Spiral Staircase Bridge Treehouse

Fayetteville, AR

Completed June 2012

Materials: Arkansas Cypress, Arkansas Eastern Red Cedar

What do you do with a very steep sloping back yard and some great oak trees?  Build a treehouse!  Because the family had young children, we began with a welcoming spiral staircase on the uphill slope, with access to a 5'x5' treehouse space surrounding a large, healthy post oak.  From the treehouse, the kids can sneak out the back down a spiral slide or head across the 14' bridge to the lookout tower nestled right up in the tree branches.  The structure also includes a set of four interchangeable swings and a run of monkey bars.  And when the kids are older, one side of the lookout platform can be removed to allow the addition of a climbing wall, ropes or other strength activities.

As always, safety and secure construction were top priority.  Posts were securely anchored in steel reinforced concrete, a pair of steel beams were added as hidden reinforcement for the bridge span, and the treehouse, instead of being anchored directly to the tree, floats on two secure triangle support brackets, each bolted to the tree with hardware rated to support over 20,000 lbs.

Also check out the handcrafted swing created for the adults in the family!