[.ca] Treehouses: The Art and Craft of Living Out on a Limb (ISBN 0395629497)

tree houses and nails:
I have just purchased this book and am eagerly awaiting it's arrival after seeing a few photos of what was inside. However, I am also a lover of trees and hate the nails. My husband built one once using very limited screws in the actual tree by making most of the strength in the support posts on the ground. I also thought of just building a self supporting house on high stilts from the ground on up to the tree house, situated between two tall trees where it would need little or no screws/nails to go into the tree. You could still essentially be "living in the trees" I was just visiting someone's website where whey used "tree braces in stead of lots of nails. They clamp around tree branches and are foam lined on the part next to the branch. They are loose clamps that are super strong but can rotate slightly so there is no pressure on the tree branches. They are loosened every year to allow for the expansion of the branches. There are usually ways to have what you want and respect nature both if you think things through carefully.

Tree Huggers Beware.:
Great Book, with lots of great pictures. Some technical stuff also. Another book that has a little bit on building tree houses is called "Shelters Shacks and Shanties by D.C. Beard. I love tree's myself but for you tree huggers complaining about a few nails, sheesh, your houses are full of lumber. Look in the walls at the studs, under the floors at the joists, kitchen cabinets, dining room table and chairs, bedroom furniture, etc. etc. so don't worry about a few nails in a tree eh, they love the iron in them anyhow!

Interesting at a high level:
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.

Great fun!:
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!

Good Promotion for Treehouses:
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.