To Do: Treehouse

The Minors have been very patient.  We thought we could get this going last summer, but the siding took so much longer than planned, and then the rains came, and came…..and next thing we knew, that window of opportunity had closed.

No worries though. The delay actually worked out well, because we saved all the good lumber when we rebuilt the front steps and back deck, so now we have a nice cache of salvaged materials to recycle.

We’ve been sketching out ideas for a year now…and we keep changing our minds/design!

We like the open feel of this house (think MUCH simpler) and the horizontal slats would tie in nicely with the new slats going in the front.

Photos via Inhabitat

Which will look much more like this budget version….

Photo via a Prefab Project

But, because it will be built on a slope, we plan to have 2 levels on the ground like this…but screened in with a roof, like above.

Photos by Laurie Stubbs via Dwell

My dad built me a treehouse when I was a kid…and spending the night out there with my friends, in our sleeping bags, with popcorn and flashlights was a seriously wonderful thing.  I want that for them!

The roof/screening aspect is important for being able to hang out for sleepovers.  The bugs here are too plentiful to sleep out in the open. (Remember Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever?!)

We (currently) think the best spot is to the left of the trail we made last year.

The bottom level will be accessible from the bottom of the trail, and the top level will be entered at the top of the trail.

So now, we just need to finish with all that staining, dirt and gravel so we can get started. Phew.