amazing treehouses from around the world

Treehouses appeal to the child in all of us and bring us closer to nature. At one point you probably dreamed of living among the birds in a house nestled on the leafy branches of a towering tree. Whether these structures are tiny shacks clinging to a single bough, unique treetop observatories or sprawling works of art spanning several trees, theres something magical about treehouses. Heres a look at 18 of the worlds most stunning treetop structures and the unique stories behind them.

Terunobu Fujimoris tea house, Takasugi-an, which literally means a tea house too high, stands in Chino, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, atop three chestnut trees. The house is accessible only by ladder, and guests must remove their shoes and leave them on the platform before venturing inside for tea. As an architect, Fujimori is known for his innovative and often whimsical designs, and this freestanding structure certainly pushes the limits of a conventional teahouse.

These spheres were created with the concept of oneness in mind, so the floor, walls and ceiling create one continuous space unlike a conventional building. They utilize biomimicry and are designed to fit into a forest setting without altering it. Free Spirit Spheres use trees as their foundation, which the designers say reflects our connectedness to nature, and because theyre suspended in the air, the human footprint is drastically reduced. The shell of this unique treehouse can withstand impacts, and the web of ropes that suspend it are made of a stretchy material that allow both the sphere and the trees to move freely.

The worlds largest treehouse sits in the small town of Crossville, Tenn., and took 14 years and 258,000 nails for minister Horace Burgess to build. Burgess began working on the structure in 1993 when he had a vision in which God spoke to him and said, If you build me a treehouse, Ill see you never run out of material. Today, the 10-story treehouse is supported by six trees, rises 97 feet into the sky and is constructed completely of salvaged materials. Its estimated to be about 12,000 square feet and houses a sanctuary and a basketball court. The top deck is situated 20 feet above the tops of the trees, where visitors can see Burgess flower garden that spells out J-E-S-U-S. The whole message of the thing is if you come to see the site and climb to the top, youll see Jesus in the garden, and the preacher didnt have to say a word, Burgess says.

When Lukasz Kos designed 4Treehouse, he wanted it to be an exercise in minimizing the impact on the trees, the building site and nature itself. With this in mind, the two-ton lattice-frame structure was suspended 20 feet above the forest floor with steel cables, and the treehouse is anchored to the tree trunks with just one puncture hole in each of the four trunks. Visitors to the unique structure at Lake Muskoka in Ontario, Canada, enter the two-story structure via a rolling staircase.

This charming treetop cottage is just one of the many treehouse lodgings available at Pete Nelsons Treehouse Point in Issaquah, Wash. Nelson, a world-renowned treehouse builder and author, created this sustainable destination as a beautiful, educational getaway that provides visitors with a unique way to connect with nature. The Temple of the Blue Moon sits partway up a 300-year-old, 160-foot-tall Sitka Spruce and boasts skylights, built-in cedar beds and handmade quilts.

This gorgeous treehouse was built in New Zealand as part of a marketing campaign for Yellow Book. Amateur entrepreneurs were challenged to build a restaurant 30 feet up a redwood tree using only those resources they could find in Yellow Books directory. The treetop restaurant took 66 days to build and employed more than 60 businesses. Two thousand people dined in the Redwoods Treehouse Restaurant upon completion.

Takashi Kobayashi, one of the worlds leading treehouse builders, designed this unique structure when Nestl

Why have a single-story tree house, if you can have three? This one is said to be the tallest tree house in British Columbia, Canada. You can find it somewhere near Revelstoke.

Almost invisible and perfect for hiding, the Mirror House is part of the Tree Hotel project in the North of Sweden. As cool as it looks, were afraid the house may be invisible to birds.