Tom Chudleigh is the inventor, manufacturer, and distributor of the Free Spirit Spheres; tree-mounted spheres created to give people a bird’s eye view of nature and to provide adults with the ultimate tree house experience.
Inspired by sailboat construction and riggings, he made his first wood sphere prototype in the style of cedar-strip canoes, which calls for assembling beautiful, thin strips of wood and sealing them with epoxy resin and fiberglass cloth. To get to the unit, you climb a spiral stairway that’s wrapped around a tree trunk, then cross a suspension bridge to the front door.
According to Chudleigh, the spheres “use the forest for its foundation, so occupants have a vested interest in the health of the grove.” Free Spirit Spheres are set up at a “treesort” in British Columbia, Canada, and are available for rent. Safety is ensured by extensive tree examination for size and health, and a complex rope webbing system that evenly distributes each unit’s weight between three trees. If you want to order your own sphere, Chudleigh suggests consulting an arborist before choosing between a wood unit (wired, insulated, heated, and plumbed) for about $150,000 each and a fiberglass unit (insulated and wired) for about $45,000 each.
Article source: http://inventornotes.com/2012/10/30/150000-tree-house/
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