Cruising through another Apartment Therapy house tour and this little treehouse caught my eye. It lives in Portland in the backyard of this creative couple’s home, built for their 6 year old son.

Oops, a bit belated on this post. I’m downsizing my office and now running everything completely from my iPad. Thanks so much for the encouraging fan mail. Hopefully will be getting back into the swing of things soon.

Found somewhere in Pennsylvania, this treehouse has a cool bridge, an elaborate entry and an oddly shaped roof. Looks like several trees are going through it. I’m having fun browsing pics in Pete Nelson’s old blog.

This acorn-shaped treehouse was featured in the NY Times magazine of winter 2008 (photo by Dina Pugh). It was built by Jay Nelson on museum director Lawrence Rinder’s 40 acres near Ukiah, CA. Nelson, a young San Francisco bay area artist, is described by Rinder as straddling a line “between urbane and rural, between avant-garde and retrograde, between the dissolution of the boundaries between art and life and the careful management of both.” Yep, that’s all in the article. Here’s what’s not: a video of the treehouse being installed.

By way of Shedworking, I found this Hobbit-inspired East Hampton treehouse featured in Architectural Digest. Great quote from designer Jeanie Stiles: “A tree house should never overpower the tree in which it is built. It should sit lightly in the branches.” I do respect those builders who recognize the tree as a living being.

One of the largest (and most expensive) treehouses in the world, this one lives at Alnwick Castle in the UK. Inside you’ll find a huge restaurant, a shop, classrooms, and — at the top — a “nest” for private parties. Not exactly tiny, but interesting nonetheless.

Photo credit: BusinessWeek

This ever-expanding treehouse contraption was built by the rotating roster of resident artists of the Art House co-op in New Orleans. It is a work-in-progress, and seems to keep growing in the spacious backyard of a historic mansion. The materials are salvaged from the aftermath of hurricane Katrina.

The BubbleTree is a wooden platform built around a tree trunk with a fabric curtain mimicking a bubble shape. The bubble is meant to be deployed “only if it’s necessary,” according to their website, and the rest of the time you are to enjoy life without walls. Of course there are cheaper and simpler ways to accomplish this, but who doesn’t like to daydream?

This very high-end structure (in the range of $25,000) has lots of options for accessories and was designed by the French BubbleTree Company. It takes 2-5 weeks for custom fabrication and about 3 days to install.

Abandoned treehouse in a ravine, somewhere in central Illinois.

photo credit: Larry Troy

Dustin Feider’s groovy company O2 Treehouse makes geodesic structures AKA “Sustainable Treehouses” that are attached to trees in ways that protect the tree’s natural growth. They also make dome-like tents out of discarded billboard fabric.

Cupid hit me this weekend with designer Linda Aldredge‘s 100-square-foot treehouse near Woodstock, NY. Inspired by DIY handmade houses from the 60s and 70s, she built this as an off-grid vacation home for “posh camping.” Her blog is here, though she doesn’t seem to be writing in it lately, and she was interviewed on Inhabitat here. Linda scores extra points with me when, written up in Domino Magazine, she says “I don’t see the point in constructing anything that’s not magical.” Her budget was $12,000.