Treehouses: The Art and Craft of Living Out on a Limb [Paperback]

Peter Nelson (Author), David Larkin (Designer)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 26, 1994

Treehouses lift the spirits. They inspire dreams. They represent freedom: from adults or adulthood, from duties and responsibilities, from an earthbound perspective. If we can't fly with the birds, at least we can nest with them. With lively writing and beautiful photographs, Treehouses paints a fascinating portrait of this ingenious branch of architecture. It provides a brief history of treehouses, from Caligula through the Medici to Queen Victoria. It shows how to design and build a treehouse, from picking the right tree to shingling the roof. And it tells the stories of dozens of treehouses and the people who built them, from simple platforms nailed together by kids to arboreal palaces constructed and lived in by grown-ups. The centerpiece of the book is a photo essay showing Pete Nelson building a spectacular octagonal treehouse thirty feet up an old-growth fir on Saltspring Island in British Columbia. With two hundred square feet of floor space, cedar paneling, and leaded French doors, the Saltspring treehouse is one of the finest specimens of the treehouse builder's art. Anyone who has ever built a treehouse, or dreamed of it, or read Swiss Family Robinson, will find Treehouses irresistible.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Larkin is the editor-designer of the best-selling Barn and Shaker and the author of Farm, among many other books published here and abroad. He currently lives in Cherry Plain, New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (April 26, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395629497
• ISBN-13: 978-0395629499
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #488,293 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great fun!, July 19, 2001

By 

J. N. Mohlman (Barrington, RI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Treehouses: The Art and Craft of Living Out on a Limb (Paperback)

In "Treehouses : The Art and Craft of Living Out on a Limb" Peter Nelson has come about as close as is possible to capturing the sheer joy of a treehouse in print. Through the use of beautiful photographs and ebullient prose he reveals the little kid in all of us that is just itching to climb a tree. He discusses the different forms that a treehouse can take: from a ramshackle affair built by children, to veritable mansions among the leaves. He also strives to capture what it is that makes a great treehouse; he seems to believe (and I agree) that a great treehouse isn't reflected so much in outer beauty, but in how it mirrors the essence of the tree itself.

Which brings me to a final point: many of the other reviewers have expressed concern about the fate of the trees. Let me reassure them that Nelson, both in his sample designs, and in his own constructions, encourages (and even lauds) limiting the use of nails driven into the tree to the bare minimum. In fact, he goes so far as to posit a treehouse constructed with no nails driven into living wood as an ideal.

This is a wonderful, engaging book. Anyone who has ever enjoyed climbing trees, or had a treehouse, or who wants to build a treehouse would do well to buy a copy. It is both an intriguing look at the architecture of these fanciful abodes, and a celebration of their spirit of freedom and escape.

Enjoy!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Promotion for Treehouses, July 7, 2002

By 

Big Wood Guy (Bolton, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Treehouses: The Art and Craft of Living Out on a Limb (Paperback)

This book is 90% inspiration and 10% technical information. I don't think that there is enough information for someone wanting to build their own treehouse, but if you already have one of those books, then this one is a good companion for inspirational purposes.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting at a high level, September 22, 2001

By 

Ian J McKenna (Indianapolis, IN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Treehouses: The Art and Craft of Living Out on a Limb (Paperback)

I was looking for something practical to help me design and build a tree house for my 5 year old. This is a great book if you want to consider "possibilities". It helped a little, as well in terms of providing conceptual designs. It was not as good in providing detailed plans on how to build a specific tree house. If you are an experienced builder you could probably take what they have here and develop your own blueprints. If you are a novice,and need detailed plans this book will not get you there.