Article Repost: Why kids should branch out and build tree houses

Article Repost: Why kids should branch out and build tree houses

Why kids should branch out and build tree houses

By Jan Faull

Special to The Seattle Times

Did you build a tree house when you were a kid?

While your home in the branches probably wasn't an architectural wonder, you probably had a memorable time planning, acquiring the materials and building it. You likely felt competent and in control, making adjustments as the structure progressed. Kids are driven to take on such a project because it somehow satisfies their need to utilize their growing developmental skills. They're able to try building a structure they've fantasized about living in or at least sleeping in on a warm summer night.

While doing so, they imagine whether they'd be lonely or brave. They also challenge themselves physically by carrying and hoisting boards to the tree limbs and then pounding in nails to secure the structure.

The social challenge of the process likely provides the most benefit. Kids face the challenges of problem-solving, negotiating, compromising and making decisions without adult guidance. They're left to pick a leader while calling on and using each other's emerging expertise. Deep friendships usually form along with the project.

Kids between 8 and 10 years old begin the process of separating from parents. Some do so with a sign on their bedroom door that reads, "Keep Out." Others form secret clubs. Many yearn to take on the challenge of building a camp in the woods or a tree house in the backyard.

Will your kids have the opportunity for such an adventure? One mom said she had built a tree house with her sister, but she would not support her children's interest in building such a structure, because she's afraid they'd fall or pound a nail in a finger. Other parents might fear that unsupervised youth building a tree house in the woods might attract adults that would do them harm.

Today, parents might hope for a summer day camp where the kids are commissioned to build a tree house with the plans, supplies and organization provided by camp counselors who would oversee the project. Such an experience, although possibly valuable on one level, would be absurd on another. What kids this age truly seek is the freedom to tackle such projects on their own, whether they finish them, serve a purpose or look respectable.

If you question the value of time spent building a free-form tree house, consider that the builders have the opportunity to learn about lumber, the importance of bracing the structure, hinges, nails, screws, ladders, pulleys, framing for windows and doors, sloping the roof to shed rain, the strength of materials, how to use a handsaw, the importance of measurement and how body size relates to the tree and the house it sits in.

Even if the structure is only a few slabs of lumber hammered into a tree where the builders take their lunch and view the neighborhood from this perspective, it's still a gratifying memorable experience.

If you'd like your children to have a tree-house building experience outside your backyard, but worry about predators, go with them to keep an eye on lurkers in the woods. If you provide such protection, take a book to read, and resist the tendency to take over the project. Building a tree house by adult standards rather than kids' is far less meaningful to the young builders.

With kids today spending so much time hooked up to technology, parents need to take on the challenge of endorsing opportunities for safe adventures in natural settings. If you question the need of kids to do so, read Richard Louv's book "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder" ($13.95, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill).

Jan Faull, a specialist in child development and behavior, answers questions of general interest in her column. You can e-mail her at janfaull@aol.com or write to: Jan Faull, c/o Families, The Seattle Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists

Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company

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New York City Treehouse for Rent

New York City Treehouse for Rent

As Posted on 13abc.com news site (6/16/06 - NEW YORK)

"If you're looking for a bargain in New York's stratospheric real estate market, Adam Dougherty may be the guy to see.

The Brooklyn sculptor put his backyard treehouse up for rent as a gag on Craigslist.com. Asking price: $150 dollars. The posting has drawn more than 30 prospective buyers, renters and vacationers since Saturday.

Dougherty says he's taken by the sincerity of the people who've contacted him about the treehouse. But he adds he has no intention of getting into property transactions."

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Scrivenings Mansion

Scrivenings Mansion

Found this awesome photo on Flickr by Scrivenings of a multistory tree house.

It appears to be attached to three small trees: two in the front and one in the rear. Normally, trees this diameter are a bit on the small side; however the design and floor arrangement seem to compensate for the limitations. There are a few interesting build considerations necessary when using small sized trees:

First, building the house low helps increase stability with small trees. Low has a down side in that it is very important to allow for independent movement on each of the tree trunks. Don't make the mistake of thinking small trees are not strong. Wind induced motion at the top of the trees has the advantage of leverage and can break most rigid deck structures. And small tree tend to move more in the wind than large ones.

The photo offers a view of one solution to the tree movement problem. Under the viewing deck you can see a floating beam design. Each tree has a metal bracket attached that holds the beam up and yet allows it to slide laterally to accomodate tree movement.

Second, notice that the trees are braced across three levels: tree house floor, upper deck, and top most brace. I assume to top most brace prevents the trees from splitting apart too much, a problem exageratted by the weight of the main floor. And, the brace to the rear tree is also intended to keep it vertical. Small trees are rarely straight up and down, and any tendency to lean will be exaggerated when the weight of the stucture is placed on it. And, the more a tree leans, the more the weight wants to push it over, and this can lead to a catastrophic support failure.

Third, there is always an anchor for the deck. Notice that the rear 'tripod' tree is attached with knee braces and is probably anchored directly to the deck floor. In a three tree design, it is common to securely anchor the house to one tree and let it 'float' on the other two. This provides a range of motion needed to accomodate tree trunck sway and yet stability to keep it in one place.

On an end note, I'd also like to mention the artistic considerations built into this treehouse. The railing in the front filled with branch arrangement is very organic and I can appreciate the amount of time that must have gone into making that. The rope ladder is cool and compact. And, I like the little bird houses up on the top brace! Very friendly, very functional.

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Pure Simplicity

Pure Simplicity

I found this photo on Flickr by abrietta called "Tree House in the Shade".

I think the photo effect was acheived using a toy camera.

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O2 Buckyball Treehouse

O2 Buckyball Treehouse

This is an impressive site showcasing a novel tree house design based on Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome.

The O2 sustainability approach is to hang an external perimeter frame, the bucky ball, in a tree and use it to support a platform floor and plastic panel enclosure.

Entrance is via a pentagon shaped trap door in the floor, and ropes to haul up a one person basket.

The semi-opaque plastic panels make the structure take on a lantern effect at night, when lit from within, and I awe at the 'luminescent presence' of this treehouse.

Some of the techniques used suggest to me this is primarily a summer dwelling, much like a light tent, and that the shell is a barrier to wind and rain, but not a tight insulating structure necessary for the winter season. It reminds me of a birds nest, or hornets nest, built into the crotch of a tree.

I am particularily interested in the safety aspect of this design: the spherical cage acts like fully enclosed railing. And, the inherent strength characteristics of the geodesic shape means that weight loads from the deck and occupants are distributed evenly across the mounting points on the tree.

I suspect the rope and trap door access on the prototype is out of necessity only. A suspension bridge, as shown here, is much preferable. This kind of bridge approach would work well on sloped terrain, as discussed on earlier posts, to permit easy accessibility.

Looking at the images on the O2 site stirs my imagination into envisioning larger spheres that could accomodate a multi-story platform design.

This has to be one of the most innovative mono-treehouse designs I've seen. Its light, stable, and strong using a minimum of materials.

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Unreal Raffle Treehouse

Unreal Raffle Treehouse

This site pitches a treehouse as the prize for a raffle.

I'm mentioning it because there are a couple of interesting elements to it. For one, I like the railing treatment -- wood frame perimeter with netting -- and that I'm thinking about a similar railing design for my own treehouse.

I'm also impressed by the thatch roof. Thats not very common, particularily for prefab units like this one, and I'm wondering about the functionality and longevity of this type of material. The 'green' factor associated with a thatched roof is appealing as is the inherent insulating value. I think it would be relatively cheap to make, too, with a local source of grass or small branches. I think I'll pursue this topic more in another posting...

The main motivation I have for posting this is to point out that it's a pretend treehouse. I know, its for kids, and kids love themes that are fun and out-of-the-ordinary. Something about the concept just doesn't seem right; a prepackaged product that objectifies the value of a tree house but somehow omits the real substance. Its the difference between process and possession: making verses having.

I think the nail pulling, hammering, cutting, improvising, climbing, debating, creating, trial and error of building you own is the most valuable part of fun for a kid. It forms a personal attachment as the object becomes an external manifestation of the builder's efforts. These are skills that cannot be learned when the creative process is bypassed by a ready made consumer option.

And one thing I've noticed is that people who build their own treehouses always remark that the project never ends. They don't mean that its too much work to ever get finished, they mean that the process of building a structure like this, according to plans and imagination, is such a reward unto itself that they continually come up with more things to build because it is fun!

The act of making something yourself stimulates the imagination, imprints new skills, and lends a sense of personal acheivement. These positive outcomes are associated with the object itself, which is why tree house builders are always very proud of their creations, no matter how modest and irregular they may be (the tree houses, not the owners), and this is the hidden value of having a treehouse.

I just think that buying, or winning, a ready made tree house complete with a fiberglass stump somehow cheats people out of these intangible benefits.

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The Lookout

The Lookout

The Lookout
by E. Read.

View source page here.

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