Cabin Fever

My recently completed House of Tree project, lit by kerosene lamps I’ve always loved designing and building cabins, and was thrilled to have two simultaneous commissions over the past year and a half, both of which are recently completed. I’d like to design more of these simple, hand-built houses and intend to promote these recent […]

A Visit to House of Tree

West-facing elevation of House of Tree I’ve made just two visits to my recently completed House of Tree project and it already feels as though it’s always been there, or at least was always meant to be there. Climbing the 30 steps to the cabin, you wind around the inside of the tower, first facing […]

House of Tree Progress

House of Tree is right at home among the redwoods, catching October’s afternoon sun Ene and I stopped by the site of my House of Tree Project on our way to Occidental’s farmer’s market. Richard and Tom had left for the day, but we climbed up and were excited to see the building’s exterior envelope […]

Treehouse Report

sketch of my original concept for a stair tower within a mock, old growth redwood trunk I still think of the new cabin I’m designing as a treehouse, even though it will be more of a house on stilts nestled in a fairly dense, second growth redwood grove, making no attachment to any tree. My […]

New Treehouse Developments

The treehouse will be hidden in a remote redwood grove, beyond a Gravenstein orchard Structurally, the new treehouse I’ve been commissioned to design will be a radical departure from the various tree-sited structures I’ve made over the years, but the spirit of arboreal living will remain in tact. Sited at the edge of a dense, […]

Field Glasses

Site Specific projects  require careful planning on and off site. When building a treehouse and managing a crew over a sequence of days, small comforts and simple luxuries always help to maintain a convivial atmosphere and improve productivity, especially when the weather is not cooperating. While building treehouses over the years I have developed a […]