Treehouse personalities

Treehouse building has become a lot more popular since the mid-1990s, particularly in the area of professionally built structures. One of the main driving forces for the growth has been research into reliable support systems carried out in the USA. There are now at least thirty businesses around the world that design and build treehouses for commercial applications and private individuals. This list is by no means exhaustive, but provides some background on some of the bigger names in the world of treehouses.

Pete Nelson

Author of six treehouse books and operator of Nelson Treehouse near Seattle, WA, USA. Presenter of Treehouse Masters, shown on Animal Planet in the US. Nelson has been building treehouses professionally across the USA since the mid-1990s, and has a background in regular house building in the Seattle area. The treehouse business was previously run as TreeHouse Workshop, with partner Jake Jacob. He has been involved in research with Jacob, Garnier, Greenwood and Fairoaks (below) into attachment methods that cause minimum damage to the tree while still remaining structurally safe for many years.

• Be in a Treehouse 2014
• New Treehouses of the World 2009
• Treehouses of the World 2004
• The Treehouse Book 2000
• Home Tree Home: Principles of Treehouse Construction and Other Tall Tales 1997
• Treehouses: The Art and Craft of Living Out on a Limb 1994

Michael Garnier

Owner of the Out 'n' About Treesort in Takilma, OR, USA which several large and small treehouses and is run as a B&B. Garnier has been involved in long running disputes with his local planning department to get the necessary approval for his treehouses, which he always maintained were safe. In the end, he developed several tree attachment methods and employed an engineer to demonstrate that the trees could safely support all his treehouses. His most famous product has been called the Garnier Limb because it uses similar concepts to a tree limb to support large loads.

Charles Greenwood

A qualified engineer who runs Greenwood Engineering in Cave Junction, OR, USA, Greenwood has carried out extensive tests of tree fasteners, bolts and attachments, some of which can take over 10,000lbs of load. He has built treehouses using these devices across the USA. Greenwood has the considerable good fortune to be able to live and work from his treehouse all year round.

Jonathan Fairoaks

Fairoaks runs Living Tree Llc and has been involved in treehouse building for over 40 years. He is a qualified arborist, so one of this main concerns is to make sure every treehouse his company builds causes the least damage to the tree.

David Stiles

Author of many woodworking books, including one of the bestselling treehouse books, Treehouses You Can Actually Build. This book has attained a significance due to its non-technical instructions, range of designs and ability to inspire so many people to get outside and start building.

• Treehouses & Playhouses You Can Build 2006
• How to Build Treehouses, Huts & Forts 2003
• Treehouses You Can Actually Build 1998

John Harris

Author and former director of The Treehouse Company/Peartree Treehouses (now out of business) which rapidly became the UK's (and possibly the world's) largest treehouse building company in the early to mid 2000s. Capacity at peak production was over 200 treehouses per year. The company caused a lot of interest in the press, which has increased public awareness of treehouses.

• A Treehouse of Your Own: A Step by Step Guide to Building an Amazing Treetop Retreat 2004
• Treehouses: View from the Top 2003
• Treehouses 2003