The Making of Adventure Cottage

Here’s the scene: A gorgeous new treehouse sits perched atop a live oak, tucked into a pocket of a lucky kid’s backyard. The colors are crisp; the ladders and secret doors and zip lines stand ready to elicit giggles, shrieks or shouts of joy.

While it might appear to a child that the treehouse has mysteriously grown from the branches of her treasured tree or perhaps been placed there by fairies or gnomes, the reality is much different. In fact, each of our creations comes to life thanks to the craftsmanship, teamwork and inspiration of the Barbara Butler Artist Builder crew. Let’s take a look behind the scenes at how it all works.

Step one:
First, family and builder come together for the design process. Using a photo of the existing site, Barbara sketches in the proposed play structure. In this case, Adventure Cottage went through a few different versions before we found the one that put a sparkle in the kids’ eyes.

Step two:

We take careful measurements on-site before heading back to our shop in South San Francisco to hand-craft each piece of the treehouse. The old adage “Measure twice, cut once” applies double when you are building off-site!

Step three:

Every part of the treehouse is built at the shop using sustainable redwood and environmentally-friendly materials. Even our vibrant signature colors are custom-made from tung oil rather than petroleum products.

Step four:
Now it’s back to the site for the installation.
Dedicated crew? Check.
Tree house components? Check.
Pink hard hat? Check.
Walls, roof and floor join together to form Adventure Cottage.

Step five: Playtime!