Buy a modern treehouse for $25K

Where I grew up in Tokyo, there was never enough room to build a treehouse; I was always envious of kids in America, who all seemed to have one in their giant backyard. (Of course, I know now this is not true.) Looking through the portfolio of German architecture firm Baumraum as me wishing once again that I had one — they've created a series of beautiful modern treehouses made with simple materials for fancy clients. Commissioning a treehouse from these wood construction experts costs upwards of $25,000 and takes three to seven months to build, depending on the health of the tree and complexity of design.

Baumraum (via Apartment Therapy)

I'm a contributing editor here at Boing Boing. I also have a blog (TokyoMango), a book (Urawaza), and I freelance for Wired, Make, the NY Times Magazine, PRI's Studio360, etc. I'm @tokyomango on Twitter.

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cstatman

Lisa, If you have a tree, I will help you build an “old school” treehouse. For MUCH less than $25k Like, you get the wood and nails, and we get to have a beer in the finished structure. I bet we could get lots of bay area boing boingers to help out. :) Just get a tree, and say when! :)
SkiniCanuck

This is a thing of beauty. Is 25K a lot of money for a treehouse? Maybe. Is it a lot for a small cabin? Not really. Could you make one for less if you’re a maker? Probably. Did the treehouse your dad made out of shipping skids look like this? I’m guessing no.

I’m always a little shocked when people who understand making things get upset when another maker puts a price on their creations. (I can make a mean lasagna for $10 but I don’t think it’s ridiculous when a restaurant sells it for $20.)
- freeyourcrt
  
  My wife recently made a $50 lasagna. It was very good. We named it, “the fifty dollar lasagna.” She made another one last week that cost about $12 to make. I say it was about 25% as good as the “the fifty dollar lasagna,” but our 8 year old thinks it was only one quarter as good. Everyone has got an opinion I guess.
bochgoch

Personally I can’t see it as a thing of beauty. It’s a drafty hut on slits with and over-sized veranda that just happens to have a tree growing through it. It doesn’t appear to make great use of the structure of the tree or to pay any real respect to the tree and its form.
coaxial

$25k is insane, as is the 3 to 7 month timeframe.

My dad built me a treeless treehouse back in the mid 80s. It was awesome. Built like a spaceship (specifically, the lunar lander), complete with working lights, a siren, doors, windows that open and close, and of course a rope and pulley with a milk crate on the end, and painted. It cost no where near that much, and IT WAS AWESOME! My only regret was that I never slept in it.

This on the other hand reminds me the self-indulgent shit you find on poshtots.com. $17k pirate ship (“Each tree house begins with a real 6′ tall log that has been reclaimed from local ranches.” Oh thank god it was reclaimed! For a minute there I thought you were going to say “cut down!”) or an $8500 treehouse designed to look like shit, complete with “Rust accent package.” My fucking god. It costs more for a rust. I wonder if tetnus shots are included.
Anonymous

I like how that Pirate Ship tree house has been (very poorly) photoshopped onto a verdant green field.
KWillets

Also, in terms of (literally) constructive criticism, here’s how to mount a treehouse properly: http://www.treehouseworkshop.com/garnier.html.
Anonymous

The treehouse restaurant – http://www.yellowtreehouse.co.nz

Build by an advertising agency to prove that you can find *everything* you need (at least to build a treehouse restaurant) in the Telephone Classified Pages.
bochgoch

Treehouses are things for kids (big and small) to throw together up a tree from six inch nails and old pallets – not over-privileged Germans to have hand crafted and precision built up unsuspecting trees … crazy!

That’s a proper tree house >> http://www.myplaceofmyown.com/2010/01/inspiration-from-images-2-flights-of-fancy/ â€¦ little boy and scraps of wood

Looks pretty crappy anyway – open to the winds and no where near high or precarious enough to be a proper tree house.

…hmmppphhhhhh
jabberwocky42

These are beautiful – I want one!
Cowicide

Site version in English:

http://www.baumraum.de/?pid=3&native=en
Itsumishi

Where I grew up in Australia, there was never enough room to build a forest of interconnecting treehouses; I was always envious of Ewoks on Endor, who all seemed to live happily together in the trees. (Of course, I know now this is not true. Those Galactic Empire forces are always making it hard for those little guys).
Cowicide

Whoops, never mind, I guess the link was already english and glitched on me or was changed…
Matthew Miller

I think the company is “Baumraum” (tree room), not, actually, the early 20th century art school.
Matthew Miller

@Cowicide: you’re not crazy. Once you’ve visited the URL you gave, it saves your language choice in a cookie. You’ve got your choice of native=[de|en|fr|it|es].
Anonymous

they are nice looking indeed!

but i could make one similar for less than $1000. just sayin’… i’m a maker.
KWillets

These look nice, but I notice they’re all on stilts, so they can barely be called treehouses at all. It’s also a bit ironic to be supporting a structure on 4×4′s next to a 20″ diameter hardwood tree.
kimmi

Blue sky included?
Snig

A treehouse your parents can reach kind of defeats the purpouse.
greengestalt

US$25K!?

How ’bout free if you scavenge scrap wood and a few days work?
Jardine

Wow. $25k. My dad built one for us in a day for the cost of wood and a couple cases of beer (to lure people to help). That’s also how you build a deck by the way. Or pretty much anything actually.