I’ve been thinking about building the kids a tree house for some time now.  We only have one tree in our yard, and it’s a large pine tree.

My kids are 3, 6, and 10.  I want to make it about 10-12′ off the ground without any supports to the ground.

My tree house design:

Right now, the tree house design I’m toying with is for four main supports (2×8’s) to be lag bolted into the tree.  The end of the support closest to the tree will also be lag bolted to the adjacent support board at a 90º angle.

The ends of the supports boards in this tree house design are the corners of the tree house platform.  Then I plan on using 2×6’s for the cross member supports.

Originally I planned on using plywood decking on this tree house platform.  What I think I’ve decided on is using 2×6’s instead.  I figure they will last longer, and water can drain through more easily.  This tree house design will be a platform with a railing pretty much.

Using something like this to stop the rope so to have a safe, open tree house door.

I plan on having a hinged door so the entire platform can be walked on safely by even my 3 year old.  A good tree house design should consider as many details as possible before going into the construction phase.  The swinging door will open by a pulley from the ground so you don’t have children trying to open the door from the ladder.  To achieve this, I’m thinking the rope will feed through a pulley with a stopper like you might see on a small boat for the anchor.

Thoughts on other tree house design details:

I haven’t yet decided on the tree house railing design or a roof, if needed.

Since I’m building this in a pine tree, the rain will not get through to the platform much, but I think a roof may be needed simply because of the needles, sap and pine tar.

With the large 2×8 supports, I’m thinking about seeing how sturdy it will be without any angled supports beneath before adding any at all.  I’d love the clean look of a tree house without large supports beneath.  Someone let me know if you’ve seen any completed tree house designs without a lot of visible supports below.

If you have any comments, or suggestions, let me know below!