Spherical Tree Houses

Tree houses are awesome, and these ’sperical tree houses’ are no exception. So what are these spherical tree houses all about? Let’s check in with the people behind the concept to see what they have to say about it:

The “Spherical Tree House” concept borrows heavily from sailboat construction and rigging practice. It’s a marriage of tree house and sailboat technology. Wooden spheres are built much like a cedar strip canoe or kayak. Suspension points are similar to the chain plate attachments on a sailboat. Stairways hang from a tree much like a sailboats shrouds hang from the mast.

A suspended sphere is tethered, by 3 nearly vertical ropes, to each of 3 separate trees. This distributes the load evenly over the 3 trees and results in a stable hang. Like an inverted three legged stool. There will be almost equal tension in each of the three suspension ropes. The sphere resides in the center of the triangle formed by the 3 trees. It can be slung from 5 to 100’ off the ground, depending on the size of the trees. The triangle formed by 3 old trees was called a sacred grove in the druid tradition. Each grove was influenced by the type and age of the trees.

Pretty darn cool, if you ask me. And it looks quite cozy in there. Well, assuming you’re not claustrophobic (I am). And even to me, it looks pretty nice inside:

Makes me want to crawl in there with a book.

Obviously, a tree house such as this would lead to many questions, well the mastermind behind Free Spirit Spheres is more than happy to answer your concerns.

 

Where’s the washroom?
For now it will have to be in the nearest building equipped with one. In the future I hope to have a washroom sphere as part of a colony of spheres with a self contained sewage plant down below on the forest floor. Another option I’m selling is a composting toilet in a little outhouse that mounts to the edge of the platform on the door tree.

Height from the ground – minimum, maximum?
They can be sitting on the ground in a cradle or as high up in the air as the trees will permit. The limiting factors are the size and spacing of the trees. In the big old growth Douglas firs on the west coast of Canada they could be as high as 35 meters (120′) or more. It gets a little scary at that height though.

Does it sway much?
The spheres sway gently in the breeze but move much more abruptly when someone inside changes position. Since the tethers are almost vertical, and a sphere is tied to 3 separate trees, the movement of the sphere in the wind is a muted average of the motion of the treetops. However, since the spheres are light (500 kg) when somebody inside moves it jiggles the whole sphere.

Is there power?
Each sphere I make is equipped with a standard power connection that is recessed into the side of the sphere where the suspension bridge attaches. A plug is inserted into this connection which brings power into the sphere. The power supply must be connected to the nearest source of electrical power of the right voltage and frequency.

The tree houses come in two models:

Eryn

And:

Eve

As you can see from the Eve picture, the spheres are accessed through spiral stairs that lead up to the entrance.

The Eryn model is available for rental, and if you’re interest, you can access the details right here. Renting Eryn will set you back $150/night or $275 for 2 nights for 2 people, with an extra $35 fee for an extra guest. That sounds like it would be a bit cramped though.

If you want to own your very own Eryn model, though, be prepared to spend the cost of a real home. The fully equipped version would set you back $150,000 USD.