Aljo Tree House

Inspiration for the Aljo Tree House is taken from Fallingwater, in the sense that the living space is suspended among the trees. We used the slope of the site to allow the living space to be cantilevered out towards the trees, and an 11’ tall wall of glass to allow the interior to feel open to the forest.

In plan, the project is configured from the common area out, since being elevated among the trees on the hillside is the unique moment of the site. To accomplish this, guest bedrooms, the gym, and office are all located on the lower level, which allows the common area and owner’s bedroom suite to be on the upper level among the trees.

Construction on the site and Corten Steel siding were the most innovative items on the Tree House. To work on a site so steep with extensive excavation and staging, took very highly skilled machine operators to dig, grade, stage, and construct all the components necessary for the project. Wet soil with a steep slope made conditions challenging a lot of the time. The Corten steel siding was also a test to see how an industrial material could work within the suburban organic contemporary design of the project, with beautiful results. It feels organic with the patina of rain and rust, but also feels sharp as a contemporary architectural form.