Trunk House: A Tree House on the Ground
This may not be a tree house in the traditional sense, hanging high above the ground, but it’s a tree house all the same. Paul Morgan Architects created the distinctive Trunk House with wood found on the owners’ Australian property that was naturally split into Y-shapes. Integrating these into the exterior of the house makes it look as if it were built from standing trees.
Alnwick Gardens
In the gardens adjacent to the Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, England, one of the world’s largest and most complex tree houses can be found. The treehouse complex measures 6,000 square feet and includes a restaurant, an education room and rope bridges. The treehouse was made from sustainably-sourced Canadian cedar, Scandinavian redwood and English and Scots pine.
Naturally Curved Tree Homes by Roald Gunderson
Roald Gunderson builds beautiful eco-friendly homes using entire trees rather than milled wood, the curves of the branches giving each structure an entirely unique shape. Not only does this technique give the homes rustic charm, save money and put less strain on the environment than more conventional home-building methods, it also results in stronger houses. Gunderson chooses weak or invasive trees that wouldn’t normally be logged, and the natural curving structure of each whole branch is more structurally stable than that off milled timber.
