Epic Backyard Clubhouse

Since before I owned a home, I wanted to build a treehouse in my backyard. When we moved in, the ideal tree was actually dead, and had to come out, so I pivoted to a Clubhouse instead. I had young kids, but if I was going to build something, I wanted to make it big so that everyone could enjoy it for years to come. My local building code allows you to build a structure under 200 sq. feet without a permit, so that was my first restriction, and I ended up getting a bunch of free clear acrylic panels, so i had to figure out the best way to integrate those.

I tried multiple concepts and roughed out the design in AutoCAD. 3d Modeling a project up is great way to see how things will work in real life. Several of my sketches didn't quite scale the same when I used actual building material sizes. These pictures show the basic design I started with and slightly modified it as I built.

Instead of pouring a massive concrete pad, I opted to build the whole thing on posts. I used a bunch of 4x4 posts set into concrete footers. It's a relatively simple process, but I put mine about 2 feet into the ground, added gravel at the bottom for drainage, and then filled it with concrete. The hardest part was to keep all the posts straight over the 19ft length. A few of the posts were slightly out of place, but I just had to adjust the framing a bit for everything on top. It was my first time doing something like this, so I think it turned out pretty good.

I used some 4x8 beams for the floor support and added 2x4 framing and plywood on top. Once I got a flat platform, I could start building the framing on top.

In High School I had this dream that I wanted to build my own house from the ground up. This is as close as I can get for now, but I decided to frame everything by hand. I hammered in hundreds of nails and have mad respect for the craftsmen that have done it over the years. My hands were bruised for weeks from all the impact. It was a good experience, but next time I'll use a nail gun. I did 99% of all the framing and lifting myself. I did have my friend Aaron hand me 3 boards for the roof, but I couldn't disturb him too much while he drank beer and watched me work instead. I started the posts at the end of July and basically had until October to get everything framed in before the rain started. This was bit tough while working my normal job, but I made it work.

As the rain approached, I sprayed a coat a gray paint on everything, and then added some black accents later. The walls were left with the framing exposed on the inside because I wanted to see how we were going to use the space and adjust it if required. I put the massive 4x8 clear panels up on the sides as windows. It gave it a nice modern design, but more importantly, it gave us a way to monitor the kids from the patio since we could see in.

I wanted to have power available, so I decided to wire the whole thing up with outlets, switches and lights. Eventually I'll run dedicated power underground, but for now, I just put a junction box on the bottom of the structure and ran an extension cord from the house. It's not the best fix, but it works great for now. The addition of a smart speaker and some smart lights really made it easy for me to turn things off from the house when the kids left them on.

This build was very custom, and I needed to find some custom solutions. To do this, I ended up using AutoCAD to design a variety of items and then 3d printed them. I made all sorts of things like handles for doors, a rack for the Pop Dart game, some brackets for my entry railing, and various things to make my sliding windows work. Add a little furniture and some games, and it was ready for action.

This structure is just under 200 sq feet, about 3 feet off the ground, and the tall windows are about 10ft high to the ceiling. The entrance platform was built to be at the same height as the trampoline so the kids could get in and out of it easy, and then I added a tire swing also for extra fun.

It's a pretty magical space to hang out in. I love to sit in there and listen to the rain, or watch the snow, but sunny days are great too. I highly recommend trying to build something of your own in your yard, and hope I inspired you to do so. How do you think I did?

If you want to see more, I'll eventually make a YouTube video to do a tour. You can check out some other stuff I make there also. Subscribe to follow along!

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