The Pirate Treehouse

Built by Peacemaker Treehouses, “Captain Jack’s Flying Pirate Ship” sails ten feet off the ground. The triangular platform is built above two low branches on the south side of the main trunk and anchored at the front of the ship by four-by-four posts. Diagonal braces provide additional support. The ship comes complete with cabin, masts, rigging, gun ports, and a retractable rope ladder.

Company founder John Carberry studied architecture but worked as a journalist until he turned to building treehouses fulltime.

Here are some of John Carberry’s tips on treehouses. For more information from John check out his website http://www.peacemakertreehouses.com

Over the past several years, I’ve enjoyed hundreds of conversations about treehouses with everyone from professional colleagues to the passingly curious. While the topics tend to be as wide ranging as the treehouses themselves, there are some questions that seem to resurface. Here are a few that I’ve found frequently asked, and some answers to go along with them.

Remember, if you have any other questions, just drop me a note. I’ll be happy to help.

What’s possible?

As noted above, almost anything within the limits of physics, tree biology and the investment you want to make.

How much do they cost?

Prices, like trees and treehouses, vary widely. Some basic platforms can cost as little as $3,500, and some of the monster treehouses you may have seen in books or on the Web cost more than $500,000 to build. Some folks build from their imagination and don’t worry about price. Some folks set a project budget and design to make the most of it. Either way, if you have your heart set on a unique treehouse, there’ll be a way to make it a reality.

Are these for kids to play or adults to enjoy?

Yes.

Treehouses can be anything you’d like. If it’s for your kids, you can add cargo nets, swings, fire poles, rope ladders, zip lines and more to create magic. If you’re the one looking for the magic or rejuvenation, treehouses can have porches, decks, sleeping lofts and about anything else you can imagine. It’s all up to you.

Why are treehouses suddenly so popular?

We all loved treehouses as kids. They inspire imagination and make us feel safe in a way that no ground space can. It’s a rare kid who didn’t want a treehouse.

For years, treehouses were only that — that thing we left behind years ago. Then a kid who wouldn’t let go of that dream named Michael Garnier decided to build a few outside his bed and breakfast in southwestern Oregon in the late 1980s. When he stepped up to a large treehouse, Michael’s creativity led him to create a unique anchoring bolt — known since as the Garnier Limb — to safely carry the greater load. When he offered to rent the treehouse to guests, local building inspectors who had no idea what to make of a tree-borne structure tried to shut Out-n-About’s Treesort down. So began a legal battle, and so began Michael’s work with his friend and engineer Charley Greenwood. The two men developed, tested, refined and proved the load-carrying capacity of the Garnier limb. They also opened up a whole new world of design and construction possibilities into which pioneers such as Pete Nelson and Jake Jacob of The Treehouse Workshop quickly stepped in. Michael, Charley, Pete, Jake and a small group of arborists and builders pioneered the craft, helping all those grown-up kids have the treehouses they always imagined and build a few for their own kids.

As word spread, so did demand, creating a second a second generation of treehouse professionals who learned from the pioneers and try to spread the joy of treehouses to a wider clientele.

Should I hire a professional?

It all depends upon who you are and what you want.

Modern treehouse construction has its unique tools, skills and hardware, and there are lots of books and Web sites that can explain them. Several builders, including Peacemaker Treehouses, offer consulting services to help you develop your project. The most popular section of the Peacemaker Treehouse blog is the entry on installing a Garnier Limb intended for the do-it-yourselfer. If you have the time, and you’re comfortable with careful carpentry and working in a tree, a DIY treehouse may be your best choice.

But some people don’t have the time to sort through all of that. Developing and exercising their own set of skills is demanding enough, without trying to learn a new craft in their sparse spare time. Other people do have some design and construction skills, but also have treehouse ambitions that extend beyond what they’re comfortable tackling on their own.

For these people, a professional treehouse design and construction services is the right answer.

Good advice from one of the finest treehouse builder and creative minds in the business of treetop building.

Share this: Reddit

LinkedIn

Facebook

Like this: Like Loading... Related