So, You Want to Build a Treehouse - Part 2

Today we have a special Guest Post from my sister, Jesse. She and her family live in Wisconsin. She wrote the first post in this series way back in September 2005 - check it out first!

Our tree house is finally finished! It’s actually been done since early summer of 2006 but we’ve been too busy playing in it to blog about it until now. All in all, we’re quite pleased with it. It boasts three rooms, eleven windows, glass (plexi) French doors, and an upper and lower deck. From ground level one traverses the ladder steps to the lower level wrap around deck, on the other side of which it is a steep but short climb through a small door into the side of the house (you can’t see the door in the pictures.) Upon entering, one can either step out the French doors to the upper deck, climb a little ladder built in to the door to the highest level, or climb 3 steps to the middle level. From the middle level room one can climb a ladder into the built in sleeping loft or take two more steps up to the triangular room with it’s hammock and views from wrap around windows. The three rooms are built on different platforms, at different heights, wrapping around the trunk of the tree. The lower two are rectangular with traditional A-frame roofs and the higher, triangular room has a hexagonal roof. All three roof-lines converge in a center dip at the tree trunk where a flexible hose downspout transports rainwater to the ground. For more specifics on design or materials, please post a comment.

Now that you’ve seen the pictures I’ll tell you what we would have done differently in retrospect. One, We’d have made the upper deck twice the size. It often gets more use than the inside of the house on a nice summer day but has only room enough for about 2 small chairs. Two, the sleeping loft ended up having less head room than anticipated and while fine for a 6 year old, will be too small too soon. Luckily this is a fairly easy fix and will most likely get lowered this summer. Three, while I love the way the black and green trim compliments the house without being bold, the crossbars of the windows seemed to virtually disappear once painted black. A lighter color would have looked classier. Four, and I’m actually on the fence about this one…Original designs called for one ladder from ground to house, and no lower level deck. We added the deck because of concerns about safety for small children climbing 18 feet up all at once but while the deck looks kind of cool, I still like the idea of a “floating” tree house without the interim level… what do you think?

And finally, a great big “thank you” to everyone who helped with this project – Dad, with all his expertise and tools who not only got us “unstuck” more than once but who did a great deal of the construction himself. Mom, Nina, and everyone else entertaining the kiddos, and all the neighbors who supported and encouraged this project from the beginning. And Dale, you finally got your ladder back!

There’s something about a treehouse that appeals to people of all ages and walks of life. I’m so glad ours became a reality.

Editor’s note: Can you spot the treehouse in this picture?