This tree house in Sweden with a mirrored exterior by Tham and Videgård Arkitekter is just large enough to host two people.

Radamés “Juni” Figueroa lived in his art project tree house, made from found materials, for two fortnights, as part of his artist residency at La Practica at Beta-Local. "The Practice" is an interdisciplinary program of research and production focusing on art, architecture, and design, with an emphasis on collaboration.

@sticks.and.bricks: it's #treehouse season! please excuse me while I go #playintheyard.

An intricately detailed staircase leads to the central wing’s second level. Its walnut treads and top rail harmonize with the welded steel rod railings. The geometric pattern on the staircase’s risers comes from encaustic tiles that were handmade in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Ethan Schussler built his first tree house at 12 years old. His tree house in Sandpoint, Idaho, sits 30 feet above the ground and can be accessed by an "elevator" consisting of a bicycle that, when pedaled, ascends a pulley system to the top.

The long rectangular Field House abuts what Burnette describes as a “memory orchard,” a grove of fruit trees just beyond the deck that was planted in honor of Geller’s late father.

Estate Bungalow in Matugama, Sri Lanka, by Narein Perera as published in Cabins (Taschen, 2014).

Visitors learn about energy and water conservation as they climb outdoor staircases that lead from the forest floor to the 125-foot-high rooftop rising above the leaf canopy.

Large gum trees offer a natural barrier for the house. Harkness designed the house's footprint in order to minimize the effect on tree roots. “The retained trees offer a sense of layering and age that new vegetation won’t be able to for a long time,” Harkness says.

The iT House was designed by Linda Taalman and Alan Koch of Taalman Koch Architects. The minimalist desert escape has an industrial aesthetic, and it pushes the envelope in terms of green design—the owners even decided to forgo air conditioning. The home’s sustainable building strategies include: large doors and operable windows for cross-ventilation, overhangs for shade, and solar panels to harness the power of the sun.

In the airy kitchen, meals are prepared on a Silestone White Storm countertop. The backsplash’s tiles match those on the staircase’s risers. In the adjoining dining area, a Caboche suspension light by Foscarini hangs over a CB2 dining table and Real Good Chairs by Blu Dot.

Beyond the staircase, at the heart of the main wing, a two-floor atrium rises from the concrete floor. Its array of windows, many of which are different sizes, connect the indoors with the central oak tree and the outdoors beyond it. The top of the wall slopes inwards, leaving the oak tree with room to grow.

The rise of the front lawn and the height of the trees give the house a subtle presence amid magnificent surroundings.

@nelsontreehouse: "We spy a treehouse with some Japanese flair. Could it be a teahouse?"

Austin's strong community is committed to eccentricity and diversity integral to the city, and also to bolstering support of local, independent businesses.

Connected to the main house by a narrow bridge, a three-story cedar tower with a sauna at its base recalls a tree house. The screened-in second level includes a table and chairs for enjoying an outdoor meal, while a swing on the tower’s top level provides a perch to take in the surrounding birch trees.

Just as the barn was extended and cantilevered over the sloped site, so too was the deck off the kitchen, which juts out toward the oak grove. “There are 125 coast live oaks on the property,” says Walker. “They’re beautiful trees, so why not exploit that?” See more ways to use oak in your home.

The courtyard is sunken because of the existing grade. The Albezia shade tree was planted when the outdoor area was still scrap yard, an “act of hope and faith in the future,” says Wittman.

Waechter Architecture reimagined a traditional gabled home in southeast Portland without significantly altering the original building. A simple coat of red paint abstracts the century-old structure, creating a residential work of art.

The clients and design team chose to forego an open floor plan in favor of defined, separated spaces. In this scheme, the vertically oriented spaces act as a cinematic "hard-cut" to their horizontal counterparts. The custom hot rolled steel kitchen, one of these vertical transition spaces, receives light from above through a Velux skylight. A GE Profile Induction cooktop and oven and Miele refrigerator complete the space.

House O, designed by Jun Igarashi, forgoes hallways and interior doors in favor of casually interconnected rooms.

Marcus Lee and Rachel Hart’s wonderful wooden home sits at the end of a quiet London lane and politely turns its back on the workshops next door.

Corporate high-flyers and admitted neat freaks Bruce Thatcher and Kirsty Leighton couldn’t handle the chaos anymore. Read more about this Victorian terrace in London here.

“In this house, the roof is the only facade—the rest is dissolved beneath it.” —Architect Aljoša Dekleva

At the entry looking upward towards a Velux skylight, a vertical "sleeve" is made of stacked end grain plywood. The theme of vertical and horizontal architectural elements providing different environmental perspectives carries through to the rest of the home. Horizontal forms look out to the lake, while the vertical columns look up the sky.

Seen in the architectural context of its London neighborhood, the house is all the more extraordinary: compact, materially innovative, and easy on the eyes.

Plumstead describes the Clip Tree valet as sheet music where the bars are posts and the notes are the adjustable clips."I became focused on entry hall," he says of the concept. "I was trying to come up with a system with fairly simple parts for shipping and manufacturing, and for it to be configurable so people would have authorship over the object."

The structure's white stucco second story nods to the architecture of traditional tree houses and is used as sleeping quarters for the owner’s children. The leaves of the central oak tree can be seen peaking out above the façade.

The central oak tree sprouts out of the rear deck. The atrium’s array of windows draw the eye in the tree’s direction. The wood cladding of the single-story wings provide a pleasant contrast with the central volume’s stucco finish.

A cantilevered cabin designed by R D Gentzler blends into the forest, even as it hovers above a 20-foot drop-off. Its south face is almost entirely glass, but a roof canopy limits solar gain.

The master bedroom looks out at the garden through a full-height glass wall. The Ikea bed sits between Four Hands tables and lies beneath a floral photograph by Stacy Kirk. Opposite the bed, a Jaya chair is situated for quiet contemplation.

Thanks to a sliding glass door in the shower, even the master bathroom manages to retain a connection with nature. Custom cabinetry, a Sielstone Niebla counter and Kohler Verticyl sink, however, all offer compelling reasons to stay inside.

Though the house sits cozily at the back of a birch forest clearing, Zhidkov says no trees were cut during construction.

@best_treehouses: "This is the 'bonbibi' treehouse which is one of the 9 treehouses of TreeHouse Point. They are in Washington state and available to rent out as hotels!"

The living room sits a few steps down from the kitchen-dining area, and is demarcated by a board-formed concrete planter. Occupants can gather in the Blu Dot sofa and chair. Amid the concrete and fabric, an Ikea coffee table provides a warm wooden touch.