History of tree houses

The craze for treehouses is not new. The first boom in these unusual constructions dates back to the Renaissance, in particular in English and Italian aristocratic circles. Several engravings from the 16th and 17th centuries bear witness to this (for example, Stefano della Bella’s engraving of a platform perched in an oak tree in the grounds of Villa Pratolino in Tuscany, ca. 1653), as well as the tree house on the Pitchford estate in the English county of Shropshire, which is still standing and was built in the 17th century.

It was in 19th-century France that treehouses became popular, following the publication of Johann David Wyss’s Swiss Robinson (1812).

This fashionable phenomenon reached its peak in the mid-19th century in Plessis-Picquet (renamed Plessis-Robinson in 1909), in Paris, thanks to the railway line linking Paris to Sceaux and to a cabaret owner named Joseph Gueusquin.

His visionary idea was to attract Parisians in search of fresh air and the picturesque, by offering them the chance to dine in tree-top guinguettes. The first of these, named Au grand Saint Éloi and later Le Vrai Arbre de Robinson, was followed by many other establishments, such as Le Grand Arbre, L’Arbre des Roches, Le Gros Châtaignier, L’Ermitage, L’Arbre de la terrasse…

In 1852, a review in Le Magasin pittoresque described Joseph Gueusquin’s establishment in the following terms: “The marvel which gives its name to this restaurant so strangely named is a chestnut tree of a very remarkable size, and whose sturdy branches support two floors with balustrades superimposed on each other almost like two storeys. A few tables are set up in each of these airy dining rooms, which are reached by a wide staircase solidly built into the sides of the colossus. Service is done, well or badly and from the bottom up, using large baskets, ropes and pulleys. To tell the truth, the picturesque situation of the people who take pleasure in these dinners in the air is much less reminiscent of poor Robinson and his island than of certain natives of Australia and South America; but the name of a savage tribe would have been understood by few: everyone knows Robinson.”

The perched guinguettes of Plessis-Robinson, after having spread throughout France, disappeared in the 1950s.

A few decades later, in 1999, the story of treehouses was reborn under the impetus of La Cabane Perchée®, combined with a widespread affection for this type of unusual construction. This affection is undoubtedly linked to the notion developed by Sylvain Tesson in his book Des cabanes dans les arbres, in which he evokes the double virtue of the tree, which he describes as a magical homeland on the one hand, and a kingdom of exile on the other.

La Cabane Perchée®, pioneer of a unique and prestigious new concept, has erected almost 500 cabins since its creation, each a unique work of art, scattered across France, Europe, the United States and Russia. These exceptional creations are designed both for individuals seeking a haven of peace and for tourism professionals looking to offer an unusual and unforgettable experience.

La Cabane Perchée®’s expertise doesn’t stop there. The company also imagines perched meeting rooms, tasting huts in the heart of vineyards, and vast terraces designed to welcome restaurants, yoga and meditation enthusiasts, or nature lovers eager to observe the surrounding wonders. Each project is an invitation to live an extraordinary experience, suspended between heaven and earth.

Vintage postcards © D.R.

Photographs of La Cabane Perchée® © D.R.

Engraving from Le Magasin pittoresque magazine, 1852 © D.R.

Engraving, after a drawing by Charles Lemercier, from the book Le Robinson suisse by Johann David Wyss, Paris, Lavigne, 1841 © D.R.

View of the platform perched in an oak tree in the grounds of Villa Pratolino in Tuscany, by Stefano della Bella, ca. 1653 © Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1967