Hidden Aerie

It was a crisp, bluebird day here in Seattle yesterday, a fine patina of frost clinging to every shaded leaf and blade of grass well into the afternoon. I took advantage of the sunny weather to take a nice long bike ride, up out of Wallingford through Wedgewood and up towards Shoreline. Typically, when I take these rides, I don't take any of the major bike trails like the Burke Gilman or Lake Washington Blvd. Instead, I prefer to cruise the the little neighborhood roads, left here, right there, checking out the kids playing in the street, the yuppies tending their yards. Seattle's great for such meandering, as it's chock full of pockets of garden art and other oddities.

Case in point, I'm riding yesterday, take a little detour through one of the greenspaces past a dead end, haul my bike over a few tree stumps and across a stream and what do I find? Well, this isn't the Rusting Cars blog or the Junkie in Woods blog, it's the Treehouse blog, so, shouldn't be too hard to guess that I found myself a treehouse. Just a little one, for sure, but still this delightful aerie was nestled above a bubbling little brook, a hidden piece of serenity amidst the hecticness. A couple of the rungs bolted into the tree spun like windmills when I climbed up, but it was still mighty, mighty peaceful up there.

Now, if I could just fit a bed, a potbellied stove and some lounging furniture up there, I'd be done.

Treehouse Guide

I found another great resource for Treehouses on the net: The Treehouse Guide. It's generally well designed and has a great trove of building advice, book reviews and links, but most promising is a list of treehouses that people have built. Unfortunately, the list is mostly just short text descriptions, no photos in-line and few links to external sites describing the treehouses. Those sites that do have links are almost all dead now.

I was struck, as I looked through the list of treehouses that the site provides, that what I want out of a treehouse is really more tree than house. There are a number of treehouses listed that look on the inside like any old cabin that happen to be located in or near a tree (for example). Let me be 100% clear: this is not what I want. If I wanted painted sheetrock and linoleum floors and cheap oak cabinets, I'd buy a trailer and hoist into the air. I want to sleep in the arms of the tree and frolick in her branches. The house should be almost part of the tree.

I've been thinking that it would be fun to put together a Google Maps interface that would let you browse treehouses by location. It will take some work, but I've got time.

Romero Studios

Apparently, little did I know it, Seattle is a beehive of treehouse activity! Not only is the aforementioned Treehouse Workshop here in Seattle, but Durin let me know that Romero Studios is also in Seattle. Apparently, Roderick Romero, lead singer for the ambient, neo-psychedelic Sky Cries Mary, designs and builds treehouses and other structures out of salvaged materials.

There are some beautiful pieces pictured on their web site, but I think my favorite is the one shown here. It's a little nest perched in a tree. Much smaller than what I envisage my treehouse will eventually look like, but it exactly captures the mood I want.