'TREE'MENDOUS HOMES PART ONE: 15 Unique Tree Houses

Doesn’t a treehouse remind you of your childhood? To be honest I am still fascinated by them. If you can look beyond the price tag, your fear of hairy spiders, slithering snakes and heights, then a tree house can be the perfect nest egg for you. Here are the ones that fascinated me the most. Enjoy!

1. Costa Rica’s Tree House Lodge







Costa Rica’s Tree House Lodge is located in the famous Punta Uva beach, just south of Puerto Viejo in the province of Limon, in a total private and natural tranquil environment. This is the ideal place to spend a vacation where you will feel like a modern Tarzan and Jane.

From looking at the pics, it seems like the utopia of tree houses. To top it all, guests will have access to 300 meters of beach front. Each unique suit includes an upstairs and downstairs room with air conditioning and a private kitchen and bathroom. Unfortunately there are only four suites available, so booking well in advanced seems like a good idea.

Official Site:
www.costaricatreehouse.com

2. Hapuku Lodge Tree Houses






The tree houses of the Hanuku Lodge in New Zealand rise high above the trees and they are a contemporary complement to the natural environment. They are nested 10 meters above the ground, in the canopy of the native Manuka grove and offers a spectacular view of Kaikoura's dramatic mountains and the pacific coastline. Large windows, locally crafted furniture, king-sized beds and fireplaces are only a few of the features that makes the houses top notch.

A wood burning fire place and heated floor and towel rails will keep the cold at bay while a LCD TV, DVD player and iPOD sound system will provide you with entertainment when the weather becomes a bit to chilly. A couples spa bath and an open-air rain fountain shower opts for the perfect love nest. To have all this luxuries in one tree house will make any guest feel like they are on top of the world.

Official Site:
www.hapukulodge.com

3. Free Spirit Spheres







Suspended from the tall trees of the west coast rainforest of Vancouver Island, Canada, Free Spirit Spheres occupy a truly unique place in the world while providing a habitat for the untamed spirit that exists in us all.

The spheres are made with cedar wood, has circular windows with power, heat and insulation, counters and cupboards, a sink, small refrigerator, microwave and dishes. The spheres can accommodate up to three people but is ideal for couples or for someone that needs to break away from their busy urban lifestyle.

Official Site:
www.freespiritspheres.com

4. World of Living Tree House




This tree house looks like something out of War of the Worlds. Baumraum architects constructed this detached treehouse, which is one of the main attractions, in the World of Living–park in Rheinau-Linx, near the town Strasbourg, Germany.

This tree house is not structured in or around a tree trunk but is propped up by seven asymmetric stilt-supports. The tree house cabin with the transparent roof and walls, is equal in height to the tree, which is 6.m. The oak carries the weight of the terrace by heavy-duty straps and steel ropes.

Official Site:
www.baumraum.de

5. The Post Range Inn






Nestled on the cliffs of Big Sur, California, the Post Ranch Inn tree houses provides the ultimate romantic getaway for those seeking a luxurious escape for a honeymoon, anniversary, or a relaxing vacation. All tree houses are on the inland side with views of the trees and mountains from the windows and terrace. These single standing structures are built nine feet off the ground on stilts with a stairway to each entrance. Triangular in shape, each room has a bed in the center with a window seat, sky light, desk and fireplace.

Official Site:
www.postranchinn.com

6. 4Treehouse by Lukasz Kos





Architect Lukasz Kos designed this glowing tree house around the base of four existing trees near lake Muskoka, Canada. The structure resembles a Japanese lantern and has three levels that enables visitors to ascend up along with the trees. The levels vary in transparency, letting light both in as well as out.

Official Site:
www.studiolukaszkos.com

7. The O2 Sustainable Tree House







Dustin Feider revolutionized not merely tree houses but the entire concept of habitat. For Feider, the treehouse is a symbol of the entire sustainability movement and a beacon of hope for man’s survival.

He, just like Lukasz Kos, took inspiration from the simple Japanese paper lantern. Instead of nails, nuts and bolts, Feider uses a cable suspension system to hang the O2 Treehouse. This provides a strong, stable, wind-resistant structure. It also ensures that the tree is never harmed or restricted in any way.

Feider dismissed wood and other traditional materials in favor of recycled or recyclable materials. The cover is made from 100% hemp canvas, recycled milk carton plastic and 60% post-consumer waste eco resin that results in a translucent sphere that glows softly when lit from within

It is a place for reflection, social gathering and day-dreaming; for observing nature, holding group meetings and team-building activities.

www.o2sustainability.com

8. Cliff-Tree House






One can find the Cliff-Tree house north of New York City, close to the Hudson River. It is constructed on the property of a private owner. Situated above a wall of rocks and guests have a fantastic view over the hilly landscape, it also serves as a room for rest and relaxation as well as a guest room. The interior is furnished with a very spacious lying area and a bench opposite. Beneath the lying area and the bench there are drawers made of oak too. The treehouse is fitted with glazing on all sides, gauze windows and a dormer window.

Official Site:
www.baumraum.de

9. Papua Tree Houses






The tree people, Korowai and Kombai, live in the basin of the Brazza River in the vast lowland jungles in the southwest part of the New Guinea Island in the Indonesian province Papua (Irian Jaya). Mosquitoes and age-old rivalry forced these tribes to build houses in the tops of trees. Some of them are placed as high as
40 m.

There are 4,000 or so members of the Kombai, most of whom live in isolated family homesteads in tree houses. As well as providing an escape from the heat and mosquitoes, the tree houses probably originated as their height is a defense against flooding during heavy rains as well as offering protection in times of conflict and preventing sorcerers from reaching them.

10. The Steampunk Tree House






The Steampunk Tree House is representative of a mutually beneficial relationship between people and nature: humans living in harmony with the planet and its natural elements. The 30 feet tall house component itself is built of recycled wood, metal and gears,and styled after the Victorian age of architecture. Its surreal otherworldly décor invites its inhabitants to leave behind personal items, figurative pieces of themselves, memories of their childhood innocence, and invites them to release their thoughts and messages to be scribbled on the walls.

The House component is built into, and is a part of the tree in which it sits. Its semi-exposed skeleton is made of structural steel pipe. A tire swing hangs from one of its main branches and an elaborately sculpted automaton metal condor perches in its branches.

Participants can climb up the inside of the tree, through its branches and into the house by scaling the inside of the trunk. The Tree’s windows and balconies offer a stellar vantage point over the entire area.

Solar panels provide power to the LED lights placed throughout the Tree’s limbs and branches. The small LED lights give the impression of twinkling fireflies or pixies, while the larger LED lights illuminate the tree and cast its shadow on the ground. As the night comes alive, the Steampunk Tree House can also come alive with soft plumes of steam.

Official Site:
www.steamtreehouse.com

11. The Biosphere Tree





The seven-level "treehouse" in Hawaii is a collage of floors suspended below transparent roofs, with a central pyramid of giant bamboo piercing the canopy of the tree, allowing a sweeping bird's-eye view of the valley and the sea beyond Waikiki.

The highest level is a holy place 120 feet above the stream which flows through the many trunks of the tree. The bathroom on the lowest level boasts a composting toilet,12-volt electricity lights the tree and solar panels are planned. Access is a by a hanging bridge which connects the sloping hillside to the heart of the tree. A steel "star-dome" 7 feet in diameter swings like a pendulum over a pool in the stream. As many as 60 people have celebrated in the tree at one time.

The Biosphere Tree hosts the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, whose monthly meetings begin with "Buddhism 101," teaching and meditation in the tree. Full-Moon Sacred Sound circles were held here for a time, and "starving artists" participating in the Hawaii International Film Festival often take shelter here. (Many famous people such as movie producer & director Quentin Tarantino and Nobel-prize nominee writer Arthur C. Clark found solace and inspiration here.)

Official Site:
www.danielsusott.info

12. Alnwick Gardens: The World’s Largest Treehouse





This massive structure the main feature of the refurbished Alnwick Gardens, 50 miles north of Newcastle was opened to the public in early 2005. The house consists of a large restaurant with an open fire, meeting space and smaller outbuildings, all above the ground. Due to the size of the building, the use of tree support was not practical - instead it is held up with a combination of a huge network of wooden braces, concrete foundations and two concrete towers hidden within the design. There is an expansive deck area and rope bridge loop behind the house, all of which can be accessed by wheelchair.

When the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland laid out plans to create the largest public gardens in all of Europe, they commissioned the TreeHouse Co. to create a gigantic tree house that would house a 120-seat restaurant, a retail shop, two classrooms, and two private dining rooms

At 6,000 square feet, it’s the largest wooden tree houses in the world.

Official Site:
www.alnwickgarden.com

13. Cedar Creek Treehouse: Stairway to Heaven






Cedar Creek Treehouse is an Earth-friendly, privately owned retreat that is sitsuated in Mount Rainier National Park in Ashford, Washington. It has two different structures nestled in Douglas fir trees—a jack-and-the-Beanstalk cabin at 50 feet, and an observatory with incomparable views of nearby 14,410-foot Mount Rainier. The cabin has two double beds beneath their own skylights, a stove, and bathroom.

The check-in process is fun and funky, too. You'll be mailed a secret map to the property; upon arriving, honk your car horn and owner Bill Compher will come out of the woods to give you a tour and then leave you alone. You supply the food and booze After climbing up a 82-foot spiral staircase and making your way across a rainbow-colored bridge you will reach the observatory tower of the Cedar Creek Treehouse. I won't recommend this house for any one that is afraid of heigts.

Official Site:
www.cedarcreektreehouse.com

14. The 'Treetent'




The Tree Tents, have been produced for Campsite De Hertshoorn in Garderen in the Netherlands in 1998.The design were inspired by the Road Alert Group in England. These activists chained themselves to trees which were due to be cut down in the hope of saving them. Wapenaar set himself the notional commission of designing a tent which would make their vigil among the branches more agreeable. He designed a tent in the form of a water drop, to be suspended high above the ground between two giant trees. There, individuals could comfortably hold out against the superior forces ranged against them for some time.

Official Site:
www.drewapenaar.nl

15. Okinawa’s Treehouse Restaurant






Official Site:
xorsyst.com