How to Get a Real Treehouse

On the Tree Tops

The popularity of television programs featuring castaways surviving in exotic island locations evoke memories of the Swiss Family Robinson and their remarkable tree house residence, which has helped to rekindle an interest in the tree house as a functional structure for use either by children or adults. Tree houses, which may have inspired the tale of the Swiss Family, include “tree house” restaurants that existed in the mid 1800’s in a town renowned for them west of Paris. In the early 21st Century, this tree house legacy continues in Costa Rica, where it is possible to rent tree houses which form the rooms of a hotel in the midst of a wildlife refuge. Southern Oregon is another location which offers rentals of various styles of tree houses.

Tree houses have been used as blinds for watching wildlife, religious retreats, dormitories, weekend getaways or hideaways, offices, complexes for children from simple to sprawling, and as year-round residences. They have been attached to trees at ground level, wrapped around them like outposts far above the ground and built in the midst of a tree group.

The number of possibilities for which a tree house might be used is limited only by the builder’s imagination and by the builder’s choice of basic building material, in this case, a tree or trees. Certain trees are considered to be the best ones in which to construct a tree house, but the native location of a particular tree may also affect may also affect the builder’s choice. For those building in South America, the Monkey Pod is the perfect choice for large tree houses. The Hickory and the Ash are good mid-range choices for North America. The Baobob is native to Africa.