November 3, 2017Recap: World Treehouse Conference 2017

The Nelson Treehouse crew had a wonderful time at the 2017 World Treehouse Conference, hosted by Out’n’About Treesort in southern Oregon last month. It’s always an honor to meet other members of the global treehouse community, and to share and learn best practices for building up in the trees.

Read on for a recap of our time learning and bonding with this creative collective of treehousers…

Out ‘N’ About Treesort, run by Michael Garnier, is home to a multitude of treehouses and showcases the evolution of treehouse-building technique. On Day 1 of the conference, Michael led participants in a tour of the grounds, beginning with one of the oldest treehouses there. This treehouse evidences early treehouse technology and demonstrates “reaction wood” that grows around the insertion point of a TAB.

On the second day of the conference, Pete Nelson gave a presentation on the fundamentals of sketching treehouses.

Last year, Nelson Treehouse and Supply tested the weight-bearing capacity of our Treehouse Attachment Bolts at the Composite Materials and Engineering Center at Washington State University.  Project Managers Daryl McDonald and Scott Atkins were proud to present the results of that testing (the very first ICC-accredited testing results for TABs!) at the conference. This research is a huge step for the treehousing community!

This Out ‘N’ About treehouse, called “PleasanTree,” contains two stories and an ample deck.

Treehouses made a magical backdrop for bonding over dinner and a campfire.

Treehousers from around the world set up camp around the grounds.

John Shulters from Ascension Studios gave an insightful presentation on photogrammetry technology, used to map trees for accurate treehouse designs.

Scott Baker with Tree Solutions, Inc. presented on tree biology. Understanding tree biology to protect the health of the trees we build in is of paramount importance to treehousers.

Toasty Bun takes center stage with Michael at the natural, hand-excavated pool.

Michael completed the tour of the grounds with a visit to his treetop home.

Three of the five Nelson family members were in attendance.

Big thanks to Michael and Out ‘N’ About for hosting the conference! Click here to learn more about Out ‘N’ About Treesort & Construction.

We hope you’ll join us in next year’s World Treehouse Conference! We’ll post about conference dates and times here on the blog, as we get closer to the event. Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter, below, to be the first to know about the 2018 conference!

To stay up-to-date on all things treehouse, subscribe to our newsletter and give us a follow on Facebook and Instagram.

To the trees!

@nelsontreehouse