Viki and I managed to raise the limb a couple of inches, and I braced it with a vertical 4-by-4 post fixed to the floor of the veranda so that the limb sat happily and solidly on a scooped-out perch padded with leather.

Ten years went by, and one day the post under that limb started to tilt, as if it were no longer bearing any weight. The limb was getting lighter, we discovered, slowly levitating. I removed the no-longer-useful post and hoped for the best, although there was no best outcome to account for the phenomenon. The tree was drying out, which is to say dying. The avocados on the tree began to shrink in size as the tree declined, and the top of the fruit was deformed. The once glossy surfaces of the leaves dimmed, the edges turning brown. The tree stopped bearing fruit of any sort. We called an arborist, who looked hard at the tree, shook his head, and told us that it couldn’t be saved. Its problem was that it was old and simply passing away. The unhappy day finally came when we had no choice but to have the tree cut down, one limb at a time, the stump ground out, and the remnants hauled to the dump. The treehouse, bereft of its tree, stood there exposed to the elements, looking old and worn out.

The glory years of the treehouse had passed away, of course, even while the tree was still alive and thriving. Our sons and their friends simply found less and less time to spend in trees. The treehouse became a storage shed—old surfboards and water skis, bins of junk, theater props, falling-apart pieces of antique furniture that wanted to be repaired but somehow hadn’t been. In that era, a swarm of bees got into the treehouse and set up housekeeping in the corner, creating honey-filled combs between the wall studs and coming and going past termite-eaten battens. After the bees finally vacated the premises, the inside of the treehouse smelled like honey, and still does in its ghostly way.

Thirty years of wind and rain and insects took a grim toll. The stairs are nearly hollowed out by termites, and climbing them is a real thrill. Roof shingles blew off in a recent Santa Ana wind. Our list of projects includes a family day on which we’ll take the last stuff out of there, most of it bound for The Salvation Army, and then the treehouse will be good for nothing—except, perhaps, as a reminder of how things change.

A few years before the avocado tree declined, we had put a half-dead ficus tree in a wooden keg out back. A little bit of watering perked it up, and over time its roots grew through the bottom of the keg. Once the avocado was gone and the ficus got some sunlight, it began to grow as if it had been waiting for its chance. Now it’s 25 feet high, and its limbs are reaching over and around the lonesome treehouse. There’s something interesting in that: a treehouse that needed a tree rather than the other way around.

The other day, Viki and I were out back looking at the garden shed and thinking about all this. The shed still stands solidly on its concrete piers and has a few good years left in it, more than a few if we were to yank out termite-eaten boards and replace them. What if, we thought, we pruned the ficus tree in order to make it fit a new treehouse, a treehouse that was bigger and better than ever? We could easily picture it—a few extra square feet for elbow room, a couple of easy chairs and a table, reading lamps, a carpet on the floor, a shelf of books, wood-paneled walls, windows on two sides, a wider veranda. We would enlist our sons and make it a family affair—all in all an optimistic adventure and a temporary victory over time and the weather.

There’s a poem that tells us that nothing gold can stay, and another that tells us that the world is always turning toward the morning. Both are true. I’m reminded of the spectacular view of the sunrise out the east-facing treehouse window, the brief blaze of color in the dawn sky over Old Saddleback—a constant element of beauty in a world of change. 

And that’s the unfinished story of a tree, a treehouse, and 30 years in the life of a family. I’m not sure whether to call it a celebration or the blink of an eye.

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Essay on My Tree House

Students are often asked to write an essay on My Tree House in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on My Tree House

My special hideout.

My tree house sits high in an old oak tree. Its wooden walls are my secret spot. I climb up the ladder and enter a world of imagination. Inside, it’s cozy with bright curtains and cushions.

A Place to Play

Connecting with nature.

From the window, I see birds and squirrels. The leaves whisper secrets, and the branches rock me gently. My tree house is not just wood and nails; it’s a living part of the tree.

250 Words Essay on My Tree House

My special tree house.

In my backyard stands an old oak tree, and nestled among its strong branches is my tree house. It’s not just any tree house—it’s my secret hideout, my private castle in the sky. When I climb up the wooden ladder and step inside, I enter a world of adventure and imagination.

Up here, I feel like a bird in a nest. I come to read, to draw, or just to think. The tree house is my quiet place away from the noise and bustle of the house. It’s where I go when I want to be alone with my thoughts and dreams.

Playing with Friends

When my friends come over, the tree house becomes our clubhouse. We play games, tell stories, and share secrets. It’s our little corner of the world where we make the rules and anything is possible.

The Magic of the Tree House

My tree house is more than just a play space. It’s a magical spot that belongs only to me and my friends. It’s where we grow, learn, and create memories that will last a lifetime. Every child should have a place like this—a place to call their own, where they can watch the clouds, listen to the birds, and dream big dreams.

500 Words Essay on My Tree House

Introduction to my tree house.

Once upon a time, I wished for a special place where I could play and dream, high up in the branches of an old oak tree. My dream came true when my parents decided to build me a tree house. It is not just any tree house, but a magical spot that feels like my own little kingdom in the sky.

The Building of the Tree House

My tree house was made with love and care. My dad, who is very good at building things, took charge of the project. He chose strong wood to make sure it was safe and sturdy. We worked on it during weekends. It was exciting to watch each piece of wood turn into walls and a floor. After a few weeks, the tree house was finished. It had a little door, windows, and even a roof to keep me dry when it rained.

Inside My Tree House

Playing in the tree house.

My tree house is the best place for playing games. Sometimes it’s a pirate ship, other times it’s a castle or a secret base. I can be a knight, an explorer, or a scientist. The tree house is also where I like to play with my friends. We have tea parties, tell stories, and play board games.

Quiet Times in the Tree House

But it’s not all about playing loud games. The tree house is also where I go when I want some quiet time. I listen to the birds, watch squirrels run around, and see the clouds float by. It’s peaceful and helps me feel calm. I can sit and think about anything, or just enjoy being alone high up in the tree.

Learning from My Tree House

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

Happy studying!

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The Tree House: A Tender Wordless Story about Our Relationship to Nature

By maria popova.

“Words are events, they do things, change things… transform both speaker and hearer… feed energy back and forth and amplify it… feed understanding or emotion back and forth and amplify it,” Ursula K. Le Guin wrote in her superb meditation on the magic of human communication . But words have limits, for they are the currency of concepts, yet so much of what we try to communicate to one another — so much of our emotional reality — lies in the realm of immediate experience beyond concept . Bach’s Goldberg Variations or a Rothko painting can color our consciousness with a feeling-tone that reaches beyond words to touch us, to transform us, to feed energy back and forth in ineffable ways. At its best, even poetry, though rendered in words, paints images that speak directly to our senses, sings in feeling-tones that harmonize our innermost experience. Poetry, after all, began with music , and music remains the most powerful instrument we have devised for conveying raw emotional reality — something the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay readily and memorably acknowledged when she proclaimed that she would rather die than live without music and exclaimed, “Even poetry, Sweet Patron Muse forgive me the words, is not what music is” ; the poetic neurologist Oliver Sacks found echoes of her sentiment in the science, observing music’s “unique power to express inner states or feelings [and] pierce the heart directly.”

Great picture-books achieve the same thing — which is why Maurice Sendak, perhaps the most poetic picture-book maker of all time, so ardently insisted on musicality as the key to great storytelling . Among the rarest triumphs of the genre is the wordless 2009 masterpiece The Tree House ( public library ) by Dutch father-daughter artist duo Ronald Tolman , a sculptor, painter, and graphic artist, and Marije Tolman , a graphic designer and children’s book illustrator.

The silent, symphonic story begins with a polar bear swimming gladsomely toward a solitary tree rising from the Arctic waters — a tree already signaling magical realism with its habitational improbability, its magic magnified by the wondrous treehouse poking through its branches.

As the bear settles blissfully onto the platform at the foot of the treehouse, it watches another bear, brown and friendly, approach in a boat.

With smiling curiosity about their new home, the two bears explore the treehouse together, then settle into a quiet companionship.

Absorbed in their books, they don’t notice the flamboyance of flamingos rushing toward the treehouse in a tidal wave of pink.

Soon, other creatures follow — the pandas and the peacock and the storks and the hippo. The rhino first rams into the tree trunk, testing the sturdiness of the structure before sprawling contentedly on the treehouse platform as the pandas play in the branches and the polar bear tenderly cradles a baby owl on its paw.

Like a great poem, this pictorial lyric lends itself to multiple conceptual readings. I watch my own interpretation branch off from the other central themes — solitude, camaraderie, loneliness, change — into the ecological: Trees are growing in the melted Arctic and vulnerable creatures are seeking refuge in the ramshackle safehouse of humanity, turning to us who have put them in peril to save them from perishing.

But humans are also the only creatures absent from the story — the treehouse seems like it was built a long time, abandoned, the cracks in it gaping unrepaired.

In the warm wordless silence of the story, I read a subtle admonition — unless we make wiser and more generous choices in our regard for the rest of nature, a posthuman future is the only possible future for an ecologically harmonious planet.

On the final spread, with all the other creatures vanished — back to their homes, or back to the stardust of nonsurvival — the two bears are left sitting side by side atop the empty treehouse, staring solemnly at the Moon, radiating the tender ecological counterpart to that wonderful line from artist Louise Bourgeois’s diary: “You are born alone. You die alone. The value of the space in between is trust and love.”

It occurs to me that an ecological ethic is itself a matter of filling our creaturely coexistence — which is always bounded by the finitude of our creaturely existence — with enough trust and love to make the precious improbability of life as gladsome as possible for all beings sharing this miraculous island of spacetime.

It is a pity that a mere decade after its birth, a book as uncommonly soulful as The Tree House can fall out of print in the world’s most ecologically impactful industrial nation — dead of negligence, dead by the commodification of culture that saturates the atmosphere of our epoch. Perhaps one day, some American publisher of sufficient moral courage and a creative ear for the unscreaming masterpieces of thought and feeling will bring it back from extinction. Meanwhile, a U.K. edition is available online from an independent English publisher and a couple of lovely prints from it are available on Marije Tolman’s website.

— Published May 14, 2021 — https://www.themarginalian.org/2021/05/14/the-tree-house-tolman/ —

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Essay on My Magical Treehouse

In the heart of a lush, enchanted forest, hidden away from the world, stands a treehouse like no other – my magical treehouse. This extraordinary creation is a testament to imagination and dreams, a place where reality seamlessly blends with fantasy. Nestled high among the branches of a colossal oak tree, it beckons with its charm and promises adventures beyond imagination.

As one approaches my magical treehouse, the first thing that captures the eye is its captivating exterior. The treehouse is a masterpiece of design, merging seamlessly with the surrounding forest. It appears as if it has grown out of the very tree on which it is perched. Its walls are covered in moss and ivy, giving it a natural, earthy feel. The roof is made of emerald-green leaves that shimmer in the sunlight, almost as if they are alive.

A spiraling, spiral staircase winds its way around the tree trunk, leading up to the entrance. The staircase is adorned with tiny, glowing fireflies, which illuminate the path in the evenings. The entrance itself is a rustic wooden door with an intricate carving of forest creatures and leaves, inviting anyone who gazes upon it to step inside.

Stepping into my magical treehouse feels like crossing into another world. The interior is a haven of coziness and wonder. The walls are adorned with shelves filled with ancient books, spell scrolls, and magical artifacts. A large, circular window allows a panoramic view of the forest below, with soft, ethereal curtains billowing gently in the breeze.

The treehouse is a symphony of earthy tones, with wooden furniture that seems to have grown organically from the tree itself. There’s a fireplace made of river stones, always crackling with a warm, inviting fire. Above it, a chandelier made of delicate, glowing orbs hangs, casting a soft, enchanting glow throughout the space.

A winding staircase leads to a loft area, where a massive four-poster bed, draped in silk and surrounded by gossamer curtains, awaits. The bed is like a nest, the perfect spot to dream and watch the stars through the skylight in the roof. Everywhere you look, there are hidden compartments and secret doors, each leading to a new discovery or adventure.

My magical treehouse is a portal to countless adventures. The forest that surrounds it is teeming with mythical creatures, from fairies and talking animals to wise old wizards. Every morning, I wake up to the melodious songs of the birds and embark on a new adventure.

I might climb down the tree and explore hidden pathways through the forest, meeting friendly forest creatures who share their wisdom and stories. Or I might climb up to the very top of the treehouse to reach the treetop observatory, where I can study the stars and planets with a powerful telescope. On rainy days, I retreat to the cozy reading nook by the circular window, diving into enchanted tales from ancient books.

One of the most magical experiences is the treehouse’s ability to transport me to different realms. Through a hidden doorway, I can enter a land of floating islands, where I ride on the back of a majestic winged creature and explore floating cities in the sky. Another doorway takes me deep into the heart of an enchanted forest, where I help protect its magical inhabitants from dark forces.

My magical treehouse is not just a structure of wood and leaves; it’s a gateway to a world of endless wonder and enchantment. It’s a place where the boundaries between reality and fantasy blur, where dreams take flight, and where adventure awaits at every turn. In this extraordinary sanctuary, I’ve found my own personal haven, a place where I can be truly free, and where the magic of the world around me comes alive. My magical treehouse is a testament to the power of imagination and the beauty of the natural world, a place where the ordinary becomes extraordinary, and where dreams become reality.

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The Treehouse IELTS Reading General Training Passage

Table of Contents

The Treehouse IELTS Reading General Training Passage with Answers

Reading Passage 2

The Treehouse

About the Treehouse

The Treehouse is built from Canadian cedar, Scandinavian redwood and English and Scots pine. It sits high in the treetops among a group of mature lime trees and looks as if it’s been there forever.

There are walkways in the sky and wobbly rope bridges, all accessible by wheelchair and buggy. At the heart of the Treehouse is one of the most beautiful and unique restaurants to be found anywhere in the world. There’s a roaring log fire in the center of the room, trees growing through the floor, and handcrafted furniture.

About the Treehouse Restaurant

Always featuring local fish and seafood, meats from Northumberland’s farmlands and other regional specialities, the Treehouse Restaurant menu highlights local quality, taste and changes throughout the seasons. There’s a great wine list, a good range of beers and regular live music.

For a family dining experience that you’ll all enjoy, a great night out with friends or a romantic dinner for two, there’s nowhere quite like it. We always recommend booking ahead for lunch or dinner.

About the Potting Shed

If you fancy a satisfying lunch, but don’t want a full restaurant meal, the Potting Shed is perfect for you. During the day you can grab a drink with some friends, a range of hot and cold delicious light lunch choices, and relax – and all as you take in the unique atmosphere. Choose from classics such as a bacon sandwich, chef’s soup of the day, or perhaps some irresistible sweet potato fries.

For a fantastic family lunch, why not eat outside on our Treehouse decking? Just order inside, eat outside – simple as that! Adults can relax to sunshine and birdsong, while kids can dash across rope bridges, run around and enjoy the enchanting walkways.

In the evening the Potting Shed really comes to life, and is open exclusively for our dinner guests to enjoy a pre-dinner drink before moving on to the Restaurant for their meal, or a leisurely nightcap to end the evening. ielts-reading.com

Questions 15–20 Look at the following statements and the different sections of the Treehouse below. Match each statement with the correct section, A-C. Write the correct letter, A-C, in boxes 15-20 on your answer sheet.

NB  You may use any letter more than once.

15. Highlights the lunch time menu 16. It’s much better to make a reservation before you go 17. Discusses certain environmentally aspects of the building 18 Their menu focuses on local food 19. Disabled people have easy access 20. This is a great place for children to play

A. About the Treehouse B.  About the Restaurant C.  About the Potting Shed

Read the text below and answer Questions 21–27. Ielts-rEADING.COM

English Gardens

The English landscape garden is a style of landscape garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe as the principal gardening style of Europe. The English garden was seen as a way to present an idealized view of nature and was influenced by gardens from the East and West.

The National Arboretum

Westonbirt really comes into its own when the trees show off their autumn colour. There are over 16,000 trees and 17 miles of paths at Westonbirt, which also looks its best in spring with displays of rhododendrons, azaleas and magnolias.

Hidcote Manor

This is an Arts & Crafts masterpiece hidden down a series of twisting country lanes in the Cotswolds. It was designed and developed by current owner Maj. Lawrence Johnston, a wealthy, well educated and eccentric American who fought with the British Army in the Boer and First World Wars. Johnston sponsored and participated in plant hunting expeditions around the world to secure rare and exotic species for this extremely pretty garden.ielts-reading.com

Found in Wiltshire, this is an outstanding example of an 18th century English landscaped garden – not so much rows of flower beds and herbaceous borders, as sweeping lawns, a picturesque lake and temples and a grotto. One of the temples was the location of a rain-soaked (and unsuccessful!) marriage proposal scene in the 2005 film Pride and Prejudice.

Hampton Court Palace

Visitors can get lost in the gardens surrounding Henry VIII’s famous palace – literally. There is a maze dating back to about 1700, commissioned by William III. Originally planted using hornbeam trees and later replanted using yew trees, the Hampton Court maze covers a third of an acre, is trapezoid in shape and is the UK’s oldest surviving hedge maze.

Sissinghurst Castle Gardens

Visited by Queen Elizabeth in the 16th century, this is one of the most celebrated gardens in the world. Set in the ruins of an Elizabethan house, it offers spectacular views on all sides across the fields and meadows of the Kentish landscape. Close by is the aromatic garden built around a slender brick-built castle tower.

Questions 21-27 Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage?

TRUE  – if the statement agrees with the information FALSE – if the statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN   – if there is no information on this

21. The English landscaped garden started in England in the 1800s. 22. Westonbirt is really worth seeing in at least two different seasons. 23. It might be difficult to find Hidcote Manor. 24. The owner of Hidcote manor is quite young. 25. The gardens in Stourhead were first established to film Pride and Prejudice. 26. Henry VIII used to spend a lot of time at Hampton Court Palace. 27. The Elizabethan house in Sissinghurst Castle Gardens has now been rebuilt.

The Treehouse IELTS Reading General Training Passage Answers

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26. NOT GIVEN

Also Check:  Driving Test IELTS Reading General Training

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QUESTION 29 - A window to the other side Write a creative piece to the following prompt: A window to the other side. …

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The treehouse by helen.

The rays of the evening sun lit up the trees of the park, and comfortably nestled in one was a small metal treehouse. It was a ruby-red cube, with a star-shaped window on a wall and a broken, rotted rope ladder suspended in midair above one of the branches. On looked Jonathan, a six-year-old, blond-haired boy with curiosity blazing in his eyes. If he could climb up there, he could see the other side of that window!

He gently placed a hand on the rough, papery bark. Next came the other hand, the right foot, and the left. He carefully shifted himself upwards, ascending the first step, then the next, and the next... The cubby house was steadily getting closer to him. Now he could see the still-intact part of the rope ladder, but he would have to get across a thick branch to reach it–and that window to the other side!

Jonathan crawled forward like a stealth agent, blocking out everything from his vision except the rope ladder–his final step to the window. Gradually, he advanced and advanced, until he was one jump from the rope ladder. His heart was bashing against the skin of his chest. He slowly got up, eyes narrowing, and pushed off the branch. His fingertips stretched out for the rope ladder... but "Oh!" he missed!

On impulse, Jonathan spun around and hooked his hands onto the branch. "Can I still make it?" he thought. His eyes flashed up to the treehouse and remained there. "Yes. I have to see through that window." He edged to the trunk, crossed the branch and reached the treehouse! He grasped the window with his hand and hoisted himself up. His eyes squinted in excitement and his mouth curved upwards at the incredible sights on the other side of the window. What his mother had told him was ringing in his ears: if you stuck to something, you would get it in the end!

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5 Reasons a Tree House is Your Dream House

In today’s housing market it seems that there are hundreds of home styles to choose from: bungalow, craftsman, ranch, Victorian, colonial, tree house… Wait, tree house?

Yep, you read that right. With all the options available, why not branch out and live a life of adventure in a state-of-the-art modern tree house home. Here are five reasons why you totally should.

Build Into the Environment

We need to protect our home planet and it’s important to do that not only through our choice of home building materials and practices, but also through our locations. Instead of clearing away Mother Nature to make way for our human dwellings, a tree house embraces nature and uses it to our advantage.

Whenever we can, Precision Structural Engineering , a structural engineering firm in Oregon, uses native materials and sustainable building practices that reduce waste and encourage efficiency and tree houses are no exception. Not only will your trees support your new home, but over time they will also grow into the structure, creating an even tighter bond between nature and your home.

One With Nature

Close your eyes and imagine waking up to the sounds of birds chirping while the wind rustles the leaves. The sun shines down and warms the floorboards through the large window overlooking your favorite lake. Now open your eyes and look around your squared-off apartment while you listen to your downstairs neighbors practice their tap dance routine. Living in a tree house means embracing nature and a slower and less complicated way of life.

One tree house owner said he feels the house swaying in the breeze like a boat rocking on the sea. Life in the trees is slow and relaxed and gets you in touch with nature in a way that no other home can. In a world inundated with technology and immediate gratification, why not take a few extra minutes to climb the ladder into your new tree house home and enjoy getting away from it all?

Customizability

When it comes to making a tree house home, you can let your imagination run wild. Structural engineers can create any design from a single room weekend getaway to a multi-room, full-time home with all the modern amenities.

The first step is always the location. Picking a spot for a tree house involves a bit more planning than a traditional home, but also comes with a lot more perks. First, find a view you want to wake up to every morning and purchase a plot of land with a few sturdy trees that overlooks this paradise. Next, your engineering firm brings in a professional arborist to examine the trees and help choose the healthiest ones.

After that, our engineers will help you plan out the number, size, and shape of the rooms while discussing which amenities will be added. You’ll even discuss your favorite textures and strive to bring what you like best about your environment into your home. After all, don’t you agree that being a part of nature is one of the big benefits to owning a tree house home?

Affordability

According to Zillow, the median price for a home in the United States is currently $254,900. A basic one-room tree house can start as low as $65,000. Obviously, the more complex you want the house to be, the more the price goes up, but for a two bedroom tree house with a bathroom, electricity, and plumbing you’re still probably looking at less than the average traditional home price. And remember, even if you do let your imagination run wild with your tree house home and end up spending a small fortune, you still have a personalized home that’s way cooler than any of your friends’ homes.

It’s Been A Dream of Yours Since You Were a Kid

As the popular Twenty One Pilots song goes, “Out of student loans and tree house homes, we all would take the latter.” This rings true for so many of us because adulthood has a way of bringing us down with responsibility and monotony. Feel like a kid again with a short climb each day into your very own “adultified” tree house home. You can even have a secret password if you want.

Overall, it’s more difficult to think of reasons why not to live in a tree house than it is to find reasons in favor of it. Let your inner kid out and embrace nature every single day when you have a custom-built tree house home from Precision Structural Engineering. We guarantee you’ll love it!

Tags: adultified tree house , architecture , dream house , environment , home , nature , tree house

Author: Maja Markovski

A 35-year-old female architect with a passion for innovative, sustainable design. I blend creativity and functionality to transform spaces into beautiful, practical environments.

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Photo Essay: Enchanting Tree Houses

And lets admit it - building a treehouse is every kids dream. So, why not make it your reality today? Browse through a variety of spaces below that we believe take the old-school tree house to the next level.

Ethan Schussler built his first tree house at 12 years old. His today, in Sandpoint, Idaho, sits 30 feet above the ground and is accessed, if not by the rope ladder, an "elevator" consisting of a bicycle that, when pedaled, ascends a pulley system to the top.

Eighteen-foot-long ribs run from top to bottom to form the treehouse's struts. The floor package runs into the ribs and creates a triangle, which negated the need for more structural support. During construction, Allen broke one of the long ribs but rather than throwing the material away, he repurposed it for the entryway.

The Treehouse, also part of the Post Ranch Inn, features Cor-ten panels.

To reduce impact at the site, Baumraum prefabricated the house and craned it atop 19 steel columns, arranging it so that the surrounding trees’ roots wouldn’t be harmed. From within the structure, people experience a perspective that inspires more respect and consideration of the environment at large.

The 02 Sustainability Tree House would keep even the most ardent tree hugger happy.

A double-layered net stretches between two bedrooms, providing an open terrace and a place to sleep under the night sky.

The two-story house is designed for two and contains all the comforts one would expect to enjoy in a cozy home. Inside, guests will find a circular living room with a revolving fireplace and leather armchairs, a bedroom with a king-size bed and a skylight overlooking the surrounding trees, a freestanding copper bath, a bespoke kitchen, and a modern bathroom with a flushing toilet and hot water.

Founded by a Simon Parfett, a former climate scientist who wanted to do more work with his hands, Bower House Construction designs and builds custom treehouses out of Bruton, a rural town near Somerset, England. While the entire operation may seem a bit Middle-earth, Parfett's bespoke structures speak to a love of craft and nature. From custom creations for hotels to the small Pod pictured above, a wooden prefab of sorts meant for those looking for an extra room, his designs are as flexible as a sapling.

British Columbia–based Tom Chudleigh designed the Free Spirit Sphere as a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too tree house that combines the wonder of being airborne with all manner of earthly comforts. Handcrafted of wood or fiberglass, this lavish ten-foot-six-inch-diameter sphere is fully wired to accommodate a microwave, space heater, refrigerator, TV, Clapper—whatever. And it’s plumbed for a kitchen sink. Retractable beds sleep up to four people. "When you’re up in the trees," Chudleigh says, somewhat evasively, "you really get the sense that you are just floating up there, that you’re in a different world." This sensation is produced by four flexible ropes that connect to the sides of the sphere, allowing it to suspend freely above the ground and move with the whim of the forest breeze or branches, intimately connecting the Free Spirit Sphere occupant with the surroundings. "It’s a really healing place up here."

Estate Bungalow in Matugama, Sri Lanka, by Narein Perera as published in Cabins (Taschen, 2014).

Stubb and her family moved to their home, located on 2.25 acres just north of Baltimore, in 2001. "The outdoors here are a big playground," she says. "We had always wanted to build something for the girls that looked natural." In the summer of 2008, they finally materialized their wish with the 128-square-foot "tree house" that they designed themselves. Drafting the plans came naturally: Laurie is the principal of Place Architecture, Inc. and her husband, Peter, is an architect at a firm that focuses on institutional projects.Photograph courtesy of Laurie Stubb.

The Flying Pigsty provides the perfect place for young boys–or pigs with wings–to wile away summer afternoons.

The interior of a treehouse at the camp features a wood-burning stove and antler chandelier.

A clerestory around the perimeter of the butterfly roof gives an illusion that the roof floats over the box of the treehouse.

Designed by the renowned firm Snøhetta, the structure hovers 10 meters above the ground with a black-and-white print of the canopy covering the bottom façade, creating a trompe l'oeil effect. The two bedrooms, bathroom, lounge area, and netted terrace are arranged across two slightly different levels, accommodating up to five guests.

Climb into this snug tree house and watch the world from the inside, through the modern, circular window. 

Casey Key House In this playful treehouse-style bedroom, custom arched windows surround the room and meet the wooden ceiling. Elements of wood and modern architecture draw the sound of rustling leaves and midday breeze into this cozy treetop retreat. Architect: Jerry Sparkman;  Architecture Firm: Sweet Sparkman Architects

One of the models Parfett designs is the Tube, a slender room that can be built off site. Mellen says the company wants to do more "off-the-peg" designs like the Tube and Pod, to add more affordable and easily integrated models. Each tree house is assembled in pieces via sophisticated computer technology in a warehouse to maximize control and minimize waste and on-site disturbance.

"This was really a parameter-driven project," explains Lukasz Kos, a Toronto-based designer and cofounder of the architecture firm Testroom. "That is, I had to let the trees decide how the tree house would be." At the base of the tree, a staircase rolls on casters upon two stone slabs, allowing occupants to enter and exit regardless of how much the tree house may be swaying or rocking in the wind. Solid plywood walls punctuated by a floor of red PVC constitute the "opaque" base story, which is largely protected from the outside elements. "The idea was to have the tree house open up as it gained elevation," explains Kos. The second story is surrounded by a vertical lattice frame, allowing for breezes, air, and light to filter softly through walls while still establishing a visual perimeter between outside and inside space. At top, the tree house is completely penned in, a suspended patio with a ceiling of sky.

Visitors learn about energy and water conservation as they climb outdoor staircases that lead from the forest floor to the 125-foot-high rooftop rising above the leaf canopy. Photo by Joe Fletcher.

Achieving such efficiency and maintaining the integrity of the wetlands and woodlands on the property meant more research for both the designers and the resident—just getting approval for the siting of the buildings and the driveway took eight months—but Hague is hardly one to do things half way. "A lot of times couples engage in house-building, like birds. I'm doing this solo, more like a monk," he says of the deeply personal undertaking.

Outside, on the wooden deck, a hammock invites guests to take a break and unwind; an open-air tree shower offers the perfect opportunity to freshen up after exploring the forest, just before enjoying a meal prepared on the barbecue or a pizza baked in the wood fired pizza oven. A spiral staircase leads to the top level where a hot tub and a sauna provide the ultimate relaxation experience among ancient oak trees.

Radamés "Juni" Figueroa lived in his art project tree house, made from found materials, for two fortnights, as part of his artist residency at La Practica at Beta-Local. "The Practice" is an interdisciplinary program of research and production focusing on art, architecture, and design, with an emphasis on collaboration.

Modern in Montana: a Flathead Lake cabin that's a grownup version of a treehouse.

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How to Build a Treehouse

Introduction: How to Build a Treehouse

This particular design requires two or three trees (or branches) in close proximity. It was made over the course of several weekends using new, pressure-treated wood for the support structure and floor and an old fence was recycled for the sides. The roof is a camouflage-pattern tarp. It's not weather-proof, but it stays pretty dry inside: a three-season treehouse, but best for summer! It was made with my 4, 6 and 8-year old children in mind, but has been a hit with visitors of all ages.

Note: this treehouse was built in summer 2009, taken down due to tree growth in fall 2013, and rebuilt in spring 2014. I've updated the text to reflect the (minor) changes I made, but there are a mix of old and new photos throughout. It was permanently removed in 2019.

Step 1: Pick Your Tree(s)

There are definite advantages in using more than one tree for your treehouse - the treehouse can be bigger, and you have to use less bracing. The tree you see here (behind the magnolia!) has a trunk that splits into three at the base, and these trunks splay out somewhat as they grow upwards. At the height of the treehouse - about 9' (2.7 m) off the ground - one pair of trunks are touching, and the other one is about 4' (1.2 m) away. This means the design has been based on one for a closely spaced pair of trees, rather than for a group of three. The tree is a Garry oak, and they don't grow much further north than this (southern Vancouver Island), so they grow pretty slow here. A solid gnarly collection of old trunks, each about 1' in diameter at 9 ft up.

Start by figuring out how high you want the treehouse. 9' is exciting for kids but not scary. You can of course go higher, but you'll have to take more account of tree movement.

Step 2: Design

Step 3: Materials

For this treehouse, I bought:

The second photo shows the difference between the 1/2" lag screws that held the treehouse up for 4 years, and the 3/4" ones I replaced them with. A lot more steel in the big ones!

Step 4: Tools

The bare minimum of hand tools : hammer, saw, level, square, tape measure, adjustable wrench. Power tools : cordless drill, jigsaw

Useful but not critical power tools: miter saw (cutting lumber to length), table saw (ripping lumber), router (rounding edges).

A ladder is important, but even a stepladder would be OK if you installed a ladder/rope ladder/stairs to the treehouse early in the build.

Step 5: Mount the Main Supports

Get a strip of light wood and nail one end to one of your trees at a height about 1 ft lower than you want the floor of your treehouse (to save a future concussion, it should also be at least 1 ft higher than your head!). Get it perfectly horizontal with the help of a level and nail the other end to the other tree. Drill 5/8" holes straight into the tree just above the strip of wood. Do the same on the other side of the trees, this time taking the extra precaution of first ensuring the new strip is not only horizontal but also level with the strip on the other side of the tree.

Now, take down the strips and measure the exact distance between the holes. Subtract this distance from 6' (not 8', unless you don't want the entrance platform), halve the remainder, and make a mark this distance away from one end of your 2×8. Drill a 3/4" hole in the middle of the board. Make another mark using the between-the-holes measurement . Now drill two 3/4" holes, each 1-2" either side of your mark and both in the middle of the board. Get a jigsaw and make two cuts between the holes to make a 2-4" long slot. Repeat for the other side of the tree. The slot allows the trees to move without tearing your treehouse apart - the more your trees move, the longer the slot ought to be (note that the slots I cut are only about 2" long, but these trees don't move perceptibly at the height of the treehouse, even in a strong wind. If your trees move appreciably, and/or if you're planning to build higher up, use a sliding beam support ).

Drive the screws through the holes in the boards and into the tree with a wrench. Use washers, and don't bolt hard against the tree. The space you're giving it to grow is the gap between the support and the tree. The longer you want your treehouse to last, the further you should perch the support away - and the more substantial your lag screws ought to be! I know my tree grew only by about 1/4"-1/2" in diameter over 4 years, but most trees grow faster than this. When I rebuilt the treehouse with 3/4" lag bolts, I gave it about 1/2" to grow on either side. I used 10" bolts for the trees with one bolt in them, and 8" bolts for the tree with two bolts in it.

Step 6: Lay Out the Platform

Because the decking came in 12' long boards, I made the treehouse 6' long. So you need to cut the decking in half, and lay it out. Leave a small gap between boards for drainage. Cut two of your 2×6 boards the same length as the decking, and the other four to the width of your decking less the thickness of two of the 2×6's (which will be more like 1 1/2" each).

Step 7: Build the Platform

Using 3" deck screws, attach the four 2×6's perpendicularly to one of the other 2×6's. Make sure they're spaced so that when you put it up in the tree, the perpendicular joists will miss the tree! With someone's help, put the contraption up in the tree, center it, and tie it down.

Screw the other 2×6 to the other end of the platform, and check that it is centered and square. For squareness, measure the diagonals and ensure they are the same.

Step 8: Attach Platform to Supports

Now use the rafter ties to attach your platform to the 2×8s that you screwed to the tree (if the angles between joists are not exactly 90°, no problem, just hammer the rafter tie flat against each joist as you're nailing). Add the joist hangers. Use galvanized nails to attach these, not screws.

Step 9: Brace the Platform

As it is, the platform will wobble dangerously. Add diagonal bracing made of 2×4, and use a single long lag screw to attach both of these to the tree. It's easiest to just cut the 45 degree angle in the 2×4 first. Use an 10" lag screw here to make up for the fact that you're going through 2 thicknesses of lumber.

Note that I just used one set of braces on the single tree, because the other end had two trees and the wobble seemed insignificant. You'll need two sets for sure if you have just a pair of trees.

Step 10: Hang a Pulley

A pulley is great fun for kids, but it's helpful for hauling tools etc. up to the deck. Put one in now, and hang a basket from it. A climbing carabiner at the end of the rope is perfect for quick disconnects.

If you don't have a suitably overhanging trunk or branch, you'll just have to make one. Lag screw a 2×4 (or similar) between the two trees well above the deck (cut a long slot to accommodate movement, because you're higher up the tree), and have it protrude far enough to hang the pulley from. Bonus: you'll also have a ridgepole for your roof!

Step 11: Lay the Deck

Get up on your platform and screw down the deck. The only tricky thing here is cutting around the trunks. Use sheets of newspaper to make templates so you can cut out the holes reasonably accurately. Be sure to leave space for tree growth and movement.

Step 12: Add an Entranceway

OK, so far the build has been very conventional - all the books on treehouses will tell you how to get this far. One of my favorite bits was the following minor innovation. The two big supports poke out far past the platform, and you can use one set of these to make a slightly lower level to use as an entry. Make a small deck between the tops of the supports to about 2' out, then build diagonally back to the corner of the treehouse. Add verticals. The pictures tell the story here. I just used offcuts - with any luck you'll be able to do the same.

Step 13: Railing

I had lots of 2×4 from the recycled fence, so I used two 40" lengths at each corner as uprights. I screwed them to each other first then nailed them to the platform. The handrail was also 2×4, laid flat, and screwed straight down into the uprights. I mitered the corners, and screwed the handrails to each other through the miter.

Use whatever you like to fill in under the railing - rope, plywood, whatever. Kids probably shouldn't be able to slip through, though. I had lots of nicely weathered cedar boards which I just nailed up. I used strips of 1×1 to hold them in place either side under the railing. The only tricky bit was the angled bit leading down to the platform - a bit of trial and error here, because it is non-trivial to line up the railing with the sides of the platform.

Step 14: Ladder

Step 15: Roof

I just strung a bungee cord between two hooks I put into the trees at about 7' above the deck, and slung a tarp over. This looked good, but in actual fact it made the roof too low at the sides. I have a compound mitre saw, so I cut four outriggers, screwed them to the uprights, and gave the treehouse roof a decent overhang.

Step 16: Enjoy!

The treehouse is a great little (36 sq. ft.) haven for the kids; they love it and so do all their friends.

Update October 2013: Growth got to the point that I took the treehouse down for safety reasons. The tree started to open some joints, cracks had appeared in the main structural supports, and the washers were embedded in the wood. Amazingly enough, I was able to remove ALL of the lag screws, so when I rebuild I can reuse the same holes (and all the wood except for the 2×8s).

Update July 2014: The treehouse has been fully rebuilt. The instructable has been rewritten to reflect the rebuilding process, and there are a mixture of old and new photos throughout. Main changes: walls no longer have gaps, entry deck has been embiggened, and longer, heavier duty lag screws were used to give more room for the tree to grow. I anticipate it lasting at least another 5 years before taking it down again (probably permanently, as my kids will have outgrown it).

Update August 2019 : The 5 year guess above was accurate, and we removed the treehouse. See next step!

Step 17: Removing the Treehouse

10 years on from the original build and 5 years since the rebuild, my kids had outgrown the treefort. So we took it down - a pretty straightforward demolition. The tree has been completely unaffected by having a structure in it for a decade, and the bolts all came out with a bit of encouragement (I did have to buy a bigger wrench!). To prevent bugs setting up a home in the tree and potentially causing rot, I whittled some oak branch offcuts to the size of the holes and hammered them into the tree. I then cut them off flush.

It felt a bit like the end of an era taking it down, but it has had a great run and we got a lot of enjoyment out of it.

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The Downside of Living in a Treehouse

A 65-year-old Miami woman has been living in a tree on her property for the past decade. Now, she’s fighting with the county to stay put.

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Shawnee Chasser might be the most famous woman in Miami this week. The purple-haired, 65-year-old grandmother has been the subject of feature stories published by the Miami Herald and Washington Post , plus a host of news websites, due to her battle with Miami-Dade County over the legality of her 10-year-old treehouse.

The open-air wooden structure surrounds a strangler fig tree and an oak in the yard of her late son’s home in north Miami. It includes an office and kitchen (complete with stove and refrigerator) on the ground floor and her tiny bedroom on the second floor, which is accessed by a small staircase and covered by a wood-shingle roof. In the lush yard out front, there's a manmade pool and waterfall.

Sublime as it is, the treehouse was not constructed according to the Florida Building Code or with the proper permits for electricity or running water. As such, the county has given Chasser 120 days to bring it up to code or see it demolished. She says it would cost $150,000 to do the former—a task that would essentially mean rebuilding it from scratch, with permits and inspections to ensure it was hurricane-safe—but she vows not to let it be demolished, either. Chasser says she has already paid $10,000 in fines and attorney fees, emptying her savings. On Monday she launched a GoFundMe account  with the help of friends, since she does not use the Internet.

“It feels like a mansion to me. I wake up every morning in paradise.”

The county has cited findings by its Unsafe Structures Panel that deem the treehouse to be a hazard. But Chasser, a native Miamian who has also lived in a teepee and another treehouse, among other outdoor structures, and makes a living selling organic popcorn and renting out a smaller dwelling on Airbnb, claims she’s just being hassled for money. She spoke to Outside about her plight, what it’s like living in a treehouse for a decade, and how Shawnee’s Paradise  came to exist in the first place.

OUTSIDE: What’s the last week been like for you? ​CHASSER: Insanely wonderful. I just got off the phone with the BBC in London. I didn’t want everything to come to this. I begged code enforcement for a year. I tried to determine every possible way out. I paid them $10,000; that was all of my money. And they pushed it.

What’s so special about your house? It feels like a mansion to me. I raised my adopted angel daughter in it, and I wake up every morning in paradise. I have a little bedroom upstairs that I sleep in, and a tiny little room below that I built for my daughter. She’s the reason why there’s WiFi and power, because I was raising a 13-year-old when we moved here.

How do you get up to your bedroom? I have a little staircase. It surrounds my beautiful strangler fig, which is living in harmony with my oak tree.

What kind of materials did you use to construct it? Well, when I started building my first treehouse, in 1990, I wanted to use pallets. Then I realized that I would be taking care of my treehouse my whole life and rebuilding it. So I ended up going to Home Depot and getting pressure-treated wood.

Did you build that first one yourself? No, I just dreamed it. I knew I didn’t need doors or windows, and I put an ad in the paper. This guy came along and started building, and my brother looked at it and went, “Oh, my god, there’s no way that’s going to be safe.” So my brother took it over and we built it on telephone poles that the telephone company gave us for free, and he made it amazing. In 1992, when it was finished and Hurricane Andrew came through and we had 140 mph winds, it withstood the storm. It also made it through hurricanes Wilma and Katrina.

“When I put on Beethoven in the morning really loud, I just can’t believe I am actually living this wonderful life.”

Where you in the treehouse for any of those storms? No. I love the outdoors, but I’m not that silly. My brother has a main house where the first treehouse was built, and now I have a main house that I can go to on this land, which is about a third of an acre. I’m not going to sit in my treehouse during a hurricane.

What are your favorite features of your current home? When you look out from my tiny living room and office, you see paradise. My friend spent the night recently, and she said, “Wow, I love your front window.” And I said, “Yeah, and I don’t even have to clean it.” The kitchen is so darn little and cute, but I’ve cooked for 40 people in that kitchen. When I put on Beethoven in the morning really loud, I just can’t believe I am actually living this wonderful life.

What do you think will happen to your home? I’m hoping that most of [the violations and fines] will be dismissed. I just want them to leave me alone and grandmother me in—write a new clause that has never been used yet. In the age of women’s liberation, I want to be grandmothered in.

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Introduction

How to Build a Treehouse

Custom design your structure based on the tree itself, and don’t hesitate to consult a professional when needed.

By Malia Wollan

“Choose the right tree,” says Dustin Feider, whose company O2, based in Oakland, Calif., builds high-end treehouses for clients around the country, including a $500,000 one that he’s currently working on in Sonoma County. Feider’s designs tend to be modern and whimsical, like his pinecone-shaped, geodesic-glass treehouse suspended 50 feet up in a cluster of redwoods. His obsession with treehouses started when he was a child in Pewaukee, Wis., where he cobbled together his first structure up a poplar using scrap lumber pilfered from a nearby construction site.

Building a treehouse usually requires drilling into a tree; talk to a local arborist first. Look for a hardwood or conifer with a trunk that’s at least one foot in diameter when measured 4½ feet off the ground. If you don’t have a strong-enough tree, you can use stilts as supports. Remember, trees grow and change just like humans do. Your design should take into account the inevitable maturation of both. If you’re building for a 6-year-old, take into consideration what that child might enjoy as a 12-year-old. Don’t be limited by your preconceptions. “Maybe it doesn’t need to be that Berenstain Bears, cabin-in-a-tree kind of treehouse you grew up knowing,” Feider says.

Secure your beams to the tree using specialized treehouse-attachment bolts, which help minimize damage. To foster adventurousness, build your platform at least eight feet off the ground. “It should be out of reach of an adult,” Feider says. It helps to have some basic construction know-how and a willingness to look up engineering questions like the weight capacity of your bolts or the span capacity of the wood you’re using. Consult a professional if you feel unsure or if you want to build at a height that you wouldn’t survive falling. Do-it-yourselfers should consider a simple platform with railings as a starting point. How people get into your treehouse will depend on user demographics. A simple rope ladder often works but maybe not if Grandpa wants to go up.

If you’re building for a child, include some classic features like a trap door, a rope and pulley and maybe even a ship’s steering wheel. But don’t feel obliged to trick it out too much; the real point of a treehouse is to be up a tree. Let the change of perspective — the elevated proximity to bark, branches and leaves — be the central experience.