Have you got a dream as a child to have a house on the tree? Once a symbol of childhood imagination and the test of a father’s carpentry prowess, tree houses are now becoming a luxury commodity for people of all ages. Designs from expensive custom makers can add to your property a fun space for entertaining, relaxing, or even working.
Interior Canopy tree house
By O2 Sustainability Tree Houses / Minneapolis
$18,800
“In the tree house world, people don’t explore alternative materials. They’re usually made of super heavy beams,” says Dustin Feider, founder of O2 Sustainability Tree Houses. “Our philosophy is to get people interested in the environment in their own backyard.”
His spherical creations, normally 13 feet in diameter and accessed by a basket lift, have very little detrimental impact on the trees from which they suspend.
4TreeHouse
By Lukasz Kos / Toronto
Price unavailable
For his first design project, Lukasz Kos planned this three-level hexagonal structure, which wraps around four trees overlooking Ontario’s Lake Muskoka. “The soaring projection of tree trunks into the enveloping canopy of the forest leads the users of 4treehouse to incrementally begin their ascent into this otherwise hidden world,” Kos says.
The Monstro II
By Daniels Wood Land / Paso Robles, Calif.
$40,000
Brothers Ron and John Daniels supply families with every detail their tree house needs…including the tree. They custom-built this creation around a huge, recycled, hollowed-out log, adding an insulated playroom, temper glass windows, and carved bears, and found parts like a birdhouse, a two-man saw, and an old lantern.
“I love the stuff you can look at and use your imagination to say something about it,” says Ron Daniels.
Free Spirit Sphere
By Tom Chudleigh / Errington, British Columbia
About $44,700 to buy and install; $134 for one-night rental
Looking like something out of an Ewok village in Return of the Jedi, Tom Chudleigh’s 10½ – foot fiberglass Free Spirit Spheres are designed to be sanctums for meditation. A typical eight-day installation requires at least three trees, and may include power, sound, and telephone wiring, as well as a sink. Chudleigh also rents out his spheres on a per-night basis.
Cedar Spire
By the TreeHouse Co. / Kilmarnock, Scotland
About $93,600
Seeking to both bring new life to their lightning-struck 500-year-old cedar tree and facilitate an attractive play space for their children, the owners of this estate in Fife, Scotland, turned to Britain’s leading experts: the TreeHouse Co. They boldly constructed a 45-foot spire with cedar shingles, a copper turret, a side deck for entertaining the adults, two staircases with multilevel verandas, and a zip slide for fashionable escapes.
Tree House and Cable Bridge
By Anthony Wilder Design/Build / Cabin John, Md.
About $250,000
“Imagine walking out of your back door onto a cable bridge that extends to your own personal tree house.” So went designer Anthony Wilder’s pitch to the former owner of this McLean (Va.) home. The Indiana Jones-inspired bridge leads to an octagonal 16-by-16 ft. office/entertaining space, replete with a fireplace, electricity, sound system, and Internet connection.
Modular Tree House
By Sybarite / London
About $1.9 million, plus land and installation
International design firm Sybarite is under contract to develop at least three of these next-generation tree houses for clients in Arizona, Australia, and Italy. Made from 70% recycled materials, these prefabricated modular structures are fully livable “country homes” that can be adapted for a family of up to eight.
“Practically everything about the house is environmentally friendly,” says project designer Simon Mitchell.
Alnwick Garden
By the TreeHouse Co. / Kilmarnock, Scotland
$4 million to $6 million
When the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland laid out plans to create the largest public gardens in all of Europe, they commissioned the TreeHouse Co. to create a gigantic tree house that would house a 120-seat restaurant, a retail shop, two classrooms, and two private dining rooms. Opened in January, 2005, the Treehouse at Alnwick Gardens is a labyrinth of turrets, treetop walkways, and cavernous spaces. At 6,000 square feet, it’s one of the largest wooden tree houses in the world.
