Author: Eric Grundhauser / Source: Atlas Obscura
Last month, we asked Atlas Obscura readers to tell us about their favorite treehouses. Why treehouses? Because we love almost everything about them—the childlike sense of wonder they inspire, the quirks and secret cubbyholes that make each one unique.
Also, we’re nosy. Treehouses are often hidden in backyards, stubbornly refusing to reveal themselves to passersby. We want to see them!The submissions we received revealed magical tree-based structures of all sorts, from an elevated fort inspired by young love to a hanging shelter that required more than a little engineering know-how. Overall, you also told us how your favorite treehouses are all the more impressive for the memories they represent.
Below you’ll find a selection of some of our favorite submissions. Every treehouse has the potential to make the world a little more wondrous—with any luck, one of these stories will inspire you to look up at the leaves and dream.
An Inspired Getaway
“Built it myself after seeing an article in Smithsonian Magazine. Solar power run lights, radio, and TV.” — Mike Caveney, Pasadena, California
Building Memories
“During my doctoral program, my boys dreamed it up while watching Treehouse Masters. ‘We could do that!’ So I let them design it. It took two years of weekends, several friends, and family, but we finally completed it in April. We reclaimed as much wood as possible. The siding is from an old fence at my in-laws’.
It’s magical at night with all the lights on. But my most favorite part is that I built it with my boys. A forever memory.” — Michael Plank, Lanett, Alabama
Hanging Hideaway
“My brother and I built it over the summer of 2002 in a trio of Ponderosa pines on my off-grid property in Oregon. All hand tools, no electricity, or even a cordless drill. It’s about 25-feet up, suspended with cables so it sways with the trees in the wind. We built the floor platform on the ground, then hoisted it up into place using a large pulley and my pickup truck. We then added the walls and roof up there, swinging around in rock climbing harnesses and pulling materials up with the pulley. Only way up is to climb a tree and hoist yourself up through a trapdoor in the porch floor. I sleep on the porch up there whenever I can make it out to my property. Because the trees grow at different rates, we need to re-level it every few years using turnbuckles in the suspension cables.” — Kevin Tracy, Michigan
Grandson’s House
“It was our present to our two-year-old grandson who just turned five. We wanted to construct something he could grow…
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