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The next step was to finish the roof structure in preparation for the steel roof, ordered from Dunn Lumber.

We chose a red roof to match some of the red tile and rusted steel roofs of some chalets in Switzerland. G. also provided some sample-size windows – two on the South side and one on the North side.

For the finish, I sided the walls and the “basement” with fence boards, and designed the deck railing based on my ancestors’ house in Switzerland.

I added a wooden ladder (on the right) and the kids stacked the obligatory firewood below the deck.

I wanted to document my Swiss chalet treehouse for a few friends that have expressed interest in the project. I’ve thought for several years about building a treehouse, a shed, or both, in my backyard. The kids had heard this so many times they were treating it like another castle in Spain. And yet, this year was the year, and the treehouse (with shed-like storage) is standing proudly in the backyard.

Inspirations

I followed a lot of google.ch searches to find a number of chalets of all sizes to get ideas on proportions and details. Some of the noteworthy ones:

Rustic; Fantastic; Bucolic; Commercial; Nice Kit; My brother’s fiancée’s family chalet

Early Sketches

Based on these inspirations, I drew a few sketches. I had 10 ft of total height to work with, 12 of depth and 7 in width. I wanted the roof pitch and overhang to match the Swiss types, and some of the final touches to highlight Swissness (balcony, flowers)

In the next post: construction