Every build has its own story and this one took us halfway around the world.
Earlier this year, our crew partnered with Imvelo Safari Lodges to design and consult on a new safari lodge in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park. What started as sketches beneath the camelthorn trees has now become a completed canopy-top retreat: Tum Tum Treehouse Lodge, opening April 1, 2026.
The Tum Tum Treehouses sit in a grove of ancient camelthorn trees, their bark polished smooth from elephants passing through over generations. It’s a landscape unlike any we’ve built in before, vast, wild, and alive with wildlife.
Our Head Architect, Daniel Ash, and Project Manager, Daryl McDonald, worked alongside Imvelo’s team to create a design that would honor both the trees and the surrounding ecosystem. Together, we developed four treehouses supported by custom steel posts and our Heavy Limb Treehouse Attachment Bolts.
The completed lodge features four treehouses, each perched between 12 and 16 feet above ground.
Canvas roofs stretch over hardwood platforms, with ensuite bathrooms and open decks that look out over natural waterholes.
A central lodge ties the site together beneath the branches of a towering teak tree, while a family tent on the ground provides space for groups to gather.
Inside, a mix of reclaimed materials and organic textures brings warmth and craftsmanship to the space every surface designed to feel hand-built and timeless.
The winter months, July through October, are the best time to stay at Tum Tum. The weather is cool and dry, wildlife crowds the waterholes, and the light turns the bush a glowing gold at sunrise and sunset. From your deck, you might spot elephants wandering below or lions crossing the vlei at dusk.
Seeing the Tum Tum Treehouses complete is a reminder of why we do what we do: to connect people to nature through thoughtful, lasting design.
Congratulations to our friends at Imvelo Safari Lodges on bringing this incredible vision to life. We’re honored to have played a part in it and grateful to see treehouses rising in new corners of the world.
Find out more about having us design and build a vacation rental treehouse here.
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