The Birdhouse

The Birdhouse is an elevated cabin that offers a birds’ eye view of the tree canopies and surrounding landscape. Steel forest fire towers served as a design reference. A wide stair case winds upwards round the trunk of a large tulip poplar. Visitors are alternatively drawn to the ever-increasing distance to the ground and an intimate encounter with the tree bark. Woven into this manmade perch is the story of the life cycle of a tree from birth through the eventual fall back to the forest floor. The tall, regal tulip poplar at the center of the stairs is contrasted to a standing, hollow snag and a decaying trunk lying on the ground adjacent to the treehouse entrance. Artistic touches, like organic door pulls and live edge, slab benches, abound and invite one’s touch.