Some tree houses are crafted in organic shapes and materials to blend into their environments or designed as veritable castles in the sky, but these 14 are as modern as arboreal dwellings get. Ranging from a tree hotel in Sweden with a variety of eye-popping options to a simple freestanding backyard structure you can build yourself, these contemporary tree houses might get you daydreaming about your own private tree retreat.
1. Treehouse Conference Centre
Your brainpower might just be multiplied if you attended a work conference in a treehouse like this one. The stimulating environment of a Belgian forest provides the setting for an elevated structure consisting of two large wooden cabins connected by a walkway, with a ramp leading to the grass below. Built by German architectural studio Baumraum, which is responsible for many other gorgeous modern tree houses, this complex is set on 19 stilts.
2. Beach Rock Treehouse in Japan
Japanese builder Kobayashi Takashi created this domed ‘Beach Rock Treehouse‘ for the sole purpose of communicating with outer space. Seriously. It’s featured in the book ‘New Treehouses of the World,’ in which the author writes “A sparkling beacon among treetops, it is easy to imagine the dome succeeding at its mission to make contact with alien life.”
3. Tree Snake Houses
Inspired by serpents, these twin treehouses in Pedras Salgadas Park, Portugal take advantage of a sloping hillside. The structures extend out from ground level to hover within the woods, requiring no stairs or ladders to feel as if you’ve ascended into the treetops. Each unit is equipped with a mater bedroom studio space with a small kitchen and wash area.
4. Prefab Eco Perch
Set it on the ground or put it in the trees - ‘Eco Perch’ by Blue Forest is adaptable to virtually any environment you’d like to place it in. The prefab luxury tree house unit is made of natural materials and can be installed within 5 days, taking up just 6 by 8 meters. The living area, kitchen and bedroom inside can accommodate up to four people.
5. Modern Treehouse for Kids
Those of us who were lucky enough to have a treehouse as kids often happily made do with little more than a rickety plywood platform and ladder treads nailed into the bark. How fun would it have been to call a two-story treehouse like this one your very own? This freestanding treehouse was built around a pine in the owner’s Nashville backyard.
6. Geodesic Dome Treehouse in Poland
Buckminster Fuller’s iconic geodesic dome is re-imagined as a sphere floating in the woods in this fun treehouse project by Michael Wielgus of Krakow, Poland.
7. Gorgeous Modern Treehouse by Baumraum
Another project from Baumraum, this modern treehouse is set between an alder and an oak on Osnabruck, Germany. The curved roof design makes it feel cosy inside while a wall of windows allows inhabitants to look out onto the landscape. The treehouse features a built-in bed with storage underneath, and a sizable balcony.
8. Spherical White Treehouse
The Cocoon Tree is technically a tree tent - a hanging bed supported with cables that you attach to nearby trees. The spherical design is covered in a waterproof tarp and features a 2.4-meter-wide circular bed with a high density foam mattress.
9. Simple Do-It-Yourself Freestanding Treehouse
Seeing how simple the frame is for this freestanding backyard treehouse might just inspire you to build your own. Slovenian designer Ravnikar Potokar set this two-story getaway into a cluster of trees and installed a large glass window for taking in the landscape.
10 & 11. Floating Rectangles and UFOs at Tree Hotel
Sweden’s Treehotel offers a variety of stunning treehouse options, from a floating rectilinear structure to a mirrored cube and even a pod that looks like a UFO. Each room is entirely unique, set into the small village of Harads overlooking the Lule River valley.
12. Wheelchair-Accessible Tree House
It may not be elevated into the treetops, but this residence by 6a architects manages to capture the same feel for a woman who has become more reliant on her wheelchair. Made of reclaimed wood, the home gently flows from a half-story in height down to ground level.
13. Casa En El Arbol
A sprawling tree cradles ‘Casa en el Arbol,’ a rustic modern tree house by Urbanarbolismo located in Extremadura, Spain.
14. Boxy Treehouse Tower
Here’s an unusual take on the iconic tree house: a tower of stacked volumes that reaches nearly as high into the sky as the pines that surround it. The boxy modern observation tower is located in the Netherlands and features a climbable facade as well as six levels of lookout points.
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