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Be in a Treehouse: Design / Construction / Inspiration
Pete Nelson, the world’s best-known treehouse designer and builder, wants to put readers in trees—his motto is “get ‘er done, so you can BE in a TREE.” Be in a Treehouse is a comprehensive source of inspiration and practical information about treehouse design and construction.
“With its stunning photos of fanciful houses, Nelson’s book will appeal to anyone who ever read Peter Pan or The Swiss Family Robinson. . . . To browse through Nelson’s book is to fantasize about life in midair.” ― Washington Post , Book World
Pete Nelson shares the basics of treehouse construction with his own projects as case studies. Using stunning, full-color photographs taken especially for this book along with diagrams, he covers the selection and care of trees and explains the fundamentals of building treehouse platforms. Reading his book is like going to treehouse college. He includes instruction To ignite the imagination, Nelson presents 27 treehouses in the United States, Europe, and Africa. Nelson “I am blown away by the variety and splendor of treehouses today. The creativity and craftsmanship that people bring to building in trees fills me with joy. Never in my wildest dreams could I have fathomed the depth and breadth of this worldwide movement. It is truly glorious.”
Be in a Treehouse is essential inspiration and reference for anyone who aspires to have a treehouse, from the armchair dreamer to the amateur builder to the professional contractor.
“With its stunning photos of fanciful houses, Nelson’s book will appeal to anyone who ever read Peter Pan or The Swiss Family Robinson. . . . To browse through Nelson’s book is to fantasize about life in midair.” ― Washington Post , Book World
Pete Nelson shares the basics of treehouse construction with his own projects as case studies. Using stunning, full-color photographs taken especially for this book along with diagrams, he covers the selection and care of trees and explains the fundamentals of building treehouse platforms. Reading his book is like going to treehouse college. He includes instruction To ignite the imagination, Nelson presents 27 treehouses in the United States, Europe, and Africa. Nelson “I am blown away by the variety and splendor of treehouses today. The creativity and craftsmanship that people bring to building in trees fills me with joy. Never in my wildest dreams could I have fathomed the depth and breadth of this worldwide movement. It is truly glorious.”
Be in a Treehouse is essential inspiration and reference for anyone who aspires to have a treehouse, from the armchair dreamer to the amateur builder to the professional contractor.
- GenresNonfictionReference
224 pages, Hardcover
First published March 25, 2014
33 people are currently reading
134 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 25, 2015
This was a beauty of a book to read. Anyone who loves the outdoors and fantasizes about building a treehouse MUST read this book. The photos of the treehouses that Pete Nelson chose for the book are inspirational. This book would be a great gift ( in the $50 range?) I'm super grateful that our library here in small-mountaintop-city invests in these kind of books!
January 22, 2022
Combination of "what you need to know" and inspirational look book. It was exactly what I was looking for as I started thinking about someday building a mountain treehouse for us to enjoy and maybe develop as a rental property. This made a great holiday gift!
June 7, 2022
Pretty pictures, some information. Not special.
November 14, 2019
Sometimes someone might want a detailed guide on how it is that one can build a treehouse and do so in a way that is minimally destructive to the tree that one builds in. This book provides that, as well as the author's more general approach of wanting to show off what it is like to live in a treehouse. Admittedly, when I started reading this book I was not aware that the author and his work has been shown on Animal Planet, but awareness of reality television is not my strongest suit, it must be admitted. The author is also to be commended for having the moral courage to admit that he has changed his mind about some of his behavior relating to treehouses. Once upon a time he did not believe in the importance of permitting but he has since changed his mind and now gets along much better with the code inspectors of King County, where Seattle is located, so that he is able to use some of his property as a laboratory for creating different treehouse configurations that can be used for others. The author is not only a writer about the renaissance of treehouses in the United States and around the world, but he is also a participant in it.
This book is a bit more than 200 large pages and is divided into six chapters. After an introduction that promotes the idea that building a treehouse is about the journey and not the destination, the first chapter looks at the various treehouses that the author has helped build at Treehouse Point, with lots of photos and discussions of each one and their designs and insights learned from them (1). After that the author provides a brief tutorial on designing and constructing treehouses (2), including selection of trees, design logic, hardware, platform design, rules of thumb, construction basics, safety, and planning and permitting issues. After that the author discusses the WC Ranch Treehouse as a case study of the author's principles put together (3). This leads into a discussion of single-tree designs (4) as well as multi-tree designs (5) that the author has found around the United States, some of which include elaborate bridges and stairs while others are more rustic in nature. The book then ends with a collection of inspiring treehouses that takes up a third or so of the book, with several smaller sections highlighting notable treehouse builders like Attie Jonker, Roderick Romero, and James "B'fer" Roth, as well as Dylan's Africa, looking at treehouses outside of the United States to Europe, Australia, and Africa, after which there are sources, an index, and acknowledgments.
What does it take to be in a treehouse? This book provides at least some idea of that answer. One must first have a vision of what one wants to build, as well as a tree or a set of trees in which to build it. This book certainly provides some help as far as what one can envision. One also needs to have an idea of what needs to be done, on how to build a sturdy enough platform and how to arrange access and how to bring the frame-up construction one has built into the tree. All of that are matters that this book (and others by the author) discuss in at least some detail. The author also discusses the matter of permitting and making sure to have legal clearing to avoid fines and possible jail time and orders to destroy one's hard-constructed structures. The author also gives wise advice on the worth of designing and not just winging it as far as what one wants when it comes to buildings. Of course, if you want to wing it, this book can provide plenty of examples of what sort of building one could end up with with a lot of time and effort.
This book is a bit more than 200 large pages and is divided into six chapters. After an introduction that promotes the idea that building a treehouse is about the journey and not the destination, the first chapter looks at the various treehouses that the author has helped build at Treehouse Point, with lots of photos and discussions of each one and their designs and insights learned from them (1). After that the author provides a brief tutorial on designing and constructing treehouses (2), including selection of trees, design logic, hardware, platform design, rules of thumb, construction basics, safety, and planning and permitting issues. After that the author discusses the WC Ranch Treehouse as a case study of the author's principles put together (3). This leads into a discussion of single-tree designs (4) as well as multi-tree designs (5) that the author has found around the United States, some of which include elaborate bridges and stairs while others are more rustic in nature. The book then ends with a collection of inspiring treehouses that takes up a third or so of the book, with several smaller sections highlighting notable treehouse builders like Attie Jonker, Roderick Romero, and James "B'fer" Roth, as well as Dylan's Africa, looking at treehouses outside of the United States to Europe, Australia, and Africa, after which there are sources, an index, and acknowledgments.
What does it take to be in a treehouse? This book provides at least some idea of that answer. One must first have a vision of what one wants to build, as well as a tree or a set of trees in which to build it. This book certainly provides some help as far as what one can envision. One also needs to have an idea of what needs to be done, on how to build a sturdy enough platform and how to arrange access and how to bring the frame-up construction one has built into the tree. All of that are matters that this book (and others by the author) discuss in at least some detail. The author also discusses the matter of permitting and making sure to have legal clearing to avoid fines and possible jail time and orders to destroy one's hard-constructed structures. The author also gives wise advice on the worth of designing and not just winging it as far as what one wants when it comes to buildings. Of course, if you want to wing it, this book can provide plenty of examples of what sort of building one could end up with with a lot of time and effort.
August 15, 2017
Seemed to nicely summarize the state of the art in treehouse construction. Along with plenty of inspiring examples and stories, the technical explanations are plenty to get started doing more detailed research & planning.
I'd love a more technical sequel, where the same example houses are studied more carefully, especially in tricky cases, like multi-tree arrangements that remain flexible. But at least now I have the tools to start imagining the specific challenges and tools available to start imagining treehouse designs that could be fit to discuss with an actual expert/architect.
I'd love a more technical sequel, where the same example houses are studied more carefully, especially in tricky cases, like multi-tree arrangements that remain flexible. But at least now I have the tools to start imagining the specific challenges and tools available to start imagining treehouse designs that could be fit to discuss with an actual expert/architect.
April 17, 2020
Before the virus I picked up a stack of books at the library in hopes of revitalizing an impressive treehouse in the backyard for my kids. This is the most useful of the bunch. I don't know Nelson for his show but I'm thankful this isn't just coffee table candy but also insight into construction. Unfortunately although equipped with the knowledge I'll have to wait until Corona settles down before working on ours.
December 7, 2023
Pete Nelson brings wonderment to everyone with his love of treehouse building. Not only that he dives deeply into the design and construction of them. This book is filled with diagrams and large color photos to delight the reader.
September 20, 2017
I really want the stack of 9 bunkbeds.
May 19, 2024
Such inspiration! I especially liked the house that combined two dreams: a tree house with a hobbit door!
November 1, 2014
A book to be savoured especially if you can't have a tree house of your own. Every page had an interesting fact or captivating photo of this incredible art. From very practical advice to whimsical dreams house splendour designs the author has included a wealth of information beautifully laid out for the reader to devour.
May 2, 2015
Gorgeous pictures - I'd like to hang the one of the mirror treehouse on my wall. The text is sparse by comparison. I especially recommend this for people interested in building, because of the technical explanations. Personal details that would have brought the book to life are limited.
November 12, 2015
I loved this book of the amazing, unique designed tree houses from the USA, Canada, and around the world.
-- Sibylle, Dyer-Schererville Branch
-- Sibylle, Dyer-Schererville Branch
November 8, 2014
Love this book so much. I want to stay in each and everyone. What an amazing craft!
February 14, 2016
Love this book and his tv show!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews