Article: Good things happen when people build tree houses.
Well that's the premise.
So many treehouse ideas, so little time...for most of us at least (Andy breaks the mold!).
Yesterday I came across this story about the social benefits of treehouses.
Now Andy already has that all figured out -- but it's an interesting perspective and the writer takes it and runs, he's gathered all sorts of juicy stats.
And well, your structure is "sort of" in the greater bay area, you could send it in for consideration in his blog. But then again, maybe enjoying it quietly with your family, friends, and a few barfers is all the appreciation and hubbub that you see fit.
Blog:
Searching for the Bay Area’s best tree house!
http://blog.sfgate.com/thebigevent/2012/08/31/searching-for-the-bay-areas-best-tree-house/
Check it the article here with photos and all:
http://www.sfgate.com/homeandgarden/article/Tree-houses-are-root-of-all-that-s-good-3863854.php
Tree houses are root of all that's good
Peter Hartlaub
Updated 3:08 a.m., Sunday, September 16, 2012
John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi should get together and build a tree house.
So should Elton John and Madonna, Jean Quan and the Oakland Police Department, and everyone who has ever appeared on a "Real
Housewives" program.
This is the sum of the knowledge I've gathered in eight years as the pop culture critic at The Chronicle. Good things happen when
people build tree houses.
That theory has been reinforced this month as we collect photos and stories from tree house owners in the Bay Area. (Entries are still
welcome on The Big Event blog on SFGate.com.) There seems to be a strong voice, if not a movement, calling for less scheduling with
children and more free play. Less screen time and more unpredictable outdoor fun. A tree fort and a rope swing shall save them.
There are tree houses of all shapes and sizes in the Bay Area, from small platforms to a sprawling design inspired by the Taj Mahal.
Purists separate the structures into tree houses and tree forts (houses without a roof). We prefer the loosest possible definition - two
planks on a tree and a healthy imagination qualify as a tree house.
Imagination is a renewable resource in Gene and Joann Pfeiffer's back yard. They have helped raise six grandchildren in Oakland with
a beautiful backyard tree house that looks like the set of a Disney coming-of-age movie.
"People worry too much. Then children lose a lot of fun and a sense of adventure," Joann says. "They might get a bump. Sometimes
they get a cut. But it's not the worst thing. Playing up there develops a sense of courage."
John Henry Lionheart is one of at least three locals who run tree house-building businesses in the Bay Area. Several other contractors
advertise tree houses as a specialty. Even more parents have the know-how to do it on their own.
Tree house figures are hard to come by, but tree mansions are definitely on the rise. "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling last month
was granted permission to build a sprawling $240,000 tree house on her estate in Scotland. Pixar director Pete Docter was revealed as
one of the biggest tree house fans on the planet when he unveiled plans to the city of Lafayette in 2008 to build a huge tree house. Post
Ranch Inn in Big Sur offers tree house rentals starting at $595 per night.
Lionheart spent much of his Ohio childhood in the boughs of a tree, letting his imagination wander. He chased that feeling of security as
an adult, building a 120-square-foot house more than a decade ago in a magnolia tree near his North Berkeley home.
"There's something about being in a tree," Lionheart says. "There's an energy flow you slip into sometimes in proximity to some trees.
I don't think it's a coincidence that Buddha came to enlightenment sitting under a great tree."
Lionheart is a self-described hippie, but the greatest glory of the tree house may be its ability to transcend economic status, race,
gender and politics. Rich or poor, right or left, we can all get behind a tree house.
The slogans of Mitt Romney's campaign at last month's Republican National Convention focused on building, and bringing America
back to the values of generations past. The convention speeches were so rich with imagery, it was easy to think of a 1950s parent -
Ward Cleaver comes to mind - on a weekend, in T-shirt and khakis, building a tree house for his kids. Perhaps he can exchange tips
with Julia "Butterfly" Hill, whose protest on an elevated platform to save her beloved redwood tree Luna is one of the most iconic tree
house images of the past 100 years.
Think of any polarizing figure in the 21st century, whether it's a politician, athlete or celebrity. George W. Bush? LeBron James? Taylor
Swift? With the exception of the Kardashians, and maybe Willie Brown, it's easy to imagine anyone enjoying a tree house.
We started a homemade Halloween costume contest on the Poop, my Chronicle parenting blog, several years ago. The theory was that
modern parents (especially ones in the white-collar Bay Area) are so inept at building things on their own, that all of the costumes
would look horrible.
From the beginning the costumes were amazing. Not only were they technically adept, like the ones our parents and grandparents
might have made in the past, but they were also creatively off the charts. A little boy in a Converse All-Star sneaker costume. A girl
dressed as an anglerfish with a working electronic light. Two brothers dressed up as Art Deco-inspired robots.
It proved there's a thirst among young parents to know how to work with their hands - for practicality, for self-preservation and
for fun.
If there's a difference between the tree houses of the first half of the 20th century and the ones today, it's the eco-conscious lingo.
Many tree house owners are using reclaimed wood. Joel Loya of Potrero Hill, a carpenter who has helped build tree houses with
Mountain Coast Construction, rigged a crow's nest tree house for his children using recycled ropes from a ship. Tree house designer
Barbara Butler, probably the most prolific builder in the Bay Area, has a crew that does its own metalwork and makes its own rope.
It's a great parenting discovery: No matter how fast technology advances in our lives, kids and trees don't really change. If anything,
the ubiquitousness of bright lights on small screens has made outdoor wonders even more fantastic.
It seems as if half the neighborhood is over at the Pfeiffers' house, climbing around the 8-foot-high fenced-in tree house that Gene built
with help from family, including Joann's structural engineer brother.
An older boy scales the branches of the incense cedar that towers over the tree house. Someone has rigged a pulley and a basket to
raise and lower supplies. Take away a few modern fashions, and it would be impossible to discern if this scene were from 2012 or 1952.
Joann Pfeiffer likes it that way.
"If you put something on the TV, they would get stuck there, so we try not to give them the chance" she says. "Children, they love it
outside. They run all over the yard and create havoc everywhere."
Gene Pfeiffer, who did accounting work as a career, found a carpentry mentor in his father-in-law. The results of his labor can be seen
beyond the tree house - a fallen cedar has been made into tables, gardens are everywhere and a playhouse is getting ready for a
remodel. Halloween is always an event - a few years ago the tree house became a pirate ship.
The tree house remains a family favorite. Gene's children are hoping for a second structure in another cedar about 15 feet away, with a
bridge linking the two.
"Right now it's down on the list a ways," he says. "But there's been some talk about that among the kids."
The Chronicle wants to know about your Bay Area tree house. Please send two images and 100 words or fewer about the structure to
phartlaub@sfchronicle.com.
No tree house, fort or platform is too big or too small to enter. Winners will be announced this month on The Big Event blog at
SFGate.com. More information at blog.sfgate.com/thebigevent.
Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicle's pop culture critic. E-mail:
phartlaub@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @PeterHartlaub
© 2012 Hearst Communications Inc.
These were taken before we had all 10:
