Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

As soon as we acquired our virgin woodland property, we dreamed of building a treehouse. After extensive searching (pre-internet days) we found this wonderful guide. Even tho we were novices, we could see the endless possibilities and proceeded with our own treehouse. It's now completed, and we are delighted with our success thanks to this guide! treesnakes

This book is full of high quality photographs and drawings of many types of treehouses; whimsical, built-for-kids, a house in a tree, and even above-ground gazeebo types. This is an attractive book, suited for parusing and dreaming.

This book is a wonderful pictoral account of (primarily) adult tree houses. It is enchaning to read. It brings back memories and fuels dreams for the future. A must for any kid at heart who has ever dreamed of the Swiss Family treehouse. The sky is the limit.

For anyone interested in building a tree house - this book provides great inspiration. The central section detailing a very special tree house in British Columbia is especially fascinating. I built a tree house for my son this summer.

Peter Nelson has discovered what many people have lost years ago . . . treehouses are just fun! This book houses a collection of great treehouses from around the world. If you want inspiration for a unique (and just plain cool) project, look no farther! Highly recommended!

This is a great book to bring back long-since forgotten memories as well as add a whole new dimension to the natural coolness of living in the trees, literally. Not recommended for the lazy person!

I found the drawings of treehouse construction principles helpful and potentially life saving. The photos were beautiful and inspirational. This isn't the only treehouse building book I will own, but it was a good one to start out with.