Tree Houses – Awaken Your Inner Child

Would you be willing to live in a tree house? Maybe you had a tree house as a child, one you climbed up with your friends to tell secrets or play games, perhaps you even had a few sleepovers up there.

Tree houses are usually built for leisure purposes, but sometimes they may be built for protection against wild animals. In some parts of the tropics, houses are either fastened to trees or elevated on stilts to keep the living quarters above the ground to protect occupants and stored food from scavenging animals. The Korowai, a Papuan tribe in the southeast of Irian Jaya, live in tree houses, some nearly 40 metres (130 ft) high, as protection against a tribe of neighbouring head-hunters, the Citak.

Since the mid-1990s, recreational tree houses have enjoyed a rise in popularity in countries such as the United States and parts of Europe. This has been due to increased disposable income, better technology for builders, research into safe building practices and an increased interest in environmental issues, particularly sustainable living.

Increased popularity has, in turn, given rise to demand for businesses covering all building and design work for clients. There are over 30 businesses in Europe and the USA specializing in the construction of tree houses of various degrees of permanence and sophistication, from children’s play structures to fully functioning homes.

Now would you consider living in a tree house?