Grandfather’s hanging treehouse a ‘labor of love’

Like the Greek Titan Atlas carrying the heavens on his shoulders, Henderson resident Phil Marco’s tree holds an imaginative world to his grandchildren.

Over the course of seven weeks, Marco constructed a treehouse in his front yard near Greenway Road and Mission Drive. He revealed the final product in late May.

Nicknamed the Bird Cage, the structure is decorated with bird feeders, cages and wooden cutouts painted with his daughters’ and grandchildren’s names and birthdays.

“I believe it will last much longer than me,” Marco said. “It should last about 50 or 60 years. As long as the tree lives, it will be fine.”

Rather than build from the bottom up, Marco designed the 9-by-11 treehouse to hang about 7 feet off the ground using 12 steel cables.

“I got off the idea of building it from the ground up. It wasn’t going to work with the ground being like cement out here,” Marco said. “… I started out with like 20 pieces of clothesline strung from the different branches until I could visually see a square or rectangle.”

Marco removed eight of the clotheslines and replaced them with steel cables. He attached a carpet-covered floor and created 4-foot-high walls with iron railing and lattice for walls.

“I chose lattice because it’s lightweight. It’s also forgiving when you’re cutting around tree branches,” Marco said, “but the most important thing is that you can also see the kid inside, and they can see you outside.”

For safety, Marco created a side door instead of a trap door. He also did not build a permanent ladder so that the children must ask permission to go up.

“There are also collapsible or retractable posts for the more concerned parent who may think it won’t be strong enough unless there’s posts,” Marco said. “… These can easily be moved so I don’t have them in my way when I cut the grass. I try to keep everyone happy.”

Although Marco’s granddaughter Sarah Elliot frequently visited during the construction process, the 7-year-old was excited to see it completed.

“I like how it holds you up from the ground,” she said. “I also like that it has a table, so I can eat my lunch, and toys for me to play with.”

The idea to build the structure came to Marco while doing yardwork in January. He noticed the tree’s branches “cupped out and were capable of holding a treehouse.”

“I didn’t have any plans except in my head, so anytime I was going to try to do something, I sat in my rocker and thought about it,” he said. “I thought, ‘Well, how could I make it better? What if I tried this or that?’ Almost everything I did was my third thought on how it could come together.”

Marco said he usually worked on the treehouse for 10 to 13 hours a day three times a week until it was finished.

“It consumed his life for seven weeks,” said Marco’s wife, Judy. “When he told me he wanted to do this, I said, ‘Are you crazy? You’ve never worked with wood.’

“I didn’t think it would be safe at first, but now I see how sturdy it is. I’m actually quite proud of how it turned out.”

Described as “persistently patient,” Marco said he’s glad he decided to build the treehouse after he retired.

“When you’re working, you tend to rush through projects because you’re in a hurry,” he said. “I was able to take my time, and I think that’s why everything turned out so well. I was never irritated or sorry I started it. It was a labor of love for my grandkids.”

To reach Henderson View reporter Caitlyn Belcher, email cbelcher@viewnews.com or call 702-383-0403. Find her on twitter: @caitlynbelcher.