Slightly related musings on building a hut in the trees... Home
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To Do:

Cut bush.
Pick rocks.
Put poles.
Platform.
Tent.
Screens.
LAN.
Garden.
Power.
Toilet.
Walkways.
Water.
Kitchen.

treehouse

Saturday, November 6, 1999 06:32 a.m.

What should we do about a loo? a toilet? an outhouse?

We could put in another septic tank and plumbing, but that kind of goes against the rustic-temporary nature of the treehouse?

We could use a composting toilet? Self-contained, odorless, waterless, "treats waste biologically". Even Victor Hugo would approve.

Real Goods is a back-to-the-earth hippie vendor who stock major brands such as Sun-Mar and BioLet. We have successfully bought a sun pipe and some solar equipment from them.

The one I like is the BioLet XL Model. It may be overkill, but when I let kids use my treehouse it is nice to know that:

"The mixer motor runs automatically for 30 seconds every time the lid is lifted and replaced."

Here are the specs:

"The quiet 25-watt fan runs continuously, the heating elements run as required by thermostat setting and room temperature. The BioLet XL measures 26.5"H x 25.6"W x 33"D. It requires 26" x 54" of floorspace for the finishing tray to slide out the front."

Okay, add electricity to the requirements list for the treehouse (we can always use solar panels, even though the power grid is only 100 feet away).

By the way, Real Goods is located in Ukiah California, near a very small place called Potter Valley. This is where I used to spend my summers on a relative's ranch. One of my favorite memories is floating down the Russian River on an inner-tube, lazily picking blackberries without getting out of the tube, navigating the occasional small dam, hitching a ride home in the back of a rusted pickup truck ...

... kind of like The African Queen movie, imagining that our lazy little river is "a hundred miles of water like it was coming out of a fire hose" (Charlie Alnut, aka Humphrey Bogart).

Apparently there are sections of this river that are very exciting to tube or kayak - we never had enough nerve to tube all the way down the rapids to Lake Mendocino.

Thursday, November 4, 1999 09:43 a.m.

In Bali, and much of Southeast Asia, traditional architecture consists of open pavillions constructed of poles.

Of course when it rains the wind blows water all over you, so they have bamboo screens that drop down on the windward side when it rains (or for shade when the sun is too bright).

I was thinking of building a pole pavillion with a sleeping room and a kitchen-living area, all surrounded by decks and gardens.

Wednesday, November 3, 1999 07:38 a.m.

He was famous in his day, at least for a short time. They made his novel Onionhead into a movie. Then why can't I find a bio for Weldon Hill, the author?

I can find Weldon Hill the auto mechanic and Weldon Hill the musician and Weldon Hill the missionary, but all I can find on the author is that his real name was William Ralph Scott. I was looking for info about his life and why he wrote A Man Could Get Killed That Way (more about this novel later - it ties into the treehouse venture).

Is the Internet hopelessly biased toward the new and trendy, shutting out the old and passè? Or is it just that people don't read books anymore. Even Amazon does a bad job. They don't have a listing for Onionhead, although they do for A Man Could Get Killed That Way.

Thursday, November 4, 1999 05:40 a.m.

One of the downsides of building a "house" in the trees is that there will be more bugs.

Especially mosquitos, which are irritating, as well as potentially dangerous. There are ways to deal with them, including overturning wheelbarrows of stale water, spraying garlic, DEET, and staying indoors at dawn and dusk.

So add a screened area to the treehouse, especially for sleeping. Or a mosquito net.

Tuesday, November 2, 1999 11:48 a.m.

There is an unusual spot on our property.

It is a sink-hole. A place where the limestone has washed out underground, creating a cave, then collapsed to create a round depression in the hard rock ground.

Because the rainwater from the surrounding area flows into this hole, trees grow out of it. Very unusual in our area, where we have no soil, only rocks, and bushes seldom grow above 10 feet high. So what you have is a tiny valley, shaded by trees.

We don't even know how deep the hole is, since the bottom is full of loose rocks that could be removed. Perhaps there is still a large cave down there.

Several people have suggested using our little "hole" for a pond or swimming pool, but water is scarce here, unlike on Bali.

This is where I want to build a simple hut, a "tree house".

Unfortunately, a hut in a depression, surrounded by trees, is not going to get much breeze. And since my hut is not likely to have airco, it could get very hot. This gave me the idea of building the hut up. If I go up about 10 feet for a second story, there is an opening through the trees to the cooling wind. Okay, we will have an upstairs sleeping porch.