In a quiet corner of west Dorset, carpenter Guy Mallinson has created a magical realm. Ancient trees bent double and luminous green tunnels open into woodland glades with still pools overhung by bespoke handcrafted treehouses. It's the stuff of JRR Tolkien's imagination.
Master craftsman Guy built the first rustic, luxurious structure — Woodsman's Treehouse — in 2016, having spent years teaching heritage craft courses in his 13-acre private woods. Two more followed in 2021, and together they're now part of an eco-friendly mini-resort, Mallinson's Woodland Retreat, a luxury eco-haven close to the hamlet of Holditch where the counties of Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire meet.
Mallinson's original creation, The Woodsman's Treehouse, is both in the woods and of the woods.
Almost a decade on from that first construction Guy has decided it's time to move on, and the whole site – including the woodland, meadows and planning permission for five more treehouses – has gone on sale this week for the first time for £2 million.
When Woodsman's Treehouse was first unveiled, it shook the branches of the architectural community in the UK, winning awards and earning a great reputation. Kevin McCloud labelled it a 'glamourous woodland funfair' when it appeared on Channel 4's Grand Designs: House of the Year programme in 2017.
Guy didn't create the treehouses alone, but nor did he bring in the sort of help you might expect. The design was a collaboration between him and BEAM Architects, a practice known for large-scale bridge projects across the world rather than the sort of house where Robin Hood and Maid Marian might have set up home. Yet it was a huge success: the project won a pair of awards from the Royal Institute of British Architects, one for the best build in the South West, and another as small project of the year. The treehouse was also featured on George Clarke's Amazing Spaces.
The original treehouse was built in a gap between two old oak trees and held up by stilts fashioned from sweet chestnut — and it's beautifully dramatic and fun. Guests staying here access the dwelling via a rope bridge, and enter the living space though a submarine-style airlock instead of a traditional front door. Getting back down is easier, but no less entertaining: there's an adult-sized slide which leads down to the woodland floor.
The crowning glory of the treehouse is a rooftop sauna and Jacuzzi, while a separate terrace space has a pizza oven. Inside, it's not big at less than 400sq ft, with a cylindrical living area plus, off to one side, a bedroom and a bathroom, complete with a gleaming copper bath. There is even a window in the floor from which you can watch a stream flow by.
Following the popularity of the first treehouse, two more followed: Pinwheel Treehouse and Dazzle Treehouse. Pinwheel Treehouse sits in a clearing in the centre of a circle of mature oak trees in a corner of the woodland which is carpeted with bluebells in early spring. The living space is glass topped just below the treetop canopy.
Dazzle Treehouse is a design departure from the previous two, inspired by the pattern used to conceal naval ships in the First World War. It has a gangplank walkway, roof top funnels, and a yacht deck floor.
Guy, with his wife and sons (now both in their 20s), lived on a neighbouring farm and owned the private woodland where Guy taught woodcraft and the boys played. It was full of yurts, tipis and shepherd huts for the course attendees to stay. So, the next step was a treehouse, of course. Together with some of his pupils, and his sons, the makeshift team crafted the three treehouses as a tribute to the forest.
'Building in the middle of a woodland presents its own challenges getting materials deep into the forest,' Guy says.
'We have always had a policy of treading very gently on the forest floor with no chemicals or concrete,' he adds. 'We used screw piles instead of concrete foundations which enabled us to secure the treehouse stilts between the tree roots with minimal soil disruption.'
Guy Mallinson, creator of the Woodland Retreats.
As the boys grew up the Mallinsons moved to Bridport, Devon, around 30 minutes away.
'I am very proud of what we have created but feel it is time to pass it on to someone else who can take this business to the next level while I return to my workshop,' Guy says.
Mallinson's Woodland Retreat is on sale for offers exceeding £2 million. Interested parties should contact Guy Mallinson via email guy@mallinson.co.uk or visit the Mallinson website.
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