Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Movin' On Up...to a Deluxe Treehouse with Style

Movin' On Up...to a Deluxe Treehouse with Style

Not ready to completely move-out of your parents' house and give up access to free laundry? Why not build something in their backyard? And if there's a cluster of healthy pine or magnolia trees, German design firm,Baumraum may be your next phone call.

Baumraum has designed some amazingtreehouses in their native Germany and other locales that make us want to ditch our urban shoebox abodes for one of these sky-high dwellings.
Baumraum specializes in arboreal homes about the size of a small caravan or RV trailer. Each unit is made to order to fit clients' needs, so anything from size, insulation, wiring, built-in furniture, mini-kitchens and flatscreen TVs are all up for discussion. Even a flushable toilet is not off-limits if there's a nearby water supply and existing sewage features on the property.

The cabin shells and interiors are pre-fabricated in Baumraum's shop. Larchwood or Oregon pine are often used in the exteriors, but they don't limit themselves to wood; light metal, textiles and synthetics are also considered in their designs.


What Baumraum won't do is build something that will destroy the natural life of a tree. Instead of using bolts or nails, they secure the treehouses with steel cables and textile belts that aren't damaging and encourage continued growth of the host trees. 

Owning a Baumraum original costs anywhere from $25,000 to nearly $200,000, so you may need Mom's cooking and that free laundry after all in order to afford one. But from the looks of it, you're guaranteed to have some of the best views in your neighborhood.

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