And come to think of it, what happened to the simple tree house!

So the other day I talked about the simple den and while doing research on the Internet for that I came across amazing photos of tree houses.

Growing up we didn't have a tree house (poor neglected children that we were) we did however have a favourite tree to climb at the end of our street.  Everyone had their own branch that they used to sit on and chat to each other, that is until one day when my brother fell out of the tree and had to spend a night in the local hospital.....after that no more climbing trees!

The first tree house I ever visited was the Swiss Family Robinson tree house in Disney.  That was just amazing to walk around as a child and let your imagination run wild.

Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, Disney.

When I was probably about 10 years old I was fortunate enough to go to Kenya with my family to stay in what I thought was the most amazing tree house ever.....Tree Tops!  Well it began being built into the tree tops (hence the name).  Now it's a little more luxurious, although from the picture below it doesn't look it.

Tree Tops, Kenya is where Princess Elizabeth received the news that her father King George VI had died and she was to become Queen of England

Here's Wikipedia's definition of  a tree house.....

Tree houses, treehouses, or tree forts, are platforms or buildings constructed around, next to or among the trunk or branches of one or more mature trees while above ground level.

(How would you build it below ground level???)

Anyway, here are some pictures of the modern day tree house.  You really have to be amazed at the architecture of some of these constructions.

Treehouse at the Alnwick Gardens in the United Kingdom, with walkways through the tree canopy.  Photo by  Christine Westerback

Check out  www.treehouseworkshop.com

They build incredible structures within the trees like the ones below.  The most amazing ones to me are the ones built as guest houses with running water!  Again, another idea if the mortgage gets out of control people!!!!  I'm just saying it may be worth thinking about!

Free Spirit Spheres, British Columbia

Worlds Largest Tree house built by Horace Burgess, Tennessee.

Check out  http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/ministers-house-the-worlds-biggest-treehouse.html for an article on this amazing tree house.



Pete Nelson appears to be an amazing creator of  Tree Houses.  He has many books about the subject that you can find on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/New-Treehouses-World-Pete-Nelson/dp/0810996324/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341241384&sr=1-3&keywords=pete+nelson

I think these would make great coffee table books.  Who wouldn't want to peak inside?

If you want to check out other amazing tree houses this was the best place I found for an incredible selection of photographs.....believe me, it's worth a look.    http://pinterest.com/cindyodom1/tree-houses/