Author(s): Paula Henderson

Architecture

As children's hideaways, ornamental garden features, spiritual retreats and even as offices, studios and full-time homes, treehouses provide places of isolation, independence and imagination, where one can literally rise above the demands of daily life. This book explores these ever-popular structures around the world: from the treehouse-dwelling tradition of South Sea hunter-gatherers to the Green Magic eco-treehouse resort in Kerala, India; from the 400-year-old chapel-in-an-oak in Normandy to the 'tree nest' and 'tree tunnel', linked by a hanging bridge that movie star John Malkovich created for his children. The authors describe ornamental treehouses in gardens of the past, people who have taken to the trees as a way of life and the ecologically sustainable structures using modern technology that will be the treehouses of tomorrow's world. The book includes advice on the practicalities of construction from expert treehouses builders. Authoritative and well researched, with fabulous photographs and illustrations, it is destined to become the classic work on this magical subject.