Sneak Peak into Chateau
CHATEAU IS COMING!!!
Great news!! We are well underway on our second treehouse – Chateau! This decadent treehouse, while also for two, will be the biggest of the four treehouses in the group. To accomplish this feat, we are uniting three spiraling bald cypress trees that neighbor a cliff covered in leafy ferns, delicate moss, and ancient layers of limestone. The treehouse itself will be over 580 square feet with a deck spanning an additional 440 square feet – a castle in the trees, waiting just for you!
Here is a peak into the construction process and heads up on where we are at ……
First step was to put the giant metal beams up that support the structure. The main beam for this structure is a colossal 47 feet 9 inches long and 21 inches deep, weighing 2722 lbs!! Nothing less for our magnificent Chateau!
Wooden cross beams were then added to support the deck and structure.
Decking went down on top of the beams. You can get a glimpse of the neighboring cliff from here.
The Nelson Treehouse gifted carpenters put all of the walls together back in the shop in Fall City, WA. Their precision is truly amazing! Everything fits together perfectly when it arrives on sight!
Aaron put tabs in the tree that support the smaller sitting deck off of the living room. All four treehouses will have 2 deck spaces for your viewing pleasure. That way you can really soak up being surrounded by nature. As you hover over life below, one really gets a difference sense of reality and a feeling of incredible peace.
Thanks to this Genie Lift it is easy dealing with walls of this size. When working on the treehouse dining room at The Laurel Tree, I witnessed the guys lifting the walls up by hand. That looked hard enough, so I couldn’t imagine how that would have gone here without it!
Bird’s eye view of Chateau from the cliff above. You can see the enormous size of the deck and the spiral stairwell that leads you upstairs to your bedroom. Hard to say if you are going to want to spend more of your time indoors or lounging under the canopy of the trees. Either way, you are going to feel like royalty!
Next step was putting the siding on. Pete and his crew always work with repurposed, recycled materials. For the siding on Chateau, they actually used wood from the same antique barn in Ohio that they used on the white Chapelle. They just turned it over to the other side! Two incredible looks made with love from the same barn – what a wonderful way to be honored!
Mike, our fearless project manager, swings from the trees to get the windows installed. There is no easy way to do this job, you just have to be ‘hanging around’ to get it done!
As in all of the treehouses that Pete designs, there is always an ample amount of windows to bring the outside in. From this back view, the only section without windows is the area of the full shower and clawfoot bath tub in the large downstairs bathroom. The contrasting window trim brings a real elegance to this design, and the massive cypress trees jet up through the decking, embracing the structure.
The other woods used throughout this build are salvaged Doug Fir from a dock in Oakland, CA and old growth Western Red Cedar from a defunct logging operation in southeast Alaska. As with Chapelle, the deck railings are local Cedar to bring in that Texas element. (Plus there is an ample amount available!)
Stay tuned for more updates!! The truck just arrived from Fall City with the makings of our next treehouse – Biblioteque (the Library!) And, Carousel will follow soon! Everyone is working diligently to have this entire project ready for you to stay in early this summer! It could not be more exciting!
Joy & Trees!
Laurel
