As attention returned to the Ithaca treehouse project, it was time to re-examine some of our early decisions based on a range of new options available to us.

As originally conceived, the Ithaca treehouse platform included a small outdoor deck on one side (lower side here) and a house that extended slightly beyond two trunks on the opposite side.

Early design sketches, as all good treehouse plans, were based first upon what the tree would allow. Careful measurements were taken, basic engineering assumptions were factored in, and then that range of options was presented to the girls who will occupy this retreat for the soul. What came out in the end was a mix of all those factors, and had all the hallmarks of a wonderful retreat above the ground.

One thing did change, however, since those original ideas were formulated – Charley Greenwood worked his magic.

After review and recommendation from treehouse engineer Charley Greenwood, the platform could expand slightly on the deck and house sides, as well as wrap around the trunks on both sides that now carry support girders.

Charley, an engineer and developer of everything from unconventional vehicles to his own house in the trees of the Pacific Northwest, became a pioneer in treehouse engineering thanks to his association with treehouse legend Michael Garnier. When a fabulous treehouse went up at Michael’s Out-n-About resort in Takilma, Oregon a few decades ago, some local officials balked. Too much was simply unquantified and therefore, to planners and inspectors, unknown about treehouses. In stepped Charley, who brought an engineer’s mind and an artist’s soul to the problem and began a career that spawned materials (including the now famous Garnier Limb), procedures and guidelines that helped create the modern treehouse movement.
To my great pleasure, Charley is the consulting engineer on all new Peacemaker Treehouses projects.
Charley’s review of the Ithaca treehouse plans added several structural reinforcements and safety features. He also added a trio of support girders under the original planned platform beams which opened up all sorts of new design possibilities. By bringing two new trunks into the support system and shortening the clear span of the existing planned beams, the treehouse could now cantilever slightly more at front and rear, and expand to wrap around trunks on both sides that used to be outside the scope of the foundation. The added deck space meant the treehouse could not just have a little more room, but a radically different entrance and some extra elbowroom in the second-floor sleeping loft.

The old design featured two shed-style roofs for a modern mood, and lots of sit-outs - including one for the cats - to boost interior space.

A quick drawing shows how an expanded second floor, a new roofline and the elimination of all but one sit-out can add space and alter the feel without increasing the structure significantly.

With these new options on the table, I set to building the new, stronger and roomier foundation Charley suggested while Katie and Colleen let their imaginations work wonders. When the ladies and I were done talking and sketching, gone was the floor entrance, and in came a front entrance and small deck landing on the southwest side of the treehouse. Gone went the kneeling-room-only sleeping loft, and in came a taller and slightly wider second floor that extends past the first floor on one side and will have enough room for a fold-out bed. The added width on the second floor and extra room the expanded platform offered triggered a review of the roof shape and style, as well as an abandonment of several window “sit outs” that were being used to create a larger interior feel. That switch, as well as a switch to vertically oriented windows that fit between studs, significantly strengthens the treehouse against shear forces. All the changes now increase the overall vertical feel of the treehouse, a feel we’ll now work to accentuate with siding materials and trim styles rather than moderate with longer rooflines and horizontal elements.
Yes, it was a fun few days filled with energy and eraser dust.
In the end we did a few quick drawings to show outlines; did a driving tour to scout colors, materials and textures; and took a site tour to get a good look at how it all fits in with the tree. By Wednesday, the revamped Ithaca treehouse was a shared dream. Now, it’s time to make that dream real.