Beautiful Tree Houses

* Richly illustrated with lavish full-color photographs of creative tree houses, all with innovative and stunning design features* Includes engaging descriptions for each project, complete with insight from the architect and/or designer* A thoroughly enjoyable journey through the world of modern tree house design from around the globe* For anyone who had a tree house, or who wanted one, this is a both a nostalgic trip and a very real journey toward finding new possibilities available to make treetop living a reality* Locations featured include: Sweden, United States, Finland, Switzerland, Italy, France, South Africa, Costa Rica, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Russia, Indonesia, Denmark, United Kingdom, Portugal, Germany, China, New ZealandTree houses have come a long way since our collective childhoods. The very definition of a tree house has broadened to now include anything from a boutique hotel room where star gazing is a must to exceptional viewing platforms and, of course, not forgetting a treehouse for kids such as exists only in their dreams. This carefully compiled list provides an overview of striking tree houses across the globe, with designs that are truly unique, inspiring, and beautiful. Leafing through this inspiring collection, the reader will wonder in amazement at the exquisite and whimsical yet sophisticated constructions dreamed up by modern architects and designers. This beautiful edition is lavishly illustrated with evocative full-colour images of ingenuis arboreal architecture, with a focus on the forested surroundings, verdant treetop canopies, and rural experiences. This book will not only appeal to your inner child, but provide a welcome respite from the stresses of modern living by offering a pleasurable visit to the green world of tree houses.

“If Thoreau drank more whiskey and lived in the desert, he’d write like this.”—High Country News Welcome to the land of wildfire, hypothermia, desiccation, and rattlers. The stark and inhospitable high-elevation landscape of Nevada’s Great Basin Desert may not be an obvious (or easy) place to settle down, but for self-professed desert rat Michael Branch, it’s home. Of course, living in such an unforgiving landscape gives one many things to rant about. Fortunately for us, Branch—humorist, environmentalist, and author of Raising Wild—is a prodigious ranter. From bees hiving in the walls of his house to owls trying to eat his daughters’ cat—not to mention his eccentric neighbors—adventure, humor, and irreverence abound on Branch’s small slice of the world, which he lovingly calls Ranting Hill.

It seems that almost everyone likes treehouses. Smiles of recognition turn into grins of enthusiasm as more people discover them and dream about making their own private retreats or family play spaces. And it's nice to remind ourselves that treehouses are built into the oldest and most forgiving, living things on earth. Also, history records treehouses as being built as deliberate follies, as challenges for arboreal designers, for merrymaking, and for keeping the spirit of fairy tales alive. But treehouses can also be social places. We will visit many that were built to entertain, to hang out with friends, or as guest houses. Trees come in all types. Master treehouse builders Peter and Judy Nelson, with David Larkin, have embarked on yet another treehouse-discovery expedition across America, this time adding the investigation of backyard playhouses to their agenda. Now, in The Treehouse Book, they reveal their findings, illustrated and described in the most complete volume yet. From casual treeshacks made from discarded lumber to multitiered feats of fancy, they found shelters representing myriad builders--interesting characters ranging from childhood fanatics grown up, to weekend carpenters, to those who want their grandkids to have the best clubhouse on the block. Detailed how-to information, including plans and drawings, is woven with behind-the-scenes tales of each structure's occupants and stunning interior and exterior photographic exploration.

As children's hideaways, ornamental garden features, spiritual retreats, and even as offices, studios, and full-time homes, treehouses provide places of isolation, independence, and imagination where one can literally rise above the demands of daily life. Here, architect Adam Mornement and historian Paula Henderson explore extraordinary aeries past and present, from the treehouse-dwelling tradition of South Sea hunter-gatherers to the Green Magic eco-treehouse resort in Kerala, India; from Normandy’s 400-year-old chapel-in-the-oak to the tree nests and tree tunnels that movie star John Malkovich created for his children; from treehouses in literature to the ecologically sustainable dwellings built from modern technology that will be the treehouses of tomorrow's world. Engaging, thoroughly researched, and packed with hundreds of fabulous photographs and illustrations, Treehouses is destined to become the classic reference work on this magical subject.

Provides instructions and plans for fifty projects for parents and children to build together, including a swinging treehouse, a model sailboat, and a totem pole.

When his two young grandsons clamored for a hideout in the trees, what could Maurice Barkley, a sixty-something retiree, do but grab some wooden beams and a level? Now, more than ten years, seven tiny houses, and a spiral staircase later, Barkley’s grandkids can truly say they have the best tree house ever. With a backyard that has become a tourist destination and the delighted cries of children playing pretend sounding in his ears, Barkley shares his pro building tips, floor plans, and how-tos in an easy-to-use guide anyone with a hankering for nature and a set of basic carpenter’s tools can follow. The Best Tree House Ever records the creation and growth of a child-sized village built high above the ground and documents the wonderful, unexpected consequences—the visitors, the excitement, and the hundreds of friendships made—that occurred along the way. Filled with plans and construction details of Barkley’s entire tree house village, The Best Tree House Ever leads adventurers of every age to explore the magical worlds hidden amongst the foliage.

Since the publication of Treehouses of the World, the community of treehouse builders has grown tremendously, and many more innovative treehouses have been built around the world. In New Treehouses of the World, world-renowned treehouse designer and builder Pete Nelson takes readers on an exciting, international tour of more than 35 new treehouses that reveal how treehouses are designed, constructed, and appreciated in a wide array of cultures and settings. Both beautifully photographed and thoughtfully written by Pete Nelson, New Treehouses of the World documents Nelson’s travels, discoveries, and epiphanies, and explores the ever-growing new frontier of arboreal architecture. The message that Nelson promotes is simple: As sustainable living issues stand poised to become the most important challenges facing the post-millenial age, the positive power and goodwill that a simple treehouse engenders is of greater importance than ever before.

"Translated from the French by Jack Hawkes"--P. [224].