Product Description

Treehouses & Playhouses You Can Build shows how average "do-it-yourself" families can easily and affordably bring to life a "Hobbit's Treehouse," a "Pirate's Playhouse," or a "Crow's Nest" in their own backyards! There are a lot of books out there filled with enchanting photos of elaborate treehouses and playhouses built by professionals and costing tens of thousands to build. For the rest of us, there's bit of elbow grease, a lot of imagination, a trip to the hardware store-and Treehouses & Playhouses You Can Build.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28927 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

Family Circle, April 2007
Every kid dreams of a cabin in the sky, so take advantage of the warmer weather and build a treehouse together.

From the Inside Flap
Treehouses& Playhouses YOU CAN BUILD
David & Jeanie Stiles
Nails, screws, lumber and some elbow grease are about all that's needed to create the magic and adventure of a private hand-made wooden kids' club in the treetops. Build an imagination inspiring Hobbit Treehouse, a Pirate Ship Playhouse with working water cannons, or any of 40 unique projects by following simple steps in Treehouses & Playhouses You Can Build.
Detailed step-by-step instructions and beautiful hand-drawn illustrations make these backyard-construction activities as much fun to craft as they will be to use. Parents and children can spend time together sculpting in the sky and learning woodworking skills just by setting aside a few weekends to go outdoors and build. Kids and adults alike will have a beautiful, wild space to call their own for hours of creative play or relaxation.
Treehouses & Playhouses shows the average "do-it-yourself" family how to easily and affordably bring such structures to life by their own hands in their own backyards. Build a treehouse or playhouse on a budget, using basic tools and minimal building experience. Choose from different projects including a Victorian Playhouse or Treeless Treehouse, a zip line, a crow's nest, an escape hatch, a secret lock box, a hidden message board, pulleys, lifts, lofts, skylights, ladders, bridges and swings. Use the skills you learn from the detailed projects to build "fantasy" structures such as a Climb & Slide Mountain, Delta Wing Space Vehicle, Dragon House, Giant Glasses, Jet Racer, Meditation Hut, Suspended Monster Playhouse or Swinging Treehouse.
For regular dads and moms or weekend carpenters, this book offers a layperson's manual to bring the dream of an exciting and personal spot for the kids into reality.
Author David Stiles, a designer/builder who has built several houses in the East Hampton area, is also an illustrator who specializes in writing "how-to" books. In the past, David worked as an architectural renderer for most of the leading architectural ?rms in New York City, and received two awards from the NYC Planning Commission for his playground design for handicapped children.

From the Back Cover
"Jeanie and David Stiles are recreation experts," says Matt Laurer of NBC's The Today Show, when the Stiles built a "treeless" treehouse in only three hours at Rockefeller Center in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Great book!
This book is exactly what I was looking for. It has several treehouses to choose from and great step by step directions. It even has extra's that may be added. I love the creativity and great ideas in this book! Also the shipping was fast.

Buy this book...
...if you plan to build a treehouse yourself. If not this one, than any other from same author.
It's that simple.

Perfect for the young builder
This is the latest installment in a long string of wonderful books from David and Jeanie Stiles. Inside you won't find glossy, double page spreads of extravagant treehouses ... this is not a coffee table book. Rather, it is a how-to book, and the best one available for those that want to build their own whimsical play structure. Inside you will find excellent line drawings and readable explanations of intelligent, creative, and well though-out designs.

David starts with the basics: tools. From there you follow a complete and logical progression to completed treehouse. In between you'll get solid building advice. David has built his designs. He knows how to make life easier for you by using common materials and minimizing cuts. The building advice is spot on throughout.

The huge, huge, huge problem with this book is the 20 or so options David gives you for connecting lumber to tree. They are almost all bad. Never girdle a growing limb with rope or cable. Never use nails. This leaves you with only lag bolting. To be sure, there are other ways. But the only safe and tree-friendly way presented in this book (and any of his other works) is to use lags.

This is the by far the best book to give to a young builder and is probably a treasure to any 8 or 9 year old lucky enough to have a copy. It will get their mind working. The crazy schemes they come up with will amaze you.

The ideas inside this book are great. Fun, imaginative, unique. If you know a young boy (or girl) with a tree, get him this book. And when it comes time to actually build their creation, call an arborist and he'll set you straight about properly attaching it to a tree.