A reddit user spent 57 days and $5000 building this one-of-a-kind tree house. Check it out!
This was the tree that was selected for the tree house. It was a live oak with three large branches.
The property was situated on a hillside. There was an existing deck (on the right) 26 feet from the tree (the branches on the left), with a gravel access road in between.
A rope ladder access just wouldn’t do, so they decided to build a bridge.
He poured concrete post foundations to place the supporting framework in for stability.
The side slats were made from deconstructed wine barrels (it was wine country after all).
It was going to be a drawbridge initially…
But it would have been dangerous for children.
To prevent any damage from swaying in the wind, he added sliding beam brackets to the support pieces so that the tree could move a little.
Then, it was time to build the deck.
The final deck size was final deck 12′ x 18′.
The final deck size was final deck 12′ x 18′.
The tree house itself is 8 feet wide by 12 feet long. The over-sized deck gives a two foot walkway around the tree house, although dodging some branches was required.
Sheathing, weatherproofing, and windows installed.
They chose not to let the branches go through the house.
Instead, they built around them.
That way, the house could still be weather-proofed and prevent insects from getting in.
This is what the inside looked like.
Aside from being a cool place to getaway…
The tree house also has electricity, water, phone, cable, internet, and in-wall speaker wiring.
It’s a home away from home.
The finished product.
Look at the view!