What Happens When Four Pals With Design Credentials Build a Tree House for $2K

"When I was a kid, I had a tree house," says Ryan Habbyshaw, 44, now a proud dad and graphic designer. In a photo from the 1990s, he swings from it, age ten or eleven, he estimates, air beneath his feet and a wide smile on his face. To young Ryan, it felt like one hundred feet up, he says, "though it was probably only thirty." He laughs, thinking back: "It was pretty crazy!"

It sat atop a giant tree at the edge of his childhood backyard, which bordered conservation land, far enough from the house to feel like another world. "It felt like you were in the woods," he says, his voice drifting back in time. His father, a self-taught general contractor, built it for him. "My dad was able to get up there and build it," Ryan recalls proudly. "It was so cool." His father later taught him to build, and the two began tackling projects together when Ryan was in his twenties.

An only child, Ryan spent his young days outdoors, exploring and imagining. The tree house gave him a private space of his own, "a place to go and be yourself," and a way to build confidence, whether he was leaping and playing with friends from eye-watering heights or simply spending time alone. "I enjoyed being my own person in the tree house," he says, the memories still warm.

Now a dad himself, Ryan wanted to give his daughter, Audrey, who is five, the same experience. Like her father, she’s an only child with a big imagination, so this past summer, he built her one of her own. Now was the perfect time, Ryan says: "I wanted to build it while my dad was still around to see it happen." And he did. His father pitched in, as did a number of friends and Audrey herself.