Neil Taylor’s treehouses are ideal for the kids during the summer – and the grown-ups too, writes Sunita Rappai. Oh, and they’re tree-mendous fun

Wood you be-leaf it: Neil in one of his treehouses

WHAT is it about the idea of a treehouse that brings out the child in all of us?
Neil Taylor, a 44-year-old garden designer from Highgate, who has built more than 100 of them so far, says that it is often the parents he finds sneaking in to them when their children’s backs are turned.
Mr Taylor, who admits having great fun testing out his creations, says: “There is something magical about it. It’s like a return to your childhood.
“There is so much play value in them. The kids love showing them off to their friends. And they never get bored of them. When they’re older they turn it into a clubhouse or hold parties in there.”
Mr Taylor, who learnt everything he needed to know from his family’s boat-building business, started building treehouses around eight years ago, almost by accident.
“My sister has six children so I thought it would be quite nice to build something for them to play in. Some friends came around and saw it and wanted one and it just took off from there,” he says.
Seeing one of the creations, you can understand why. There is something supremely reassuring about the little wooden structures – even if, like Mr Taylor, you never owned a treehouse yourself.
“We had a couple of planks in a tree when I was growing up”, he says. “I was an RAF kid so we were always travelling around. But I always loved climbing trees and playing near them.”
Nearly all of Mr Taylor’s business since has come from referrals, with a steady stream of requests for the little houses as Christmas or birthday presents for lucky children – or as a fashionable design feature for the garden.
So far, they have ranged in price from a relatively basic model costing around £2,000 to a £25,000 superstructure which went “completely round in a circle and up different levels with raised walkways and all sorts of things,” he says.
Whatever the price, they are all eco-friendly – all the wood comes from sustainable forests and he uses sealants which are environmentally harmless – and each one is designed with the needs of the family in mind. Mr Taylor, in fact, actively encourages the children in each family to get involved in the design – and it is clear he has a soft spot for his “3ft clients”.
“I love working with children,” he says. “It’s wonderful to see their faces light up when they see it coming together. And they are constantly inquisitive – they never stop asking questions.”
The children don’t forget either – Mr Taylor receives many beautiful thank you letters from his young clients who have taken to calling him “the treehouse man” when they see him on the street.
“Many parents want to get their children away from their computers or televisions. And the children love being out in the garden – I think many would rather be out there than in front of the TV.”
Mr Taylor, it is clear, feels much the same. There is something of Peter Pan about this 40-something who gets his greatest pleasure from creating secret hide-aways for his young clients. “I do refuse to grow up,” he says. “I have this wonderful job where I can be outdoors instead of in an office and I get to test all the treehouses myself. I have the best job in the world – I love it.”

• Neil Taylor, of Hampstead and Highgate Garden Design, can be called on 07790 449 352.