It’s not only children whose sense of wonder and adventure shines when scaling the rungs up to their very own secluded getaway, adults too find climbing to a castle in the canopy exhilarating with their very own amazing tree houses.
Often the mention of tree houses evokes visions of rickety shacks, precariously balanced on a branch or two, knocked together with a few old planks and unusable in inclement weather due to the lack of windows and doors (not to mention the gaps between the planks). But no more! Tree Houses have undergone a total transformation and some are practically palatial.
There is no denying that our love of treehouses has stood the test of time. Orginally popular in Roman times when they were largely platforms or hidden into the trunk of a tree and were used for pleasure rather than purpose, the Renaissance period saw them become a fashion statement in Florentine Gardens, predominantly due to the romantic image that Francesco Colonna painted in his book Hypernotomachia Poliphili. And now in the early twenty-first century, it should come as no surprise that with an ever-growing number of us choosing to spend our holidays at home, embracing the staycation, tree houses have had a resurgence. They really do link us to both the past, the present and the future. In many countries they are still used as homes, as they are not only environmentally sustainable, )but they keep families safe from seasonal flooding and not-so-friendly local wildlife.
It’s no coincidence that these woodland structures are still so popular here in Britain too. Our love of trees is deeper than just the aesthetic pleasure that they provide. Not only are they the largest of plants and the longest living species on earth, they absorb pollutants and carbon dioxide providing us with pure air to breathe. Research affirms that within minutes of being surrounded by these woody giants, the negative ions that they release into the immediate environment help improve our mood, slow our heart rate and notable decrease stress levels, making them the perfect sanctuary to getaway and unwind.
At the Chelsea Flower Show this week we have been delighted to see treehouses taking centre stage. The rustic birds nest inspired treehouse in the RHS Back to Nature Garden, designed by HRH The Duchess of Cambridge with Andree Davies and Adam White, was a real crowd-pleaser. The exterior reminds us of the stunning Bird’s Nest Treehouse at the Treehotel in Harads, Sweden, but in this Bird’s Nest the interiors are less back-to-nature and more a meeting with nature, but in luxurious comfort.
So what can be achieved in tree house design (whether a grand design or a bijoux abode? How about your very own rope bridge walkway or a stylish covered viewing platform? Opt for a spiral staircase to lead up to an design-inspired sitting room for the perfect hideaway to enjoy with friends or a cosy library for time spent in solace with your literary heroes? And let’s not forget the facilities of another tree house we’ve spotted on our travels around the show…this one comes complete with its own champagne delivery system in the form of a wicker basket pulley system just in case you forget the bubbles!
Whether you’d like to give your children the gift of a traditional tree house to while away long summer days exploring, creating magical lands and swinging carefree on a rope swing or you just want a quiet spot to reflect and enjoy the view in the evening sun, we can design amazing tree houses for every eventuality.
If you would like to reconnect with nature in your very own tree palace, then please get in touch with our team and we’ll help you to turn dreamy concepts into reality.