The Treehouse Shop
We are TheTreehouse.Shop
1.From civil engineer to treehouse engineer
Vitus Wahlländer – founder of TheTreehouse.Shop – Sequoia National Park, USA, 2016
My name is Vitus Wahlländer, professional treehouse builder and owner of TheTreehouse.Shop.
It all started with my bachelor’s thesis as a civil engineer at FHM University: “Treehouses – investigation and optimisation of fastening options taking tree statics and tree biology into account”.
At the same time, I built my first own stilt treehouse, and I quickly realised that I had found something very special in building tree houses. I find it fascinating to merge the structure of nature, its simplicity, efficiency and durability, with human engineering.
In the course of my work, I met Johannes Schelle and the wonderful team from Baumbaron in the south of Germany – this acquaintance quickly turned into a friendship. So after my engineering studies, I completed another apprenticeship as a carpenter, and Johannes taught me the art of building treehouses.
2. Foundation of TheTreehouse.Shop
The idea for the online shop came to me during the legendary World Treehouse Conference 2016 in Oregon/USA. Every year, treehouse builders from all over the world meet there to share their experience and discuss the latest treehouse technology. After I was allowed to present part of my bachelor thesis on the optimisation of the American ‘Treehouse Attachment Bolt TAB’, I received a lot of positive feedback and people encouraged me to continue the cause. That was the birth of TheTreehouse.Shop – Europe’s first online shop for treehouse builders!
With the increasing demand, our team has grown more and more in the following years – instead of my chaotic little garage, our products are now stored in a professional warehouse!
With the American Treehouse Bolt as a foundation, we continue to look for details and solutions that make treehouse building even easier and safer. We will continue to expand the product range of our online shop and share our expertise with you, so that you can save time and be well equipped during your building project – this is how we hope to contribute our part to the worldwide treehouse community!
Impressions from the World Treehouse Conference 2016, Oregon, USA
3. Our Team
- Michi, Moritz & Nicola: “Team Schubert” – Our reliable team for logistics, marketing and good humour
- Zeindl Metallbau GmbH: Our specialists for laser & welding work
- ROW Präzisionstechnik: Our specialists for turned parts and special steel
- Lebenshilfe Werkstatt München: Our partners for the black KTL finishing of steel parts
- Baumbaron GmbH: Specialist for treehouses – Master carpenter’s workshop
4. Our motivation
In a treehouse you are in the middle of nature: the scent of damp leaves, the sounds of the forest, a cracking branch, a bird flitting by, the play of light from dancing leaves – if you take a bath in the cool, floating forest air, between the trunks of centuries-old trees, you literally soak up this mood, the peace and serenity, but also the power.
It is not without reason that trees and forests are firmly anchored elements of life in other cultures – in our western world, however, in the fast-paced urban centres, these natural elements are increasingly being displaced.
Wonderful autumn atmosphere on the treehouse terrace (baumbaron GmbH)
The dream house brings the old tree to life once again (baumbaron GmbH)
But many people know it all too well, the longing for nature and freedom, the urge to go out, climb mountains, listen to the sea or just let the tranquillity of the forest take over.
This is where we get our motivation for building treehouses from:
We want to enable people to create places where they feel good and let their souls dangle! We want to promote the bond between people and nature! And we love the beaming faces of children and adults who immerse themselves in the world of treehouses!
Building a treehouse = fun and adventure for the whole family!
Just like every person, every tree and every treehouse is unique: there are no official standards or rules, you build according to your gut feeling and there are no limits to your creativity. Whether big or small, whether a strong craftsman or a dreamy free spirit child, everyone can participate in their own way when building a treehouse – this is definitely a very special family project!
We can see from our customer projects what wonderful little houses have already been created. We love your stories and photos!!!
The baumbaron team – making work fun!
5. We donate
Building your own treehouse is a dream of many, and no matter in which remote corner of the world you talk to people about it, you are met with great enthusiasm. But for most people, this dream will never come true; their lives are marked by unrest and violence, disease, poverty, poor infrastructure, lack of food and insufficient access to education. Building your own treehouse – unfortunately, for many people, this is a far-off luxury thought!
We at TheTreehouse.Shop therefore donate about 10% of our income to charity every year – we are not concerned with building treehouses, but with providing targeted aid:
Effectively-Donate.Org
Those who donate want to make as much of an impact as possible. Effektiv-Spenden evaluates organisations independently and with scientific long-term studies – the donations collected are only distributed to the most demonstrably effective organisations. The best organisations are more than 100 times more effective. In development aid, for example, the average amount of money needed to save the life of a small child is compared:
“…less than 3000€ can save the life of a young child.”
Terre des Hommes
campaigns worldwide for children’s and human rights, for tolerance and equal rights for all people regardless of origin, legal status, gender, religion and sexual orientation.
Weltfriedensdienst e.V.
has been working since 1959 for a world in which all people live a self-determined life in dignity, free from poverty and violence.
Plant-for-the-Planet
The goal of the children’s and youth initiative is to plant 1,000 billion trees worldwide. Trees are the cheapest and most effective way to sequester CO2, giving humanity a time-saver to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero and mitigate the climate crisis.
So far, over 13.6 billion trees have been planted with the help of many adults in 193 countries. On the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, Plant-for-the-Planet plants a new tree every 15 seconds. The planting project shows how easy it is to plant trees efficiently on a large scale. At academies, children train each other to become ambassadors for climate justice – over 81,000 children and young people from 73 countries are already involved!
Plant-for-the-Planet in 2:50 minutes: youtu.be/RB17UOCk9LA