Airy Castle

In 1884, the New York Times published an article describing "A house in the treetops"  and then in 1887 Gene M Underwood wrote in "Outing magazine" of "The Man Who Lives in a Tree". These two articles describe separate visits to a Mr A. B. Hayward in Washington, and two separate buildings - both apparently called called "Airy Castle".

Only the latter article has any illustrations and these give an unclear (and contradictory) view of the construction so I have tried to re-interpret the information contained in the two sources.

The first building (visited in 1884) is very simple - two trees and 5 poles support a platform 13 feet off the ground and 12 by 7.5 feet. Half of the platform has a 3 foot high planking wall with a ridgetent-like canvas construction over the top. The remainder of the platform is railed with a ladder entering from below. This appears to be the first illustration in the Underwood article (the article itself however, describes the later, larger construction). The interviewer is told of Mr Hayward's purchase of some nearby land with mature trees and his intention of building a second construction making more use of the limbs of the tree in supporting the accommodation. It is apparent that the current building is not a full solution to his needs as he visits a neighbours house for his meals.

The 1887 visit to Mr Hayward found him having moved to his second, larger and higher, attempt to meet his aspirations of tree living.

The building is supported by a combination of three mature oak trees - there appears to be a woodland context so these are naturally column-like trunks - and eleven poles. These support a platform about 32 feet above ground level. On the platform are a three simple rooms, but these appear to basically sheds again with canvas roofs. One of the rooms is located over a gap in the platform giving a small two storey section, with the lower part containing a kitchen which is partly supported by a branch jutting out from one of the trees. The access is now described as a steep staircase rather than a ladder.

Some further use is made of of the trees themselves - a circular wooden bench surrounds one of the boles and it appears that a doorway is partly formed from the intrusion of one large branch.

So, probably not an ideal example of a "living building" but maybe an inspiration when reading of Mr Haywards enthusiasm and his belief that his city-damaged health has been repaired by his natural surroundings.