![A love for the mountains](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/joel-mountain.jpg)
![Old Man John tending his homestead](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/omj1.jpg)
![My first job in Software](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/software.jpg)
![Studying hard, to graduate from UVic](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/uvic.jpg)
![Joe hired me to help build his house. Yes, that's right, this is his foundation.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Joe-hired-me-to-help-build-his-house.-Yes-thats-right-this-is-his-foundation..jpg)
![My first project - 1 week of 12 hour days](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/My-first-project-1-week-of-12-hour-days.jpg)
![Old Man John, friend, mentor](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Old-Man-John-friend-mentor.jpg)
![Showering before work.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Showering-before-work..jpg)
![Prime sport sleeping location.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Prime-sport-sleeping-location..jpg)
![Me, working in the kitchen](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Me-working-in-the-kitchen.jpg)
![Mark's final rendering. Check out more of Mark's work here.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/mark-rendering.jpg)
of Mark’s work here.
![Mark and Jayne, talented designers.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Mark-and-Jayne-talented-designers..jpg)
![I drew my treehouse in the sand](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/I-drew-my-treehouse-in-the-sand.jpg)
![Free-range Ryan, fixing muffler on his home](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Free-range-Ryan-fixing-muffler-on-his-home.jpg)
![The Shed I built for my parents](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/The-Shed-I-built-for-my-parents.jpg)
![Old Man John's House that he built](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Old-Man-Johns-House-that-he-built.jpg)
![The 1/4 scale model I built to test strength. I also made adjustments to proportions.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/treehouse-model.jpg)
I also made adjustments to proportions.
![The chosen one.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/chosen-tree.jpg)
![My treehouse wasn't the only cabin in the neighborhood.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/mansion3.jpg)
neighborhood.
![Many days walking through the woods](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/sun-trees.jpg)
![Always a trace of humans nearby](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/trees1.jpg)
![The search for a tree begins...](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/whistler-mountain.jpg)
![My trusty home/car/truck](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/car-planks.jpg)
![View from treehouse deck.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/deck-view.jpg)
![Heavy and cumbersome.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/final-rib1.jpg)
![The scaffolding plank that almost killed me (bottom of photo).](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/scaffolding.jpg)
![Ribs were built out of 2ft segments.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/rib-template.jpg)
![12 hours or work per rib.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/ribs-joes2.jpg)
![The top of the rib was fastened to the tree with big hinges.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/rib-prep.jpg)
![Prototype rib - a little awkward to carry.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/prototype.jpg)
![Tada! A level deck... harder than it looks.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/platform.jpg)
![Trying to figure out a level line around the tree with a string.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/me-walkway.jpg)
tree with a string.
![The long cleat pivoted to work as lever.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/final-rib2.jpg)
![I'd raise one rib per evening, after work.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/setting-sun.jpg)
![This stump served as the access point for the treehouse.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/stump.jpg)
the treehouse.
![Fabricating ribs at Joe's, after work.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/ribs-joes.jpg)
![The walls starting to close in...](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/materials5.jpg)
![In fall 2010, Heidi and I moved into a suite. What luxury, my car living days were over!](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/suite1.jpg)
What luxury, my car living days were over!
![Bruno, meeting kids in Radovlica.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/bruno-kids.jpg)
![Ash hardwood floor.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/materials4-1.jpg)
![The materials start rolling in.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/materials1-1.jpg)
![In the winter of 2009, I was hired by Mark to help him frame and finish the interior of this cool home that he designed. Check out more of Mark's work here.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/marks.jpg)
![The kamikaze endurance racer, John Markez.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/johnmarkez.jpg)
![Bruno seized, in the wee hours.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/joel-bruno.jpg)
![Heidi helping on the roof, fall 2010.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/heidi-roof.jpg)
![Meeting Heidi.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/heidi-joel2.jpg)
![The couch I scored for free. The Craigslist rampage begins...](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/free-couch-1.jpg)
![The house I was building for Sven, summer 2010.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/svens.jpg)
![Stripping the treehouse down for Olympics..](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/treehouse-stripped.jpg)
![Heidi and I getting an early start in May. We had to scribe these hatch pieces on site, and then cut the curves off site with power tools.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/early-start.jpg)
![Heidi, working in the loft](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/heidi-loft.jpg)
![Starting to take shape.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/installing-door.jpg)
![We tried to keep this kind of activity to a minimum.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/painting-roof.jpg)
![The siding going up.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/siding.jpg)
![Fabricating a sliding glass door out of reclaimed materials at Sven's.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/sliding-glass.jpg)
![Towards the end, I had to splice a lot of material to get the lengths I needed.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/splice.jpg)
![Another nice evening.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/heidi-joel-deck.jpg)
![We camped across Canada and then down to New York, where we met Benita.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/tent.jpg)
![Heidi and I mesmerised by The Big Apple.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/heidi-ny.jpg)
![My treehouse is featured in the April Special Outdoor Edition of Dwell Magazine!](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/dwell2.jpg)
![The inviolable beauty of the forest.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/inviolable2.jpg)
![Benita, giving advice on which $80,000 ring to buy.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Benita.jpg)
ring to buy.
![The treehouse sitting there untouched since we had left in in July.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/untouched.jpg)
![Doing some landscaping outside.](https://thehemloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/landscaping.jpg)