Last April, I was visited by Yuichi Takeuchi, an artist, carpenter and treehouse builder from Japan.
Yuichi said he’d been heavily inspired by our book Shelter. He was making a movie called Simplife and wanted to interview me.
Here’s the result, 3 minutes long. In the last part, I say, “I like to tell people what I see going on in the world…” Yeah!
I’ve had a lot of Japanese people come here — media, builders, artists, publishers — in recent years and they’ve all been wonderful — kindred spirits of the Pacific Ocean.
Yuichi’s website and on Flickr:
https://www.treeheads.com/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/treeheads/sets/
Yogan came to California from France and is exploring (and working wherever he stays) along the Pacific west coast this fall. I dropped him off in Pt. Arena (Calif.) 2 weeks ago and as he makes his way northward, he is shooting photos and posting them on his blog:
https://yogan.over-blog.com/
His website: https://www.yogancharpentier.com/
This photo from The Salmon Creek Farm in Mendocino County
He’s now heading up to visit SunRay Kelley in Washington.
Tags: builders, building, carpentry, farming, natural building, natural materials, off-the-grid, roadtrip, tiny homes, tiny houses, treehouses 
You get to the first treehouse (where Foster lives) up a steep ladder, then from here, up a glue-lam-beam curved staircase to a middle hexagonal platform (where in the photo of Foster, we were sitting and watching the sun set over the tree tops). From there it’s a bouncy (scary) cable walkway to the upper hexagonal treehouse (2nd photo), where I slept in the loft. Carpentry everywhere is meticulous—tight joints. even of compound miters. This ain’t scruffy hippy carpentry.
I’m just starting to work my next book, Small Homes, and still swamped catching up with all the notes I made to my recent trips to NYC and Oregon. My problem right now is too much “content.”
An example is Foster Huntington’s quite incredible compound built on a knoll in the Columbia River Gorge, about 45 minutes northeast of Portland. I wish I had time to do a feature article on this treehouse/skate park/hot tub complex that has a 360° view, which includes the (white) tip of Mount Hood and the Multnomah Falls (500+ feet tall)—I’ll get around to it eventually.
In coming days I’ll put up photos from my visit with Foster. If you’re interested, here are a couple of links to Foster’s latest projects, a film on Vimeo chronicling the months of treehouse construction, as well as his KickStarter campaign for a book on the same subject, which has already generated (ulp!) $58,000 (his goal was $30,0000).
https://vimeo.com/129335481
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fosterhuntington/the-cinder-cone-build-book
More to follow on Foster Huntington’s unique tree houses. It was in the high 80’s yesterday and Foster and I went swimming first in a swimming hole in the Washougal River, then in the mighty Columbia.
Foster Huntington and his 4X4 Toyota camper truck were featured in Tiny Homes on the Move. Turns out that:
1. Foster’s treehouse is pretty close to Portland so I’m on my way there now to hang out and spend the night before flying home tomorrow.
2. Serendipitously, this article on him appeared in yesterdays NY Times (with great photos by Kyle Johnson):
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/style/escape-to-bro-topia.html?hpw&rref=fashion&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well
Weather has been really hot. I’ve been swimming in the Willamette River every day. It turns out to be a pretty clean river, cool (maybe 65 degrees) in 85 degree air temp.
Last week, Yuichi Takeuchi, treehouse builder and kindred spirit from Japan, visited us in our studio.
He’s doing wonderful work and says that Shelter has been a big influence on his work.
His website: https://www.treeheads.com
His photos sorted by projects:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/treeheads/sets/
“There was once a place that drew crowds of Parisians away from their grand boulevards and sidewalk cafés to rediscover their inner child, wine & dine in chestnut tree houses and celebrate summer like Robinson Crusoe.
Perhaps you’ve heard of a “guingette”, a sort of French equivalent to a summer hoedown, traditionally located next to the river and particularly popular in the the 19th and early 20th century, serving food and ample drinks, accompanied by lively music and dancing. Monet and Renoir immortalised such vibrant scenes in their paintings but it seems the most enchanting of these summer establishments has been long forgotten by Parisians…”
From David Wills
Last April, I was visited by Yuichi Takeuchi, an artist, carpenter and treehouse builder from Japan.
