An enormous glittering inhabitable pine cone dangling from the majestic redwoods in Alameda, California could be transplanted to your very own backyard. Built by Dustin Fieder of O2 Treehouse, this highly unusual structure is equal parts sculptural wonder and enchanting getaway with its faceted glass exterior taking inspiration directly from its environment. The Pinecone Treehouse spent much of the last year available as an AirBnb rental, and now it’s up for sale.

Reachable by a ladder that stretches down to the ground, the Pinecone Treehouse features a spacious bed chamber inside and comes complete with a handcrafted indoor/outdoor bathroom connected to the treehouse by a wooden catwalk. Feider’s previous experience building geodesic treehouses clearly came in handy for this project, which takes a similar approach with a few tweaks to produce a classic pine cone shape.

In fact, the Pinecone Treehouse is just the latest of some 40-odd treehouses produced by Feider’s company. O2 Treehouse is known for its dazzling handcrafted structures, including a platform high up in the crowns of the trees in Geyserville, California and a geodesic structure set closer to the ground, built for Robby Krieger, guitarist for The Doors.

Fieder says he started O2 Treehouse “with the intention to inspire people to reconsider how we can more harmlessly co-exist with nature.”

“The Pinecone Treehouse is a space created to tap into your higher self, a space to rediscover your inner calm,” reads the AirBnb listing for the structure. “Cradled by those living giants the California Redwoods, one is invited to live in the vision of their dreams to quiet the mind until they can hear their inner truths, to reestablish a connection with nature and self.”

If you’re interested in making the Pinecone your own, rumor has it that the structure starts at $150,000 plus transport and installation fees that will vary depending on where you live. You can request more info at the O2 Treehouse website.

Daydream about an ideal fairytale retreat in the forest, and what you envision will likely look a lot like these 14 amazing arboreal creations. There’s simply no other word for these tree houses but ‘magical,’ and UK-based builder Blueforest has that style down pat with conical towers, Gothic windows, quirky cedar shingles and swaying rope bridges.

Living the Highlife Tree House

Two separate retreats, one for kids and one for adults, are lofted high into the sky and connected by a canopy walkway at the ‘Living the Highlife’ treehouse. The adult section features a castle-style conical thatched roof, while the kids’ has three medieval towers, one of which contains a games room accessed by secret trap door.

Willow Nook Tree House

How much relaxation can you even handle? The Willow Nook Tree House is not only a tranquil getaway set among flowering greenery, it’s got a wood stove, a cedar hot tub on its deck, and a beautiful handmade swing.

Alice in Wonderland Tree House

Inspired by the off-kilter architecture seen in the classic story Alice in Wonderland, this treehouse in Spain includes “handmade wonky windows,” a copper turret and cedar lining that was cut to look like melting chocolate. The air-conditioned interior room has a TV and storage for toys.

Alton Towers

Looking like something out of a fantasy movie, the Alton Towers Treehouse village is a series of 5 luxury treehouses for the Alton Towers Resort, the UK’s leading theme park. Each sleeps up to 8 people and contains its own open-plan living space and en-suite bathrooms.

Quiet Tree House

Don’t be fooled by the rustic feel of the Quiet Treehouse, which Blueforest calls “an entirely new concept in arboreal living.” While it’s made to resemble a tree, it comes complete with next-generation sound engineering to be equally at home in a natural woodland environment or modern urban setting, and it’s sound-proofed. It’s also full of the latest ‘quiet’ gadgets from companies like Bose, Smeg, Samsung and Dyson.

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Fairytale Retreats 15 Magical Blueforest Tree Houses

Some tree houses are crafted in organic shapes and materials to blend into their environments or designed as veritable castles in the sky, but these 14 are as modern as arboreal dwellings get. Ranging from a tree hotel in Sweden with a variety of eye-popping options to a simple freestanding backyard structure you can build yourself, these contemporary tree houses might get you daydreaming about your own private tree retreat.

Treehouse Conference Center

Your brainpower might just be multiplied if you attended a work conference in a treehouse like this one. The stimulating environment of a Belgian forest provides the setting for an elevated structure consisting of two large wooden cabins connected by a walkway, with a ramp leading to the grass below. Built by German architectural studio Baumraum, which is responsible for many other gorgeous modern tree houses, this complex is set on 19 stilts.

Beach Rock Treehouse in Japan

Japanese builder Kobayashi Takashi created this domed ‘Beach Rock Treehouse‘ for the sole purpose of communicating with outer space. Seriously. It’s featured in the book ‘New Treehouses of the World,’ in which the author writes “A sparkling beacon among treetops, it is easy to imagine the dome succeeding at its mission to make contact with alien life.”

Tree Snake Houses

Inspired by serpents, these twin treehouses in Pedras Salgadas Park, Portugal take advantage of a sloping hillside. The structures extend out from ground level to hover within the woods, requiring no stairs or ladders to feel as if you’ve ascended into the treetops. Each unit is equipped with a mater bedroom studio space with a small kitchen and wash area.

Prefab Eco Perch

Set it on the ground or put it in the trees – ‘Eco Perch’ by Blue Forest is adaptable to virtually any environment you’d like to place it in. The prefab luxury tree house unit is made of natural materials and can be installed within 5 days, taking up just 6 by 8 meters. The living area, kitchen and bedroom inside can accommodate up to four people.

Modern Treehouse for Kids

Those of us who were lucky enough to have a treehouse as kids often happily made do with little more than a rickety plywood platform and ladder treads nailed into the bark. How fun would it have been to call a two-story treehouse like this one your very own? This freestanding treehouse was built around a pine in the owner’s Nashville backyard.

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Modern Tree Houses 14 Awesome Arboreal Dwellings

(Check out our complete collection of Green Art, Design and Technology.)

Amazing tree houses aren’t just for children anymore – in fact, some are so well made and carefully detailed, they rival most people’s homes. The artistry and innovation put into some tree house designs and plans elevates them from fun getaways to architectural wonders. They arere located all over the world, from just north of NYC to the rain forests of Costa Rica. These fifteen incredible tree houses might just make you want to leave your own home for a loftier living space.

German cooperative baumraum offers fully customizable tree houses made primarily of wood and rope, with clean, modern lines that defy the traditional assumptions about what tree houses should look like. The tree houses above were commissioned by clients in Austria and New York, respectively, and were built to suit the individual sites with the intent of disturbing the surroundings as little as possible.

The interactive Steampunk Tree House is a movable work of art created by over 60 San Francisco area artists, crafted in part from recycled and reclaimed materials. It has traveled to the Stagecoach and Coachella music festivals and has been featured on BoingBoing TV. The 30’tall, 8-ton tree was “made to explore the relationship between our rapidly changing natural world and the persistent human drive to connect with it and one another.”

The Biosphere Tree house is situated in a great Indian banyan in the Manoa Valley of Oahu. This seven-level tree house has transparent roofs, electricity, a composting toilet, hanging bridge and stunning views of the valley and the sea beyond Waikiki. A 7-foot steel “star dome” swings above a pool in the stream at the foot of the tree.

The three tree houses above were created by Blueforest, a UK-based company offering full design, consultancy and management services for tree house projects across Europe. Blueforest’s adult-size tree houses start at around $15,000 and many have kitchenettes, bathrooms and full-sized living rooms. Some even include high-tech features like fingerprint locks, CCTV control centers and plasma televisions.

The Alnwick Garden tree house is one of the largest wooden tree houses in the world at 6,000 square feet. Inside is a learning center, restaurant complete with fireplace, play areas, turrets and rope bridges. The tree house was built using natural materials from sustainable resources including Canadian cedar, Scandinavian Redwood and Scots pine. The Alnwick garden is a public garden space in Northumberland, England.

These two relaxed yet highly functional tree houses are part of the Finca Bella Vista tree house community in the rainforest of Costa Rica. The community is home to ecologically minded adventurers wishing to preserve the 300 acres of rainforest surrounding their homes. Its residents enjoy hydroelectric and solar power and wi-fi internet, and have biodigestors to process waste. Dozens of land parcels are still available for future residents to design and build their own tree houses.

Romero Studios, helmed by Roderick and Anisa Romero, designs and creates tree houses so striking they look more like art installations than dwellings. Their work includes one of the tree houses at Finca Bella Vista and the four tree houses pictured above, among many others. Clients have the freedom to create the tree house of their dreams, from Moroccan lantern-shapes and suspended ‘nests’ to rustic cabins in the sky. Special touches include built-in storage and stained glass windows.

Previously: 10 Amazing Tree Houses