What is something you always dreamed of as a child? Well, be ready to get super jealous.
It all started with a tree and a vision.
The property is situated on a hillside. There was an existing deck (barely visible on the right) 26 feet from the tree (the branches on the left), with a gravel access road in between
First he had to build a bridge. He poured concrete post foundations 4 feet deep and 1 foot wide and set post anchors into the wet concrete. The supporting framework was built with pressure treated 4×6’s and lots of brackets and lag screws.
You can really see the height difference compared to the other side. He had to pour a quite large concrete foundation for this side, which is visible in later pictures.
A finished bridge to his house!
He used disassembled wine barrels as balusters, being as we are in wine country
Here you can see the concrete foundation I mentioned earlier. The base of the foundation is 5 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 4 foot under ground. The supporting pillars are reinforced with 5/8” rebar, as well as the foundation.
He had to special order two 4” x 10” x 24′ pressure treated beams to build the bridge on. He worked alone and these beams are big and heavy, but a couple of ropes and pulleys helped him lift and position each beam. The bridge is tall enough for vehicles to pass under.
The beams are pressure treated 4×6’s on sliding beam brackets. The hoist you can see in the top right quickly became his favorite piece of equipment during the construction process.
Decking boards attached. The deck was originally 12 feet wide by 16 feet long. HE extended the end to make the final deck 12′ x 18′.
Deck finished.
Framing begins! The tree house itself is 8 feet wide by 12 feet long. The over-sized deck gives a two foot walkway around the tree house, although dodging some branches is required.
Framing finished and ready for sheathing.
Sheathing, weatherproofing, and windows installed.
Here the trim has been installed and the cedar siding is starting to go up. The tree branches could not be built into the tree house to prevent insects and the weather from getting in, so some evasive framing had to be done, as you can see the branch on the left.
He added an entry way over hang for aesthetics.
All cedar siding is up and the outside is finished! Now onto the inside.
The floor, ceiling, and all walls are insulated and covered with osb
All trim installed.
The finish material is pine shiplap planks.
Did I mention the tree house has electricity, water, phone, cable, internet, and in-wall speaker wiring?
The finished product.
Absolutely amazing, huh?
And of course the view.
How amazing is this treehouse? At first I had no idea what he was building or what he had in mind, but as I paid more and more attention, I realized it’s probably one of the most epic tree houses I’ve ever seen.