Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
Subscription Form

Get notified of the best News

Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
22K Followers
25K Likes
5K Followers
1K Followers
Mountain Life
Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
  • Stay & Play

Mountain Homes: The Ultimate Treehouse

  • April 23, 2015
  • Colin Field
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
0
0
0
Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0

Who hasn’t dreamed of the ultimate treehouse? Who doesn’t love a quiet perch in which to hide away from the world and watch as it goes on below you? Who doesn’t love a treehouse? It’s something many kids dream of and create with lots of scrap wood and imagination. But not many kids, and far fewer adults, jump into a treehouse project with the determination of Lukasz Kos and his client.

While in his first year of architecture school at the University of Toronto Kos entered a contest initiated by the property owner.

The owner wanted a treehouse design with at least two levels, one of them enclosed. The house was to be at least 26 feet off the ground and no more than 36. Out of the 40 entries, a jury consisting of university professors and the homeowner’s wife chose Kos’ design.

Ultimate Treehouse
Ultimate Treehouse

Now known as the 4Treehouse, the project cost $50,000 and took three-and-a-half months to build.

“This is a three-storey retreat,” says Kos. “The client sleeps in it all the time with his grandchildren. The first floor is waterproof. The treehouse gets progressively more porous as you move up to the third level.”

With horizontal clear pine slats, the first floor of the 410-square-foot building is enclosed, lined with Douglas fir. Four large poplars act as columns to support the structure and are wrapped within the structural skin of the project. In order to maintain the trees’ health and growth, Kos designed the building to have minimal impact on them. Using a traditional Muskoka balloon frame was the solution. One high-strength steel cable was attached to each of the four trees. From these single attachments, the four steel cables suspended two Douglas fir beams (one for each pair of cables), literally creating two giant swings on which the frame sits. When the wind blows, the structure sways in the breeze.

4TH_L02
Ultimate Treehouse.

The lattice-like skin of the structure acts like a tree canopy, filtering sunlight into the interior spaces while at night the surface of the treehouse looks like a lantern suspended in the forest.

“It’s used for a number of activities, anything from children playing in a make-believe world in the trees, to a retreat for reading, to a swaying structure that lulls you to sleep at night,” says Kos. “It’s amazing up there.”

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • Mountain Homes
  • treehouse
Colin Field

Previous Article
  • Paddling

How the Beaver River Rat Race Went from Quaint to Crazy

  • April 21, 2015
  • Colin Field
View Post
Next Article
  • CLIMBING

Climb High with a Little Help From Your Friends

  • April 24, 2015
  • Editor
View Post
You May Also Like
L'Hymne-des-Trembles-Laurentians-Quebec
View Post
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Stay & Play

L’Hymne des Trembles: Uncompromising Laurentian Skiing

  • Editor
  • January 27, 2023
View Post
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Stay & Play

RED: Big Mountain, Small Town

  • Sarah Bulford
  • December 20, 2022
Red-Resort-Rossland-BC
View Post
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Stay & Play

RED Resort: Sweepstakes for The Good Life!

  • Mountain Life Media
  • November 1, 2022
Blue-Mountain-Agora-lights
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • Ontario
  • Stay & Play
  • Videos

AGORA: An Interactive Night-Walk through the Forest

  • Mountain Life Media
  • September 19, 2022
Floating-spa-Clayoquot-Sound-TOFINO-RESORT-MARINA
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Stay & Play

Hot & Cold

  • Mountain Life Media
  • September 15, 2022
Cottage-Backcountry-Hut-Company-Ontario-Georgian-Bay
View Post
  • Ontario
  • Stay & Play

A Cottage Off the Shelf

  • Mountain Life Media
  • July 19, 2022
Family-Nature-Therapy-Charlevoix-Quebec-MtDufour
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • Stay & Play
  • Travel

Family Nature Therapy

  • Mountain Life Media
  • July 12, 2022
Explore-the-Bruce-Boating-Paddling
View Post
  • Mountain Biking
  • On The Trail
  • Ontario
  • Paddling
  • Stay & Play
  • Travel

The Artistic River Village: Discovering Paisley

  • Mountain Life Media
  • June 15, 2022

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Featured Posts
  • Mountain-Life-Coast-Mountains-Winter-2023 1
    ML Coast Mountains Winter-Spring ’23 Issue Out Now
    • February 3, 2023
  • Saint-Lawrence-ice-canoe-Jean-Anderson 2
    Jean Anderson: 40 Years of Ice Canoeing
    • January 31, 2023
  • CHOK-Images-RAB-Avril-2022 3
    Chic-Chocs: True Eastern Alpine
    • February 2, 2023
  • Life-Time-Grand-Prix-gravel-bike 4
    New Docuseries Profiles the World’s Elite Off-Road Cyclists
    • January 30, 2023
  • Fjallraven-Nuuk-Parka-daniel-blom-photo_jacket 5
    Gear Shed: Multisport Winter Roundup
    • January 26, 2023
RECENT POSTS
  • L'Hymne-des-Trembles-Laurentians-Quebec
    L’Hymne des Trembles: Uncompromising Laurentian Skiing
    • January 27, 2023
  • Brian-Hockenstein-surfing-Iceland-water-and-ice-ML
    In the Land of Water & Ice
    • January 24, 2023
  • Marie-Pier-Desharnais-A-Womans-Experience-on-K2-flag-crop
    Marie-Pier Desharnais: A Woman’s Experience on K2
    • January 23, 2023
Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
INSTAGRAM
mountainlifemedia
22K Followers
There are some first times that we will always remember. Like the time I skied off-piste through the alpine highlands of le parc national de la Gaspésie.
@shimizuimg getting those January goods ❄️ #mountainlifer
With four decades of ice canoeing under his belt, Jean Anderson has dominated a sport that's unique to Quebec and that he helped shape.
Featuring three gravel and three MTB events, the series explores the intense competition and love of the sport among 60 of the world’s premier cyclists.
Winter commute with #mountainlifer @michelle_pittam ❄️🚵‍♀️🌲
@lhymnedestrembles.ca is no mirage. Set in the lush Laurentian forest, yet easily accessible (less than an hour and a half from Montreal), this luxurious ski-in ski-out residential resort by @groupebrivia is nestled at the foot of the Versant Soleil side of Mont Tremblant. The Tremblant region is a perennial destination for outdoor enthusiasts from around the world, and within the province, attracting 3.5 million visitors annually.
ML staff and gear partners highlight the latest jackets, boards, crampons, hoodies, insoles and bindings in alpha order. #Linkinbio to learn more!
Adventures like this one require an inspiring team. @timemmett is a longtime friend, adventure partner and extraordinary human; an explorer, pro climber, surfer, freediver—you name it. @luca.freediver is an incredibly talented freediver, fresh off breaking the Canadian national freediving record (85 metres). The fourth man on the team, @brianhockenstein, is a filmmaker and multi-talented snowboarder always ready to jump into the fray and capture the magic. - words Jimmy Martinello. #Linkinbio to learn more!
We came in search of the connection of the human spirit to both art and adventure, whether climbing from the depths of moulins and ice caves, breaking through ice while paddleboarding fjords, climbing icebergs, freediving between tectonic plates or surfing cold waves.
A thousand and one things could have gone wrong, but she made it to the top:  @mariepier.desharnais is the first Quebecois woman to climb K2.
Follow

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

There are some first times that we will always remember. Like the time I skied off-piste through the alpine highlands of le parc national de la Gaspésie.
@shimizuimg getting those January goods ❄️ #mountainlifer
With four decades of ice canoeing under his belt, Jean Anderson has dominated a sport that's unique to Quebec and that he helped shape.
Featuring three gravel and three MTB events, the series explores the intense competition and love of the sport among 60 of the world’s premier cyclists.
Winter commute with #mountainlifer @michelle_pittam ❄️🚵‍♀️🌲
@lhymnedestrembles.ca is no mirage. Set in the lush Laurentian forest, yet easily accessible (less than an hour and a half from Montreal), this luxurious ski-in ski-out residential resort by @groupebrivia is nestled at the foot of the Versant Soleil side of Mont Tremblant. The Tremblant region is a perennial destination for outdoor enthusiasts from around the world, and within the province, attracting 3.5 million visitors annually.
Mountain Life
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising

Input your search keywords and press Enter.