Tell me about the treehouses you have known
March 20, 2020 2:02 PM   Subscribe

Now that the house and landscaping are done this will be the year we make a treehouse. I'm asking my kids to brainstorm things they might want for one and have also shown them Pinterest for collecting ideas. But what are some features you've loved or hated in the treehouses you have known? I'll take any and all tips on treehouse construction too.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm to Home & Garden (12 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
Oh man, real windows (plexiglas ok, real glass even better, major bonus points if they can open and close and put little window boxes on the outside with flowers). Some kind of little table and chairs inside and a set of play dishes, with little shelves or cupboards inside to keep the dishes in, and an old baby blanket to use as a tablecloth. We also had a firehouse pole to exit, which was great fun to climb as well.

Basically any little features you can add to make it more like a real house where adults live makes it way more fun to play in.
posted by potrzebie at 2:31 PM on March 20, 2020 [1 favorite]


It had a fireman's pole and a pulley system to the house, you know, for cookies.
posted by ReluctantViking at 2:35 PM on March 20, 2020 [2 favorites]


I'm sure you've seen books by (or co-authored with) Pete Nelson, Treehouse Master -- but if you haven't, this is exactly where you should be looking!
posted by tapir-whorf at 2:54 PM on March 20, 2020 [3 favorites]


Three levels, wired up to have power, and a climbing wall. Super rad treehouse.
posted by Marinara at 3:48 PM on March 20, 2020 [1 favorite]


Ours had a zip line to the far end of the garden. Your kids might like that.
posted by anadem at 4:03 PM on March 20, 2020 [1 favorite]


Oh, and one I planned but never got to make was to be a small (2 or 3 berth) yacht suspended between some redwoods. Dead boats are given away.
posted by anadem at 4:06 PM on March 20, 2020


I think there’s something magical about organizing it so that part of the tree—trunk or big branch— runs through it... not necessarily through the floor and roof, but maybe wall and floor or across a corner. It’s having the floor/wall/ceiling cut to accommodate it, preferably scribed close, that’s so neat.
posted by carmicha at 4:09 PM on March 20, 2020


I had one that was an A-frame, but each side of the sloped ceiling could be propped up so you were under a roof with open sides instead.
posted by metasarah at 5:08 PM on March 20, 2020 [1 favorite]


Our treehouses were rustic and open but what I loved is that there were two.

My Dad built one for me and one for my brother. I was a quiet and bookish kid - he was more rambunctious, so having that space of my very own was bliss.

My uncle would make sandwiches for me in the morning and I’d go up with a bottle of lemonade and my lunch and my books and they wouldn’t see me again till dusk.
posted by hilaryjade at 7:34 PM on March 20, 2020 [1 favorite]


it was just a platform but it was up in a giant cherry tree and we ate ourselves sick in early summer
posted by fingersandtoes at 8:16 PM on March 20, 2020 [1 favorite]


Mine has a drawbridge.
posted by oh posey at 3:22 AM on March 21, 2020


As suggested by the first poster, ours did have cupboards with fancy knobs and a porch with a railing and a door with a real doorknob. And child sized kitchen furniture. It was painted to match our family's house. Also glass windows on two sides that opened out. My dad is all kinds of awesome.
posted by pangolin party at 3:35 AM on March 21, 2020


« Older Best affordable laptop that can run Blender and do...   |   L.A./SoCal Public Showers (Beach or Other) Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.