Climb wave
Treehouses lure children outdoors
Chuck Giambrone built a tree house in his
front yard maple tree for stepdaughter, Meagen, 8. He designed it as
a miniature version of the family's two-story red brick home, 1789
W. 32nd St. (Isaac Brekken)
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By NICOLE GERRING
It's windy and drizzling on a soaking late May afternoon, but 9-year-old
Samantha Stroup doesn't notice. Dry and happy, she's nestled up high in
the century-old maple tree in the front yard of her grandparents' home.
Stroup's perch in the spacious treehouse, a roof above and a trap door
below, makes the grown-up world seem much further than 14 feet away.
Treehouses were a common sight when Stroup's grandfather, Willison
Kellogg, was young, but they're no longer as plentiful. As the number of
hand-made treehouses dwindles in both urban and rural settings,
structures like the Kellogg's in Spring Creek have become local
landmarks.
"People always say, 'Oh, you're the ones with the treehouse,'" said
Kellogg, a retired farmer. "There aren't too many around here anymore."
But not forgotten
That doesn't mean they've lost all their appeal. Treehouses have
advanced from their humble backyard beginnings. Today, dozens of Web
sites advertise elaborately designed treetop bed and breakfasts, canopy
bungalows and $100,000 tree homes for children and adults.
A universal idea courses through the roots of past and present natural
retreats. Going out on a limb is an adventure because, high up in the
air, one can escape the mundane by becoming Tarzan or Jane. Feelings of
weightlessness free the human imagination.
Some days, Kellogg's granddaughter is a monkey in tropical South
American rainforests. In early September, she's a student in sister
Amanda's lofty classroom. Today she's English royalty, filling her
delicate pink teacup with drops of cold rain.
Kellogg said Samantha always loved climbing the big maple out front,
which boasts a 15-foot circumference. At age 6, she tried to persuade
her grandfather to build a treehouse in the middle of its four huge
branches.
"She'd even carry up sticks and wooden blocks, trying to convince me,"
Kellogg recalled. "Finally, I caved in."
Kellogg's neighbor, Dick Byers, built the split-level, 14-foot-high
house, complete with a wooden ladder, bench, lookout corner and a pulley
system for transporting toys. For some, the word "treehouse" invokes
images of Christopher Robin's home in "Winnie the Pooh," or the treetop
dwellings in "Swiss Family Robinson." In many cases, a treehouse offers
a rural childhood retreat.
It can be an escape from the seriousness of the adult world, a private
place of imagination and friendship. For kids who love to be outdoors,
treehouses combine the best of two popular pastimes: playing pretend and
studying nature. Samantha Stroup said she loves spending time in her
playhouse in the sky.
"I like climbing trees because I like to be up high," she said. "You can
see other things you can't see when you're down on the ground."
Edinboro's John Yonko, the director of Camp Notre Dame, is currently
building a freestanding wooden playhouse for his three children, ages 1,
5 and 7.
"They're excited about having their own little home," Yonko said. "I
wanted them to have a safe, fun place to play in the neighborhood."
Giorgi said that parents need not be master carpenters to construct a
sturdy treehouse.
One Erie father built his treehouse with the help of two railroad ties,
minimizing damage to the tree. Chuck Giambrone, of West 32nd Street,
built a dark plywood house in his front maple tree for his 8-year-old
stepdaughter, Meagen.
Gazing eastward on Ellsworth Avenue, Meagen's playhouse looks like a
miniature version of the Giambrone's two-story red brick home. Right
down to the pink petunias planted in neat window boxes, John Deere green
shutters and red roof, the treehouse looks like a cross between an
oversized birdhouse and a model home.
Jennifer Giambrone said she and her husband, originally from Mayville,
N.Y., wanted their daughter "to have that country in the city feeling"
as she grew up. As a young teen, Chuck Giambrone said he spent many
relaxing days up in the family treehouse built above a rushing creek.
He said he used materials left over from their own home renovation to
create the house. Two, 5-foot tall gray railroad ties support the end of
the house not leaning on the tree's large knoll.
He nailed together landscaping posts to create the sturdy ladder, reused
pieces of house shingles on the roof and even used up some remaining
John Deere green paint on the shutters.
The only costs? One week of labor, plus the cost of plywood and
petunias.
Dressed in pajamas and trailed by her miniature dachshund and French
basset hound, Meagen plays in the house every morning before school.
Jennifer Giambrone said she has to coax her out to make it to the bus on
time.
"She doesn't come out in her school clothes, so I have to beg her to
come in and get dressed," Giambrone said. "She loves her house - it's
her private place."
Think it through before you put it up
Benjamin Giorgi said Home Depot doesn't carry plans for treehouses,
because any blueprints would have to be altered to suit different types,
sizes and growth patterns. "You need to customize your house to what
kind of tree you have," Giorgi said. "You can come up with a plan, but
almost 100 percent of it will have to be altered." Giorgi offered
several tips for parents beginning treehouse construction:
- Safety is the first priority. Make sure the tree is sturdy.
- Decide how you'll get up and down. Stand-alone ladders can be
removed, and ropes aren't recommended for younger children.
- Consider the age of the tree. Very young or older trees might not
fare well with added weight. Oak trees work best. Other varieties may
work well if the tree has a thick diameter to support the weight of a
house and its visitors.
- Height should be between 8 and 14 feet off the ground. For safety
reasons, you don't want your treehouse to be too high.
- Build the base at the flattest area of the tree.
- Don't try to build it by yourself. Enlist the help of family,
friends or neighbors.
Recommended Building Materials
T 1-11 or other outdoor siding
B/C grade sanded plywood flooring
30-year roofing shingles
Giorgi said parents looking for other help can call the Home Depot
lumber and building materials desk.
