How to build a treehouse: the story of a grand lockdown project

A treehouse in the back garden is the stuff of children's dreams - perfect for afternoon tea parties, weekend sleepovers, and generally retreating from the world of adult life. And from the grown-up perspective, a treehouse can provide a project - something many of us have needed during the long days of lockdown. That was the experience of Charlie Wood, co-founder of Underbelly and husband to our very own editor Hatta Byng, who, spending the lockdown in the countryside at his in-laws' house in Wiltshire, embarked on a grand treehouse project in the garden for his children and their cousins. "Having done a bit of Googling, I found that the average treehouse takes about 60 hours to build, so I thought it would be a quick project," he says. Contrary to expectations, it took Charlie and his father-in-law Tim Torrington about five weeks' worth of evenings and weekends, but the result was well worth it.

The first stage was constructing a platform. Most treehouses start with beams that are hammered into the trunks of two or three trees that are close to one another. The platform is usually about 9' off the ground - tall enough so that adults won't bump their head on it, but not so high that it will seriously scare small children. Having found a suitable group of three trees, Charlie began with the conventional method of hammering the beams in to form a triangular platform. But it wasn't to be. 'Perched on my stepladder on a windy day, with the trees moving around by two or three inches, I had the sudden realisation that it wasn't going to work."

Fortunately, Charlie's work with Underbelly, a company that regularly builds temporary venues for events, means that he has access to experts in the field. His production manager in Edinburgh, Kenny Easson, devised a unique and ingenious system, using enormous coach bolts driven into the trees, upon which the beams for the platform could rest. "We sourced the bolts from a man in the north of England, who had been designing them for decades," says Charlie, "and he had never heard of anyone using them for a tree house." The fact that the beams are not attached to the tree itself means that they are able to move in the wind. The frame of the house, sitting on top of this floating platform, also moves, giving it flexibility and in theory meaning that the house should be unaffected by strong winds or the growth of the trees.

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Charlie's original plan for the treehouse involved a simple platform with a handrail, but as so often happens with building projects, the modest plans soon expanded. Once the platform was built and the plank floor of the treehouse was put in place, walls, a roof, and decorative architectural features followed. One crucial issue when building a treehouse is the question of how its occupants will get in, the usual solution involving a trapdoor and a ladder. Here, a trapdoor in the floor can be opened and closed using a system of weights and pulleys. On top of the base, Charlie constructed a frame for the walls, which he then filled out using horizontal pine cladding, leaving one corner of the base open for a small balcony. Within the wall frames, he left gaps for windows and added shutters for a pleasing log cabin effect. The roof, designed by Tim, consists of green corrugated bitumen atop a simple frame.

The treehouse has already been a resounding success, and even has a name: Jamiee's (an acronym of the first letters of Charlie and Hatta's children's names and those of their cousins). The first sleepover is due to take place shortly, and plans are afoot for a matching treehouse at Charlie's own parents' house in Yorkshire.