...junior birdman

April 10, 2006 10:10 AM

Tom Chudleigh builds spherical suspended treehouses. [link to wmv at the top of the last one]
posted by Armitage Shanks (19 comments total)

The workmanship on those things is amazing.
posted by delmoi at 10:18 AM on April 10, 2006

I love how the doors open.
posted by OmieWise at 10:33 AM on April 10, 2006

I first caught this in a old issue of ReadyMade, a magazine for the DIY crowd. I thought they were going to teach me how to make these amazing treehouses. I was a little disappointed, but not much. The pictures are still amazing.

Is it feasible to live in one of these?
posted by Homeskillet Freshy Fresh at 10:36 AM on April 10, 2006

"Amazing Vacation Homes" on the Travel Channel had a whole segment about these things. Pretty cool.
posted by scottq at 10:38 AM on April 10, 2006

Yeah, I saw the same ReadyMade. I'm glad to see this FPP because I thought the article there was without substance and didn't have nearly enough pictures.
posted by OmieWise at 10:41 AM on April 10, 2006

Adults building fancy treehouses for able-bodied kids, I think, are missing the point of treehouses entirely. Then again... if they can sell said treehouses to parents for over $150k, perhaps I'm the one that's missing the point.
posted by Oddly at 11:03 AM on April 10, 2006

Pretty cool.

I have many fond childhood memories of me and my friends in our 30+ feet to hang-backwards-base-entry-hole treehouse.
I never did understand why so many others build them so close to the ground.

After that one was cut down (landowner's lawyer set him straight about liability) we started another one 70 feet to base, but were older and less interested in such things by then.

If you're going to build a tree-house, put it UP in the TREE!
posted by HTuttle at 11:04 AM on April 10, 2006

"All the comforts of home"

but I didn't see a drain-hole at the bottom of the sphere...
posted by surplus at 11:23 AM on April 10, 2006

They remind me of the little treehouse in Samorost.
posted by Lynsey at 11:24 AM on April 10, 2006

but I didn't see a drain-hole at the bottom of the sphere...

I guess they expect you to leave the sphere for bathroom breaks. Still, I wonder where they got their power from. In the pics there's a microwave and lighting...
posted by delmoi at 11:45 AM on April 10, 2006

Burning trees, of course! :)
posted by anthill at 12:02 PM on April 10, 2006

For 150k, I would suggest the following alternative plan:

* Donate the money to Habitat for Humanity
* Build a simpler treehouse with your family
posted by effwerd at 12:07 PM on April 10, 2006

For 150K this isn't special. Rich people doing stupid things with their money isn't new or interesting, sorry.
posted by doctor_negative at 12:12 PM on April 10, 2006

Where are the wookies?
posted by Smedleyman at 12:27 PM on April 10, 2006

They're lying next to you when you wake up inside...

(budum - ching!)
posted by anthill at 12:34 PM on April 10, 2006

LIke living inside a Christmas tree ornament. I can imagine giant redwoods with hundreds of these things.
posted by Jawn at 12:56 PM on April 10, 2006

Not very many windows. Why not make one completely transparent?
posted by Potsy at 1:43 PM on April 10, 2006

These are cool to look at but I just about choked when I saw the price tag for the wooden one. I don't doubt it costs a fortune to make and the workmanship is beautiful, but who spends $150k on a treehouse?
posted by Zinger at 5:49 PM on April 10, 2006

It's really nice looking and everything, but... Spheres are about the least practical shapes to live in, I think. If nothing else, then for the fact that since people generally sleep stretched out, you lose a bunch of space on the sides.

I like the staircases and suspension bridges, though. It would be really cool to actually build a house in/around a cluster of big old trees, connected like this, but with more practical shapes.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 9:17 AM on April 11, 2006