All about tree house designs

Treehouse designs, sometimes known as tree forts, are elevated platforms or structures built around, next to, or amid the trunks or branches of one or more mature trees. Tree homes can be used for fun, employment, shelter, observation, or as a temporary escape.

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Treehouse designs have become extremely popular, whether in the shape of a tree-top restaurant or a completely stunning ‘tree city.’ Over the last five years, people’s interest in outdoor leisure and recreation has exploded. Many people run commercial climbing and adventure parks, and regularly commission tree homes. Most of these projects appear to be tree cabins that serve as bridge elements between high rope courses or as nodes or junction sites in a network of interconnected course layouts.

Tree house history

Treehouse designs may be traced back to the South Pacific and Southeast Asia inhabitants, who used to live in trees to keep their families safe. They reached and left a treehouse in thatched baskets lifted and lowered down the tree trunk. Franciscan monks meditated in elementary tree rooms in the Middle Ages, while Hindu monks lived in tree homes to escape earthbound concerns.

Many centuries later, in the early 1500s, the Renaissance period reawakened interest in Classical culture, and treehouses became a must-have in Florentine gardens.

Plessy Robinson, a hamlet west of Paris, became famed in the mid-19th century for its treehouse restaurants, where fashionable Parisians were seen in their spare time. The restaurants were erected amongst chestnut trees and covered with rambling roses, consisting of almost 200 tables. Meals typically consisted of roast chicken and champagne and were hoisted up to diners in a basket pulley.

Treehouse designs were extremely popular among the British elite, and they formed an essential element of Tudor England’s culture. Queen Elizabeth-I was reported to have dined under a big linden tree. These English tree homes were hung from the tree using a rope that was knotted in the summer and untied in the winter to enable the tree to develop.

A 500-year-old lime tree near Pitchford, England, is home to one of the world’s oldest tree homes. It’s known as the Tree with a House in it, and was built in the classic English Tudor style.

Winston Churchill had a 20-foot (609.6-centimetre) high treehouse in a lime tree at his Chartwell Manor residence, while John Lennon was reported to have a treehouse overlooking the Strawberry Fields orphanage.

Significance of tree house designs

Treehouse designs are absolutely unique, taking into account the site plan, possible viewpoints, and the overall nature of the place. The end products could be a few sleeping areas to a completely insulated, heated, and illuminated facility. It might have its own mini-kitchen and/or other facilities, which might be used for anything from a clubhouse to a social fort to a resort. Each of these ideas requires considerable consideration and three-dimensional design, but once completed, they provide a dynamic vertical and horizontal experience.

The viewpoints, as well as the spatial sequencing of each approach, is meticulously researched. Unlike most traditional architectural projects, treehouse designs need a greater focus on these components because they are all about movement and are built at considerable heights (thus requiring more careful consideration of what can be seen in all directions). If you can’t afford to buy or build your own treehouse, resorts offer a variety of rental options.

Types of tree house designs

The many natural components that surround the region are incorporated into treehouse designs. It has the ability to shape itself into the surroundings, resulting in a variety of structures depending on the niche. Let’s look at some of the most popular treehouse designs:

Treehouses on the trunk

A typical treehouse design is constructed using the tree as a structural and support element. Consider a treehouse constructed around a tree’s trunk. It’s also the inspiration for a lot of treehouses today.

It’s likely that living trunks and branches get skilfully integrated into the construction of a treehouse like this. Such treehouses can be multi-storey as well. There can be multiple rooms or cabins perched on different branches at various heights, connected through ladders or unstable stairways.

Suspended from Branches

Another sort of treehouse design that relies on the inherent power of trees for support is suspended from its branch. The suspension, sometimes known as tree tents, ensures you’ll move with the tree even more than you would in a regular treehouse.

There are a few sites in the UK that feature Jason Thawley’s unique designs. His tree tents have a spherical shape similar to a harvest mouse nest, but on a much grander scale. The Secret Campsite was one of the first to be established, although there are now more upscale equivalents, such as Ynys Afallon in Powys. These are usually made of plywood, aluminium, canvas and wool, and are carefully-engineered cocoons in the trees.

However, these aren’t the only trees with hung tents. Tentsile makes another eye-catching style of tent that swings among boughs and branches. It’s a cross between a tent and a hammock. Three anchor points (trees) are required for pitching, to which straps are fastened, making it similar to a mobile treehouse.

On Stilts

Today, many treehouse designs are constructed in a unique style, but they all provide the same benefits as a conventional treehouse: vistas, an elevated location, and an exciting getaway.

The architecture is not influenced by the form and strength of existing trees, and they are usually located among trees or on the border of the woods. They may still offer you a back-to-nature sense, and the design is not dictated by the shape and strength of existing trees.

Almost all treehouses, whether in the woods or surrounded by them, are almost entirely made of wood, and many of them contain gnarly pieces of wood with natural knots and nobbles left in place rather than planned away. This can help a free-standing structure seem more connected to its environment.

Forest floor

While treehouse designs are normally raised by nature, there is a case that can be made for certain ground-level structures to be included in this category. A forest-floor treehouse has the potential to be accessible to anyone, allowing individuals cautious of heights to enjoy the treehouse experience.

A forest-floor treehouse may be stretching the concept a bit too far for treehouse enthusiasts, but there are several cabins on UK campsites that match the mark. Take, for example, Norfolk’s Woodpecker Tree Temple. Although this handmade wooden cottage is situated at the root level, it has taken trees into consideration. It’s not only nestled amid the campsite’s nine-acre woods, but it also has tree trunks incorporated into the wrap-around veranda. It’s a pod-treehouse hybrid built of wood and surrounded by trees. It also boasts some of Mid-Wales’ outstanding vistas.

Imaginative designs

Treehouse designs appear to be the pinnacle of innovation, and there are some truly amazing architectural marvels to prove it. Take, for example, the two treehouses at Blackberry Wood in Sussex: one with turrets and the other with heart-shaped windows, both designed by the Grimm Brothers. In Pembrokeshire, the Templar treehouse boasts a slide instead of steps and its own hot tub.

Characteristics of a good tree house

Treehouse trees are large, robust trees with taproots that are also incredibly flexible and move even while bearing the increased weight of a structure. Individual trees must be healthy and have enough life left to avoid the stress of anchoring a structure into their living tissues, yet mature.

Recommended trees for tree house

If you install additional supports or make your building smaller to fit the tree, nearly any type of tree may be utilised for a treehouse design. However, many trees appear to be built for treehouses. Trees like:

Silver maple (Acer Saccharinum)
Sugar maple (Acer Saccharum)
Box elder (Acer Negundo)
Hedge maple (Acer Campestre)
English oak (Quercus Robur)
The red oak (Quercus Rubra)
The tulip tree (Liriodendron Tulipifera) and Lombardy (Populus Nigra)

Treehouse design placement

Aside from picking the perfect tree, putting the treehouse in the right position assures that it will last longer. When a structure is too high above the ground, it puts a lot of stress on the tree, as well as the structure. The base of most trees’ should be no more than 10 to 15 feet in height. Choosing a place where the tree has several branches or utilising numerous trees near together for support, helps to distribute the weight of the treehouse more evenly, putting less strain on any particular spot on the tree.

Other Considerations

Consider additional practical elements while selecting your treehouse:

If your treehouse will be constructed near a garden or other landscaping, it should be situated such that the structure’s shadow does not block current plants from receiving sunlight.
Treehouse trees should always be planted in the middle of an unadorned lawn, away from any fences or water features that may cause harm.
You should also avoid choosing trees that produce a lot of discarded blooms, fruits, or nuts since the debris might creep inside the treehouse or cover the deck, making it dangerous and unattractive.

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