Home Help: 10 August

JK Rowling is to build two interlocking tree houses for her three children, at her Edinburgh house. Designed to look like Hogwarts, there will be balconies, turrets and trap doors, linked by a rope bridge and secret tunnel. Blue Forest has been commissioned to build the 40ft high structure.

Her estimated budget of £150,000 is not available to most of us but Blue Forest will design more modest dwellings, from £8,000 upwards, that are just as much fun for children or even grown-ups – apparently 50 per cent of tree houses are built exclusively for adults.

But back to the children. Blue Forest has also designed the Ramshackle Den (£15,000 to £20,000), a two-deck structure with a climbing wall, slide and rope bridge. Another company that makes tree houses is Cheeky Monkey. For a house to be supported by a tree, you need at least one thick branch at a 90-degree angle. As not every garden is able to oblige, Cheeky Monkey can also create self-supporting tree houses that encircle the tree.

Sadly I am not the kind of  father who can build a tree house but I know a man whose father did and he is very proud of his parent's DIY skills. For dads ready with hammer and nails, planning might be required with more ambitious projects. Usually a tree-house roof must be less than 4 metres high, and the cabin should not be less than 2 metres from a neighbouring boundary, or overlook the boundary.

For ideas, take a look at the book New Treehouses Of The World by Peter Nelson (Harry N Abrams, £19.99).

• Tree house, £80,000 to £90,000, Blue Forest Tree House Design & Construction: 01892-750090, www.blueforest.com (main picture)

From left:

• Tree house, price on application, Cheeky Monkey Tree Houses: 01403-732452, www.cheekymonkeytreehouses.com
• High-tech Hideaway, £100,000 to £150,000, Blue Forest: as before

Email your design enquiries to Hugh St Clair at homehelp@lady.co.uk