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Use the expression "going out on a limb" to most entrepreneurs and they'll immediately equate the term to everything from the starting of their business to the pros and cons of increasing staff, upgrading benefit plans or negotiating a credit line increase.
Every workday that Seattle businessmen Jake Jacob and Peter Nelson go out on a limb it's with the intent of providing a little lift to those grounded by the day-to-day stuff.
In 1997, Jacob and Nelson founded Treehouse Workshop Inc., a construction design and project company that builds custom treehouses all over the United States ranging in price from $7,500 to $300,000.
Actually, Jacob admits, there aren't many treehouses being built in the lower dollar ranges these days. It seems that the platforms in the sky once designed exclusively for children have morphed into miniature custom homes, offices, artist studios and guest houses complete with everything from gabled roofs and stained glass windows to interior staircases and wiring appropriate for a sophisticated home office.
Anna Daeuble jokes that it gives a whole new meaning to the term "branch office." Daeuble, an assistant designer with Treehouse Workshop, agrees with Jacob that what often begins as a project aimed at a client's children quite often becomes the second home or sanctuary that everyone in the family has fantasized about.
"We use the term 'escape pod' quite often when talking about what these houses mean to our clients," explains Jacob. "A client will often come talk to us about wanting something exciting and attractive for their children, but then once they start looking at our portfolio, they get so excited that the 100or 200-square-foot playhouse they envisioned suddenly becomes the library or office space that they've always wanted."
Or, as Daeuble puts it, "What started out for the children often winds up with a design component perfect for a martini bar."
With more than 30 treehouses completed since the company's inception, it's clear that Jacob and Nelson have found a construction niche that sets them apart in the more...