Treehouses are finally getting the respect they deserve.
Traditionally relegated to the hobbit-hole status, arboreal domiciles have been shrugged off as fantasy forts for children and tree-hugging elves. But no longer.
The list of treehouse stakeholders includes the likes of Sting, Ellen Degeneres, and Heath Ledger. Modern treehouse design varies from raw to elaborate, the more obnoxious condos including cheap looking Tolkien bling with Crate and Barrel flair.
More elemental designs include those of Roderick Romero who builds livable nests with broken branches adorning exteriors.
The leader of the movement has to be Pete Nelson who designs and builds elaborate tree houses in Seattle and runs numerous treehouse inns in the Northwest. These aren’t forts. They’re houses in trees. Nelson is also the author of New Treehouses of the World, documenting the global movement in elevated living.
Some say Treehouses bring us back to the days of our childhood, when climbing trees sparked our imagination and awe for nature. That may be true, but perhaps the desire to live the high life goes deeper, back to the time when our primate ancestors lived in trees—dining on fruit, safe from predators, overlooking the vast expanse of Savannah ripe with opportunity, danger, adventure, and potential evolution.
