Branch Out at the Treehouse Workshop

The Sailor and I spent last weekend doing yard work. The joys of home ownership. We're lucky to have some tall, mature old pine and oak trees on the property, and we're equally as lucky that the work went quickly. Raking and hauling leaves isn't exactly fun, but the Sailor was happy because he got to drive the tractor.

And I got to have a delicious breakfast to fortify me for manual labor. We went to the Iron Roost, an adorable little cafe my cousin opened last spring. She's someone who took a huge risk by leaving a stable, well-paying job and made her dream of owning a restaurant a reality. The cafe has been a huge hit with customers coming from near and far. We were psyched to get a little sidewalk table outside in the sunshine to enjoy yummy food like this...

I digress. (Why is it that all my stories tend to be about food???) As we were cleaning up the yard, the Sailor decided it was time for an old tree house to come down. Although I had hopes of making it a little look-out over the backyard where we could enjoy cocktails and the stars in the short term, and our kids could have secret clubs and sleepovers in the long term, there was no saving this thing. It was a definite hazard and had to come down.

That's okay though. So we couldn't remodel the treehouse, but we can replace it. I've started the research...

And my personal favorite...

These last two pics are from Nelson's Northwest Treehouse Point, a "school" that teaches about nature, conservation and the art of building a treehouse. The treehouses of course serve as dorms guest houses. Pete Nelson, founder of Treehouse Workshops, Inc. hopes that his classes and designs will allow us to "let go of earthbound encumbrances and be free." Sounds good to me!

Check out Pete's interview on the Today Show. And view his portfolio- one of the coolest design sites I've seen! Sign me up for treehouse school!