The Lettered Cottage

You are here: Home / Favorite Posts / Camp Treehouse

Camp Treehouse

By

“Even the most modest of projects can become something beautiful.
There is no such thing as too far gone.
With hope and a hammer, I believe there is always a way.”
– Tereasa Surratt

Boy do those words ring true in today’s Wandawega post. It’s about the latest addition to David and Tereasa’s magical campsite: a modern, pitched roof treehouse- designed and built by a wonderful bunch of friends.

(photo: Bob Coscarelli)

The project all started with a big, old elm tree located right in the center of camp. Shortly after David and Tereasa purchased Wandawega, Tereasa’s Dad, (Tom) christened the property by hanging a rope swing from one of its branches.

(Photo: David Hernandez)

Sadly, Tom passed away a year and a half later, and around that same time, the elm tree contracted Dutch Elm disease. Tereasa said she “could not cut it down”.

Further investigation into the elm’s condition revealed that even though its branches were dying, its trunk was still very strong. So instead of chopping it down, David and Tereasa’s friends teamed up to work on the once-in-a-lifetime dream project for them.

Tereasa and David’s carpenter/furniture-maker friends started by sketching out plans.

Tereasa said, “Everyone had a radically different idea, and everyone was thinking 100 times bigger and more elaborate than I was. I was imagining a little kid’s house.”

Ultimately the group settled on a three-level cottage in which the tree comes through a deck near ground level, then breaks through the floor in three spots on the first level of the house.

It’s 16 feet from the peak of the vaulted ceiling down to the floor, and there are two sleeping lofts in the treehouse- one at the front…

…and one at the back…

…which can both be reached by sturdy wooden ladders.

“It’s not so much a tree house as a cottage on stilts“, Tereasa says. “It’s four telephone posts, set six feet into the ground into concrete pilings, surrounding a tree. We built it to be as sturdy as our city house.”

The materials they used aren’t just run-of-the-mill two-by-fours, either. The windows are vintage, and most of the wood is reclaimed. Some from a dilapidated dairy barn near the property, the rest from a demolished Chicago bungalow, sourced from the ReBuilding Exchange.

Once the treehouse structure was built (It took about a years worth of sometimes 15-hour long weekend days to complete it), Tereasa and her friend, Angela, went to work on the interior- furnishing it minimalistically, but cozily, with found and vintage pieces.

The design is all about reuse and handmade. Every little detail—from the building materials, to the showstopping antler chandelier- made by Tereasa with antlers gathered from the Wandawega woods and from around her hometown in rural Illinois…

to the handmade furniture and pillows created from old fabric and feed sacks…

…to the stumps coming through the floor boards, that now act as side tables.

The result: an interior, like the tree itself, that reads like the ultimate ode to creative reinvention…

(photo: Bob Coscarelli)

(photo: Bob Coscarelli)

(photo: Bob Coscarelli)

But the ingenuity doesn’t stop there. Outside, and down below the main floor, David created pendant lights from old mason jars Tereasa found in the basement of one of the buildings on the property. He used some edison bulbs Tereasa picked up at Home Depot, along with some simple lamp kits (adapted with extension cords) to create them….

(photo: tharrisonhillman.com)

Tereasa and David named it “Tom’s Treehouse”…

(Photo: Jacob Hand)

…and suspended from the very branch Tereasa’s Dad originally tied it to, the rope swing Tom so lovingly hung for her still blows in the breeze today…

(photo: Jacob Hand)

__________________________________

I hope you enjoyed the tale of the Wandawega treehouse today. Stay tuned for more Wandawega Week posts to come- and if you missed days 1 and 2, you can find them here: Camp Cottage and A Very Modest Cottage Giveaway.

You can find days three and four here: Camp Tent and Camp Wedding and Baby.

Click here to subscribe

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. kelly in georgia

    Earlier this week, when I saw the treehouse on the Wandawega website (try saying THAT three times fast!) I was crossing my fingers hoping it would make it to your Wandawego Week. Hooray! Thanks for sharing yet another sweet story and gorgeous eye candy. The swing and its ongoing story are lump-in-the-throat precious.

  5. Melinda Ke

    This is awesome! I always dreamed of having a tree house when I was a child, this place would have been magical.

  7. Gail E

    That is utterly amazing…the story…the tree house. Thank you again, Layla. This is truly an inspiring series!

  10. Kim

    What a wonderful place! I love the reuse of vintage materials and lumber. Can’t wait to read more!

  13. Kathy

    What an amazing adventure and project and the fact that the project was done to honour Tom, wonderful. Thanks for sharing

  15. A Speckled Trout

    I have enjoyed every post about this place, but the treehouse…….oh my. What talented people these are and their philosophy about decorating is inspiring. Reading her tribute to her dad was lovely….I was lucky enough to have a dad like that, too, and there are many things in my home that are in honor of him. Sincere thanks for these posts. They are a deep sigh.

  16. Becky

    This series of posts has been my favorite of anything you’ve ever done. If I could live in any of the places you’ve featured, this would be it. What a blessed and happy life they must have.

  20. Sandra

    What a cool place to hang out for young and old alike. I would love to have something like that in my backyard for my boys to hang out in. I am loving Wandawega week! Thanks for sharing.

  22. Beverly Palmer

    WOW! Talk about inspiration! I would pay to watch this couple at work. Hmm, come to think of it, I would pay to watch you and Kevin and work to! Absolutely a-m-a-z-i-n-g!

  23. Patti

    Who are these people?! Wow! I wanna be there. And is that Kevin’s band playing in front of the treehouse?

  25. Gina in Louisville

    Love this but I can’t stop thinking about bugs. Does it get buggie and spider webbie? The mattresses and sofa, do they get mold or mildew, or pollen? I love the tree house. It is beautiful.

  28. Cheryl F

    I want an elm tree, a treehouse, and I want Teresa and David to be my new best friends. Seriously, I think I could love these people.

  32. Traci Fuqua

    I’ve always wanted a tree house. This is beautiful. I just moved from Tulsa, OK to Rice Lake, WI this month. I would love to visit the camp! Thank you for sharing.

  34. Kim in Iowa

    What an amazing property they have – I’ve so enjoyed reading the posts and seeing the pictures. I can’t believe these kind of places exist!

  35. Aunt Chriss

    This may possibly be the most amazing place I have ever seen in my life! Wow. Love it!

  38. Mary Slimp

    That is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen, and a beautiful memorial to her father. Thank you for sharing this!

  39. Kathy Raykes

    I love the tree house project! What a cool place it turned out to be; so comfortable and earthy. Thanks for sharing.

  41. Kim in MD

    What an amazing tree cottage! I love that everything used is re-purposed…very cool! 🙂

  42. anemone

    The fact that her Dad’s swing is still there really choked me up. What a tribute! He must have been a great dad. Thanks for the post, Layla!

  44. mary gallant

    T and C—is there a treehouse in your future? if so, I want to be the first guest. What a dreamtreehouse! Thanks for sharing Teresa… Gram Mary

  45. Jane Crawford

    What a touching way to honor Theresa’s father. I can’t wait to purchase both of her books!

  49. Katherine

    Wow! I love the tree house – it looks great. I would love to stay in something like that. The antler light looks fantastic. Your blog is so inspiring! Love it,

    Katherine , Aust.