Arch Daily has a huge scoop on this amazing Tree House of sorts by Sander Architects. And by huge I mean photo gallery DELUXE. According to the post, the site was limited space-wise, so the answer was to build up. This vertical beauty is one of the coolest structures and structure posts I’ve seen in a while. Seriously – look:

Awesome right!? It makes me rethink what I want in a house, I’ll tell you that much. The back story is really interesting too and kind of touching, totally worth a read.
Go see scads more images and read this great post.
[images …read more

International Listings recently sent me a link to a post that might be of interest to Offbeat readers – 10 Astonishing Treehouses You’d Love to Live In.
I took a look and it’s a nice post. Some of these treehouses have been featured here at Offbeat before, but not all of them; for example, the San Juan del Sur Tree House:

Beautiful – and likely very relaxing; you gotta adore that pool. There are a few more gems that I’ve never posted here. You can visit the original post at International Listings to see all the cool treehouses.
[image via International Listings]

This last week and a half we saw some new treehouses – not as many as I’d have liked. You know, I don’t think Offbeat is the kind of place that suits series. I spend all week thinking about what I could post if we weren’t doing a series. Hmmm, maybe no more. In any case, we have seen plenty of treehouses over the week, and over time here, so in case you missed something here’s a round-up.  

Snapshot: Old School Beauty
It’s a Love Shack, Baby!
Tree Houses of Korowai
A Different Kind of Treehouse
Baumraum Designer Treehouses
Okinawa’s Treehouse Restaurant
Bestest. Treehouse. Ever.
Gotham …read more

This treehouse wasn’t made exactly to be a treehouse; at least not how you might think.
The Tree House Clapham is covered in the book Diary of an Ecobuilder, and is really special. A huge tree occupied the lot of the Clapham house, making home building a bit of work. However, instead of taking the tree out the home was built around the tree in a way. It’s easier if you see.

There are plenty of tree features going on in this eco-home. Like the great staircase:

Other eco features of this home include reduced energy demands, reclaimed and recycled material use, rainwater …read more

To celebrate my year anniversary week here at Offbeat, we’re looking back at my top four favorite posts from each of the last 12 months.
Here’s August 2007…
50 Fresh & Juicy Slices of Offbeat Home Decor – this post is maybe the most popular post I’ve ever posted, at any blog, ever. What makes this post unique, is that along with my readers, I like it too. Usually I think a post should be popular, and it’s not, or my readers here LOVE a post that totally surprises me. This post makes everyone happy. And it’s cool.
HGTV Design Star Contestant …read more

Peggy, over at Tree Hugging Family, did this killer post about IslandWood at Bainbridge Island. The whole article is worth a read – it’s an environmental learning center and Washington state’s first LEED Gold project. Very slick. Of course I was most smitten with the structures at IslandWood. Terribly unique, sustainable, and simply amazing.
Metropolis – one of the best magazines around, featured IslandWood in their January piece – Into the Woods. To give you a taste, here’s IslandWood’s version of a treehouse:

Stunning! To see more cool structures at IslandWood read the entire Into the Woods article, or visit IslandWood.

Is Offbeat Homes really my favorite blog?
As in blogs I write; not read because that would be a whole other discussion. I think about this a lot because most professional bloggers I know do have more than one blog. I think that there are some pros and cons to playing favorites.
Is it even fair to play favorites? How do you judge one blog over another when content varies so drastically? And what about job stability. How will your other employers like it when you blurt out, “Guess what? My other blog rocks so much more hard core than the …read more