16 Spectacular Treehouses

Joel Allen’s treehouse is a secret. The former software developer built his egg-shaped structure, called HemLoft, on government-owned crown land in the woods outside of Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Truly a labor of love, Allen and his fiancée, Heidi, crafted much of it together using free materials claimed from Craigslist ads.

Inside this surreptitious structure in the Canadian woods are the things treehouse dreams are made of. Young designer Joel Allen, who lives here part-time with his fiancée, Heidi, has created an intimate space replete with built-in benches and shelving, meaningful photos and objects, and even a spiral staircase leading to a hinged window for scanning the forest scenery.

Deep in the woods at his HemLoft treehouse, carpenter Joel Allen fashioned a sliding-glass door to the deck, where he and fiancée Heidi cook meals with market-fresh ingredients. Nearby, a top-hinged window opens so that they can easily water a “houseplant” on a ledge outside.

Through his Cave Junction, Ore.-based company, Greenwood Engineering, architect Charles Greenwood spent 12 years building treehouses for others. But in 2006, he took some engineering risks by building his own live-in treehouse. Set aloft with the help of some support poles, the studio is fully outfitted for modern life, complete with an east-facing “tea deck” and west-facing “drink deck” that allow him to enjoy the scenery from sunset to sunrise.