Something a little awkward happens in the life of a newsletter in August. At the the very same moment when the reader’s capacity to actually sit down and actually get a little time to read miraculously increases, the writer’s capacity to actually sit down and actually write something for the reader to read is wildly diminished.
And this is where we find ourselves, this second week of August.
Yet, luckily, this newsletter has been CHURNING for three years now—and there is a healthy archive of things for you, reader, who I imagine currently deep in repose, to enjoy. Plus, happily, there are a lot of new faces around here these days, so much of this hasn’t fully been worked over too, too much.
So here—here are a whole bunch of posts from the Treehouse archives you may enjoy! Don’t forget to reapply!
The Source
We have a guest! Who knows how to find the best vintage furniture.
My own personal movement through the internet tends to be a chaotic blackout, wherein, at the end, I’ve somehow managed to unearth something/someone/someplace of particular interest. I don’t really know how I do it. That is essentially my story of today’s esteemed gue…
The Source and Direct Colors
The little self-identifying phrase that follows feels like a fortune cookie no matter how I try to write it, so here it goes: Friends seek me out to… know where to buy certain things. More often than not I do seem to know the answer.
A Jacquard of All Trades
You may have thought we’re all Marxist chair-building, cement pigment, and lumber yards around here—but no! We have a softer side at Treehouse as well. To wit: we can be quite fanatical and opinionated about towels, and more specifically, the beach variety.
The Source: Pegboards
It’s an important day here at Treehouse. It’s the day we get to talk about pegboards. Really, I can’t believe I was able to hold out for so long. And here we finally are.
The Source: Shining A Light
Really now, there seems to be no end to the little corners and minutiae that we can customize, put our fingerprints on, make our own by some lil’ scooch of measurability. And, as you can probably guess, I really thrive on, exalt in these details. Especially when it comes to hardware.
The Great Wood Stove Reckoning of 2023-24
Esteemed hand-wringers: Have you ever found yourself knee deep in a situation, a decision, say, wherein, about halfway through, you reflect, ‘Perhaps I am overthinking this?’ I have been in just this position for, even I am embarrassed to say, something like four months now. In November, at the beginning of this winter’s burning season, I began panickin…
The Source: Gardening Stuff à la Martha
In a recent newsletter I referred to Lloyd Kahn, octogenarian former shelter editor of Whole Earth Catalog (and subsidiaries) and founder of Shelter Publications, as something like a patron saint to this newsletter. I’ve also made many references to people like Helen and Scott Nearing and Enzo Mari. And yet, people—and so, their newsletters, too—aren’t …
Deep Dives, Reveries & Miscellany
Earthships of Airbnb
In 1972, Architect Michael Reynolds built a house using old beer cans as bricks, preaching, as he continues to do today, “radical sustainability.” He went on to codify his idea as something called Earthship Biotecture, which is also the name of his building school
Pineapple, Willow, Flower Spray, Heart
Here’s a little snapshot of how this brain works: Back in 2019, I—like a certain flavor/tambour of people—not only watched, but ingested, Greta Gerwig’s retelling of Little Women. My heart will always belong to the 1994/Winona edition, but Gerwig’s production is so rife with period details,
Opining on Pine
About a month ago, I dragged my family about two (plus) hours from our house, deep into Western Maine, to buy and haul back a nine foot long, pine Shaker bench. Once we got home, the finish, which looked so perfect and lived-in on Facebook Marketplace, now appeared to be just grime after all and well, you know,
Easy Does It
A friend who lives on one of the San Juan Islands in Washington recently posted a photo of her ferry ride to the mainland with the text, “If it was easy, everyone would do it.” I’ve come to believe that in this world, there are things that are easy, and things that look easy, and there are much, much more of the latter than the former.
Et tu, Treehouse?
This week marks the middle of a month, which is apparently referred to as its “ides.” But the middle of March isn’t like other ides—no, it’s packed with lore and myth and connotations.
On Puttering
I’ve always admired the putterer. As a list-maker, I approach the act of Doing Things with a rigidity that the putterer shirks. The putterer’s approach is freeform, meandering. True puttering is wild, improvised jazz to the list-makers’ uniform, marching drum line.
We’re Making
How to live with other people
The more I do it, the more I am starting to feel it’s utterly impossible to live with other people.
If I can build a chair, you can build a chair
This winter I took a chair-making class at a favorite local watering hole (a bar, but during the day). Ten-ish of us, hammering incessantly, making a terrific racket, built Enzo Mari’s Sedia 1. It was so much fun. (Thanks, Todd!)
We're Making: The Kidz Korner
I usually try to avoid topics involving children and the parenting of them because there are many, many people who cover this topic with aplomb and are, generally speaking, more thoughtful and interesting about it than me. However, sometimes reality hits and these topics—kids, what to do with them, how to feed them (no actually: how?), how to keep one’s…
We're Making: Wood Resurrection Elixir
We needed a table, but it seemed silly to order one online and like it could be a long-term needle/haystack scenario if we attempted to mine one in the right dimensions from an antique store. So, I asked a friend, who introduced me to Tristan, who made a really special table that I love and that is all joinery, no glue, no screws (all scary when a child…
We're Making: The Fussiest Little Late Winter Project
Oh buds, it’s been a long winter! People usually say that to complain—but not me! Between an unprecedented sojourn to Italy in December and 2.5 weeks of illness in ~peak season~ frankly, I’m happy we’re still covered in snow. There’s still time!
The Summer Project I'd Make Again and Again
At my aunt and uncle’s house, casually and languidly spinning in the draft of an open window, there is a driftwood mobile made by a cousin. I’ve always thought it was just great. It’s clever, it’s pretty, and it strikes the right, and often elusive, aesthetic note for a beach cottage—
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