Book Description
Treehouses & Playhouses You Can Build shows how average "do-it-yourself" families can easily and affordably bring to life a "Hobbit's Treehouse," a "Pirate's Playhouse," or a "Crow's Nest" in their own backyards! There are a lot of books out there filled with enchanting photos of elaborate treehouses and playhouses built by professionals and costing tens of thousands to build. For the rest of us, there's bit of elbow grease, a lot of imagination, a trip to the hardware store-and Treehouses & Playhouses You Can Build.
Customer Reviews:
Many missing instructions and difficult paths.......2007-09-03
I built the Treeless Treehouse on page 81. During the project, I found the instructions lacking, and sometimes incorrect. Dimensions critical to building were many times left out. There might have been a bright side to this, as I now know my trigonometry, which was critical to getting lengths right. I also found that the recommended decking was heavy and hard to work with. They recommended 2X6 in order to reduce the number of floor joists. A bad trade-off in my opinion, as these are heavier and harder to work with than a 1X6. They recommended installing the railing posts inside the deck as opposed to the outside. A bad recommendation in my opinion, as it necessitated cutting patterns out of 2X6 which is hard to do. In fact, they recommend using a jig saw for this. I used a skill saw and a hand saw. I don't think a jig saw would cut it. I recommend looking elsewhere for a do-it-yourself book.
Great All-Around Treehouse Guide.......2007-07-05
Help me out greatly. I am below novice in construction knowledge. The book explained, diagramed, and visualized lots of great methods and ideas for building treehouses. I find myself going back to it again and again for efficient methods of accomplishing the task at hand.
All the information you need.......2007-04-19
This book is great. Lots of great ideas and detailed explanation on how to build a treehouse/playhouse. From how to choose the best tree to many different house plans. We just finished building a treehouse and this was the only guide we used.
Great Treehouse Book!.......2007-03-08
This book is a wonderful how-to book for those who need all the help they can get on building a treehouse. The plans are great and we are building the basic treehouse which is perfect for our 8 and 5 year old kids. Lots of ideas on everything from picking trees, buying lumber, safety tips, to flexible extras. We bought all three of David Stiles treehouse books and this was by far the best and we could have just bought this one and been happy but are glad to have them all. Would highly recommend to parents contemplating building a treehouse or for kids who want to dream of one.
the perfect book.......2007-01-12
Even I did'nt build the tree house so far, I think, I found exactly the right book. The different pictures give wonderful ideas of what you can do, the book shows how different techniques work and how to do it, even you are no professional carpenter.
Book Description
It seems that almost everyone likes treehouses. Smiles of recognition turn into grins of enthusiasm as more people discover them and dream about making their own private retreats or family play spaces. And it's nice to remind ourselves that treehouses are built into the oldest and most forgiving, living things on earth. Also, history records treehouses as being built as deliberate follies, as challenges for arboreal designers, for merrymaking, and for keeping the spirit of fairy tales alive. But treehouses can also be social places. We will visit many that were built to entertain, to hang out with friends, or as guest houses. Trees welcome all types.
Master treehouse builders Peter and Judy Nelson, with David Larkin, have embarked on yet another treehouse-discovery expedition across America, this time adding the investigation of backyard playhouses to their agenda. Now, in The Treehouse Book, they reveal their findings, illustrated and described in the most complete volume yet. From casual treeshacks made from discarded lumber to multitiered feats of fancy, they found shelters representing
myriad builders-interesting characters ranging from childhood fanatics grown up, to weekend carpenters, to those who want their grandkids to have the best clubhouse on the block.
Detailed how-to information, including plans and drawings, is woven with behind-the-scenes tales of each structure's occupants and stunning interior and exterior photographic explorations.
Customer Reviews:
The treehouse book.......2007-07-05
This book has the best pictures and if your looking for ideas
and inspiration, this is the book to buy.
You can judge a book by its cover!.......2007-03-08
This book along with Treehouses of the World are inspirational page after page. If you are a fan of treehouses, this book is a must in your collection.
The Treehouse Book Review.......2007-01-11
This book is just as good as the front cover picture suggests: pie-in-the-sky treehouses. The kind that you dreamed about as a kid? Its obvious from this book that some adults still think about and make their dreams become beautiful structures in reality. If you ever wanted a pictoral book of treehouses representing your wildest imaginations, this is the book for you!
Excellent coffee table book.......2006-02-28
This book has some excellent pictures of treehouses. I love it! It is one of my favorite treehouse books. It is not for someone looking to build a treehouse; for that, i recommend "Home Tree Home", by Peter Nelson. Back in 1999, I built my own treehouse, primarily using ideas from "Home Tree Home" and prior treehouse building experience. I lived in it for 5 years.
a question for "A reader from NY".......2003-12-26
I've looked for this "original" the treehouse book by david stiles, and can't find it....
please help.
Book Description
A treehouse is a wonderful idea, but how in the name of creation do you actually build one? In this delightfully illustrated handbook, David Stiles, the unofficial world grandmaster of the treehouse, shows how.
Not assuming anything about the treehouse builder, Stiles starts with the basics: how to nail, how to buy wood, what kind of screws and nails to use.
Then it's on to an A-frame design so simple that it can be built in a weekend out of four sheets of plywood, followed by lean-tos, a tree hut, and a Tarzan-style jungle hideaway. There are also forts of every description, including a 21-foot-tall lookout tower modeled on one George Washington built to keep an eye on the redcoats.
Stiles also adds a design for a snowball catapult, an igloo and even a Nerf-loaded cannon.
Written for children, with an adult peeking over their shoulder, Stiles's TREEHOUSES, HUTS, & FORTS is a dreamer's handbook, offering practical results.
Customer Reviews:
One of the best books ever.......2007-02-06
This book is extremely awesome and has a special section on stuff to build like snowforts, catapults, and cannons. The forts are really awesome. Great buy.
How to Build Treehouses, Huts and Forts .......2007-01-26
Great book if you want to build a treehouse or fort with your son (or sons) or if you just want to build one for your son (or sons) so he can have fun. Love this book and I HIGHLY recommend it.
A READER.......2005-07-09
Please don't buy this book unless you are comfortable reading vague plans and are an experienced carpenter. For all the other "Weekenders" like me who appreciate step-by-step instruction with diagrams/pictures, detailed information on techniques for their projects, discussion regarding suitable materials and tips on finishing the project (i.e. painting, etc.) PLEASE choose a book more suited to your skill level. ... I sense impending doom if I attempt to build his cover playhouse which, by the way, seems rather small at only 6'x6'. I think I will join the ranks and order Norm Abrams plans and video as well. DONT BUY THIS BOOK
Wonderful For Kids And Their Parents.......2005-05-21
Most kids, if not all, dream of building a treehouse. It is a very powerful dream that many times does not happen because the task and resources needed to build a treehouse are formidable. This book can make the dream a wonderful reality. The treehouse, of course, must be built by the kids and this book is step-by-step making that quite possible. Parents can help out with the kids permission. A parent that gives this book to a kid dreaming of a treehouse will be a hero in the kid's eyes.
Book Description
Here's a book for romantics—but with a practical flair! This beautifully illustrated volume guides readers through all stages of planning and constructing a treehouse. They'll find plans for several different treehouse styles, from a simple but attractive rustic shelter to an arboreal dwelling featuring modern creature comforts with electricity and cooking facilities. The author describes all needed tools, equipment, and materials, and discusses the type of tree most suitable for each of his designs. Readers are guided through construction of platform or foundation, frame, ladders, windows, and doors. They also learn the more complex aspects of construction, such as roofing, staircases, and connecting electricity for lighting and heating. The finished result can range from an idyllic playroom for children to a handsomely furnished space for adult leisure hours or even business conferences. More than 350 handsome color photos show every aspect of treehouse construction.
Customer Reviews:
Cool photos, not that practical.......2007-03-27
This book outlines the stages, techniques, and materials to build one particular, very complex treehouse. While it does attempt to use the specific example to provide general guidelines and recommendations for treehouse building, there are other books out there which do a better job at this. That said, the author of "A Treehouse of Your Own" is obviously an incredibly talented guy, and it is cool just looking at the photographs of the featured treehouse as well as some of his other projects. The intricacy of design is truly incredible, and there are some cool features which might actually be practical to a backyard treehouse. Basically, I think there are very few people out there who will be building the treehouse described in this book or anything even close to it, as it would require the right tree, lots of expensive tools and materials, a huge amount of time, and a reasonably high level of expertise. But, if you want to challenge your conception of what is possible, this book will certainly do it.
Customer Reviews:
Awesome book.......2005-08-02
A previous reviewer said that this wasn't for beginning treehouse builders. I don't think that is the case at all.
I bought this book because I wanted to explore attachment options, and it had a chapter on that topic. There was so much more inside this book. There is a detailed description of a massive treehouse they built. Even though I never plan to build such a thing, the read was wonderful.
I was going to put a treehouse in our back yard. After reading the section on picking the tree, I realized that it probably would have killed the tree completely. My tree, which I saw as huge and tall and a great tree-house tree turned out to be very sick, and the book even pointed out why.
This is the kind of book that makes you want to sit down with the author and have dinner. His writing style is very conversational, easy to follow, and hard to put down. I wish I was fortunate enough, as those in the book have been, to have him come and build my treehouse.
This book is a great read and great value. I hope that he writes more of his treehouse adventures for us to enjoy.
Highly reccomend for any treehouse builder.......2004-06-15
I live in a treehouse (corbin's treehouse), and I used a lot of techniques in this book when building my house. excellent book, and highly reccomended.
HOME TREE HOME IS A BLESSING.......2003-08-26
FABULOUS BOOK FOR THE BEGINNER WHO IS LOOKING FOR THE STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS ON "HOW TO BUILD A TREEHOUSE"- IT EVEN TELLS YOU HOW TO PICK THE PERFECT TREE. A MUST HAVE FOR ANYONE THINKING OF TAKING ON THIS KIND OF PROJECT!!!!
detailed information for planning a serious treehouse.......2003-01-16
This is a book to read before you even decide what type of structure you want to build. This book is not a book of plans or a quick-read instruction manual of how to build tree houses. This is a serious book about the most important part of the process: the planning.
Nelson begs us to realize that first we must select the tree(s) and that the characteristics of the tree(s) will dictate what size and type of structure can be built. Nelson includes information about which trees are best suited for building in, taking their strength and growing characteristics. This is great information to know, and something I think my tree landscaping books don't include. We learn that the growth of some trees will actually crush the structure over time, while others are too weak to safely hold up a structure, let alone one with people inside it.
The key element in this book is safety. Nelson gives detailed information about how to build a structure that is safe to inhabit, whether it is a playhouse for children or an actual house for adults to use to work or live in. I was surprised to see that some of the tree houses in the book are for actually living in and working in!
Several different methods to attach the structure to the tree are outlined in detail. Exactly what type and how many tree "attachments" to use is explained, such as too many direct nailings into the tree will kill it. I think this information is key.
Looking at the plans for the tree houses in the book, I realized the quality of the workmanship surpasses houses that I have lived in. These are not quick slap-up tree houses, not the type where you use scrap wood that you have lying around. The houses featured have fine edgings, safe banisters and ladders for climbing, beautiful doors and windows. Some have balconies!
Anyone considering building a tree house should read this book first lest they waste their time building a tree house that later kills the tree, ends up being not-secure, or is flat out unsafe for people to use. As a non-carpenter, frankly I am feeling intimidated and doubt I have trees on my property that are worthy!
complicated book.......2001-07-26
Hard to read. It only has a couple of different designs for treehouses. This is for an experienced builder.
Book Description
Treehouses lift the spirits. They inspire dreams. They represent freedom: from adults or adulthood, from duties and responsibilities, from an earthbound perspective. If we can't fly with the birds, at least we can nest with them. With lively writing and beautiful photographs, Treehouses paints a fascinating portrait of this ingenious branch of architecture. It provides a brief history of treehouses, from Caligula through the Medici to Queen Victoria. It shows how to design and build a treehouse, from picking the right tree to shingling the roof. And it tells the stories of dozens of treehouses and the people who built them, from simple platforms nailed together by kids to arboreal palaces constructed and lived in by grown-ups. The centerpiece of the book is a photo essay showing Pete Nelson building a spectacular octagonal treehouse thirty feet up an old-growth fir on Saltspring Island in British Columbia. With two hundred square feet of floor space, cedar paneling, and leaded French doors, the Saltspring treehouse is one of the finest specimens of the treehouse builder's art. Anyone who has ever built a treehouse, or dreamed of it, or read Swiss Family Robinson, will find Treehouses irresistible.
Customer Reviews:
Never too Old for a Treehouse.......2007-08-13
I found the drawings of treehouse construction principles helpful and potentially life saving. The photos were beautiful and inspirational. This isn't the only treehouse building book I will own, but it was a good one to start out with.
Tree Huggers Beware........2002-12-15
Great Book, with lots of great pictures. Some technical stuff also. Another book that has a little bit on building tree houses is called "Shelters Shacks and Shanties by D.C. Beard. I love tree's myself but for you tree huggers complaining about a few nails, sheesh, your houses are full of lumber. Look in the walls at the studs, under the floors at the joists, kitchen cabinets, dining room table and chairs, bedroom furniture, etc. etc. so don't worry about a few nails in a tree eh, they love the iron in them anyhow!
Good Promotion for Treehouses.......2002-07-08
This book is 90% inspiration and 10% technical information. I don't think that there is enough information for someone wanting to build their own treehouse, but if you already have one of those books, then this one is a good companion for inspirational purposes.
Interesting at a high level.......2001-09-22
I was looking for something practical to help me design and build a tree house for my 5 year old. This is a great book if you want to consider "possibilities". It helped a little, as well in terms of providing conceptual designs. It was not as good in providing detailed plans on how to build a specific tree house. If you are an experienced builder you could probably take what they have here and develop your own blueprints. If you are a novice,and need detailed plans this book will not get you there.
Great fun!.......2001-07-20
In "Treehouses : The Art and Craft of Living Out on a Limb" Peter Nelson has come about as close as is possible to capturing the sheer joy of a treehouse in print. Through the use of beautiful photographs and ebullient prose he reveals the little kid in all of us that is just itching to climb a tree. He discusses the different forms that a treehouse can take: from a ramshackle affair built by children, to veritable mansions among the leaves. He also strives to capture what it is that makes a great treehouse; he seems to believe (and I agree) that a great treehouse isn't reflected so much in outer beauty, but in how it mirrors the essence of the tree itself.
Which brings me to a final point: many of the other reviewers have expressed concern about the fate of the trees. Let me reassure them that Nelson, both in his sample designs, and in his own constructions, encourages (and even lauds) limiting the use of nails driven into the tree to the bare minimum. In fact, he goes so far as to posit a treehouse constructed with no nails driven into living wood as an ideal.
This is a wonderful, engaging book. Anyone who has ever enjoyed climbing trees, or had a treehouse, or who wants to build a treehouse would do well to buy a copy. It is both an intriguing look at the architecture of these fanciful abodes, and a celebration of their spirit of freedom and escape.
Enjoy!
Book Description
Treehouses bring out the child in all of us. Serving as private retreats, guest houses, or play spaces for family and friends, these enchanting arboreal constructions lift our spirits, inspire our dreams, and offer the promise of freedom from adult worries. In this magical volume, Pete Nelson, a leading authority on treehouse design and the author of three previous books on the subject that have sold more than 200,000 copies, takes us on a fascinating around-the-world journey to discover how treehouses are designed, built, and enjoyed in a wide variety of cultures.
More than 35 treehouses are shown in 250 beautiful color images, from locations in China, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Italy, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom, France, and elsewhere, all photographed especially for this book. Nelson, whose frequent appearances on Oprah and Good Morning America and in newspaper and magazine features have helped to spur the soaring popularity of the treehouse, also describes in detail the process of creating-for "kids" both young and old-a fun, safe, and environmentally responsible sanctuary in a tree. AUTHOR BIO: Pete Nelson is the author of three previous books on treehouses. He is also principal of Treehouse Workshop, Inc., a treehouse design and construction business in Seattle, and the president of his own residential design and construction firm based in Fall City, Washington.
Customer Reviews:
it always helps to have a trust fund.......2007-04-09
Yes, nothing quite like giving one's friends good reviews on amazon!
isnt is nice when people with too much money can build tree-houses when so many americans must live in dumpy apartments or are homeless?
Its nice that those who have trust funds can build tree houses, while the rest of us are worrying about even having housing, especially with illegal and legal immigration saturating the rental market and drving out legal american citizens.
Come to think of it, how many people who build treehouses have rental properties in slum areas ? I know of one who does.
review.......2007-01-16
I bought this book for my boyfriend (30) and he loved it. I enjoyed it just as much. The pictures are amazing and the stories that went with them were just as great. Great book to leave on the coffee table!
Great book.......2007-01-10
My 13 yo son loves treehouses and loves to read non-fiction books, so this was the perfect choice for him. I hear "WOW" over and over when he is reading this book!
Ultimate Treehouses.......2006-03-26
Looking at this book is perfect for day dreamers like me. It shows the most amazing possibilities for many types of treehouses. I haven't gotten to the point of reading the practical information but it is there for when I need it.
Treehouses of the World.......2006-03-16
A great coffee table book. Amazing structures built by creative,fun-loving people (some with more money than sense). Made me want to build another tree house, and I am 76 years old.
Book Description
Tree houses are no longer just for children. With the growing excitement surrounding tree house architecture, adults around the world are building their own treetop hideaways -- savoring the childhood memories, feelings of nostalgia, and images of fantasy that are evoked by these almost dreamlike constructions. TreeHouses: Living a Dream brings together the most innovative ideas of today's architects and designers, providing readers with a comprehensive exploration of the unique construction methods that allow these amazing structures to adapt to their changing environments. From Nebraska and Georgia to France and Germany, this book features a variety of projects that include playrooms, weekend retreats, home offices, dining rooms, and more. Each case study includes interior and exterior photography, as well as detailed site and floor plans accompanied by concise, informative text. With more than 350 full-color illustrations, TreeHouses: Living a Dream is sure to help every reader make a reality out of their tree house fantasy.
Customer Reviews:
Not your kids Tree House.......2005-08-14
There are an awful lot of 'pretty house' books out there. Some of them offering quite unusual house designs. But nothing I've ever seen compares with the designs in this book. ==I've seen houses built on poles because they are located in a flood plain. Of course the Swiss Family Robinson and the Ewoks of StarWars fame lived in tree houses. I had one as a kid, and when my daughter came along, she had one (she could pull up the ladder and keep her brother out).
In this book however professional architects from all over Europe, Tasmania, and the U.S have been used to design houses that live up in trees. The houses are mostly not the entire living structure but are offices, retreats, studios, and some of the most exciting entertainment areas imaginable. The results are unbelievably striking.
The integration of the advanced design with the natural look of the trees gives a feeling of working together that I wouldn't have expected. This is true if the tree house is ultra modern, traditional, or some that I guess I'd just call unconventional. A surprising book.
Book Description
There's something magical about a cabin set among tree branches. It excites adults and tempts children away from sedentary pursuits to a world of outdoor fantasy. Treehouses come in all shapes and sizes, from a simple deck in the sky to an elaborate complex of interconnecting structures far above the ground. They can be romantic, luxurious, or designed for entertaining friends. This engaging book contains some of the most interesting examples from around the world, and also features a wide range of interiors, designed for various functions. It's an invaluable source of lofty ideas for anyone contemplating a move up-into the trees.
Customer Reviews:
Buyer Beware!.......2004-02-28
I ordered the book from Amazon, the book pictured is NOT the one I recieved. That photo is no where in my copy. I do have a book titled Ultimate Treehouses by David Clark but it isn't the same one pictured.
Book Description
Every adult can recall the serene kind of safety they felt in their childhood "special place"-a platform in a backyard tree, a secret corner of a garden, or a well-hidden fort in the woods. Hideaways demonstrates how adults recreate those hidden retreats in the form of fishing cabins, garden huts, weekend studios, and other intimately-designed spaces where the owners are often more "at home" than they are at home. Sometimes completely spontaneous, sometimes planned to a purpose, these personal architectures offer a fantastic range of building styles - but each is clearly driven by the urge to create a place where one can be utterly relaxed.
Sonya Faure presents over 200 fabulous, fanciful, and freeform models - as well as more practical, but never quite conventional designs, each meant to inspire: from a place where Huck Finn would hide out to highly designed small houses by Le Corbusier. There are vacation retreats in exotic locations on three continents, and backyard kingdoms to be visited-all in one book.
Illustrated with photographs of nearly 200 retreats, this book explains how the stress of daily life and the quest for privacy have rendered hideaways so popular with grownup city-dwellers, architects, and designers who just need a little space.
Books:
- Understanding Wood: A Craftsman's Guide to Wood Technology
- Virtual Teams: People Working Across Boundaries with Technology
- Where to Start and What to Ask: An Assessment Handbook
- Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within (Shambhala Pocket Classics)
- YOU: The Owner's Manual: An Insider's Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger
- Zapp! The Lightning of Empowerment: How to Improve Productivity, Quality, and Employee Satisfaction
- America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It
- An Introduction to Human Services: Policy and Practice (6th Edition)
- An Introduction to Human Services: Policy and Practice (6th Edition)
- Architectural Graphic Standards
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Schaum's Outline of Heat Transfer
- Intimate Enemies: The Two Worlds of the Baroness De Pontalba
- Evolutionary Patterns: Growth, Form, and Tempo in the Fossil Record
- Design Theory
- History: Fiction or Science
- Introduction to Law and the Legal System
- Just Feline Friends: A Cat's Tribute To Comrades, Companions & Confidants
- The Liveaboard Report: A Boat Dweller's Guide to What Works and What Doesn't
- Digital Hadid
- Crimes against Nature: Squatters, Poachers, Thieves, and the Hidden History of American Conservation
General
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Tree Houses You Can Actually Build: A Weekend Project Book (Stiles, David R. Weekend Project Book Series.)
How to Build Treehouses, Huts and Forts
Kid's Places to Play
Home Tree Home: Principles of Treehouse Construction and Other Tall Tales
The Complete Guide: Build Your Kids a Treehouse (Black & Decker Home Improvement Library)
