Boatmaker blends math craft in his hanging treehouse spheres

, inspiration, craft Ever since seeing Jacques Cousteau emerge from a globular bathyscaphe, Tom Chudleigh has been fascinated by spheres. A few decades ago he designed a orbshaped houseboat and began building a prototype, only to decide it would work better hung in a tree. After a successful summer sleeping in the dangling globe as onsite housing for a construction job, Chudleigh began to rent it to out for overnight stays. Today, he has four suspended spheres at his Free Spirit Resort on Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada) where guests can spend a night or two swaying in the forest, 15 feet off the ground. Each sphere is suspended between three trees (with three nearly vertical ropes) and accessed by a spiral staircase. With whimsical names like Eryn, Eve, Luna and Melody, the tree bubbles have been compared to Ewok and Hobbit housing and are booked months in advance.