treehouses

The trend has continued to grow, as luxury or designer treehouses are becoming crucial for any smart garden.

Closer to the Stars Jemima Sissons 2011

Increasingly, as sustainability becomes the buzz word for all things design, treehouses are also being designed with a practical aim in purpose.

Closer to the Stars Jemima Sissons 2011

For Gail Armand, who commissioned one from Mr. Romero last year for her home in Hawaii, treehouses have an almost spiritual appeal.

Closer to the Stars Jemima Sissons 2011

Lukasz Kos '4treehouse' by architect graduate Lukasz Kos in Ontario For more accessible flights of fancy, Andreas Wenning has designed some of the most beautiful modern treehouses, mostly in his native Germany and other European countries such as the Czech Republic and Switzerland.

Closer to the Stars Jemima Sissons 2011

"We wanted to have a Pierre Cardin bubble house, but a bubble is the next best thing," says Ms. Macdonald, referring to one of Tom Chudleigh's "free spirit spheres"—beautiful round, wooden or fiberglass treehouses designed to be strung between trees, allowing a gentle sway.

Closer to the Stars Jemima Sissons 2011

The threat of theft or vandalism remains low, as most of these upscale treehouses are contained in well-secured properties or sprawling estates, away from prying eyes.

Closer to the Stars Jemima Sissons 2011

We looked everywhere, under tarps, in treehouses, behind woodsheds; in all the yards near our brownstone.

Deadly Julie Chibbaro 2011

We looked everywhere, under tarps, in treehouses, behind woodsheds; in all the yards near our brownstone.

Deadly Julie Chibbaro 2011

From there, demands for commissions came his way, and he has built everything from meditation treehouses in Hungary and outside Rome, to his most recent project: a treehouse on the river Spree for a client in Berlin, integrated into a weeping willow, that is for "meeting friends, writing and pleasure," he says.

Closer to the Stars Jemima Sissons 2011

Across the Atlantic in Ontario is another example of using treehouses as a form of art.

Closer to the Stars Jemima Sissons 2011