Treemendous

There’s something so magical about treehouses. Even though they’re basically just regular houses, except much higher up, lacking in toilets, and with a much higher risk of splinters, they offer the promise of adventure and privacy that you just don’t get in a regular, non-tree-based house.

You can’t, for example, hang a big sign that says NO BOYS ALLOWED on a regular house, because chances are that some people would ignore it anyway, like the fire department, or an ambulance crew. Ugh.

Unfortunately, some of us are adults, and need to spend our money on boring things like medical insurance and rugs, instead of building the glorious arboreal palace that we’ve always dreamed of. Perhaps we can take solace in Minecraft builder megavalve’s incredible, totally liveable treehouse, complete with library, gaming room, bath house and so many secret entrances that you’ll never have to enter the same way twice!

Like most builds, the treehouse was made in Creative Mode, since Survival Mode has the threat of Creepers ready to blow up your creation at any given minute. But this treehouse actually started life in Survival Mode at first.

“I returned to Minecraft after a four year hiatus,” says megavalve. “I tried survival, but the changes to the game overwhelmed me. There was no redstone in Minecraft Pocket Edition when I last played! I felt like a hermit.” That’s the equivalent of going into a coma in the real world, and waking up to find that electricity had been invented while you slept.

This build is actually a remake of one that megavalve did four years ago, which looks more like a house on top of a tree. His new build is much more integrated into the branches and structure of the tree, and there are even secret passages inside the branches now!

“I never got to finish it properly,” megavalve says of the original build. There was a low vertical limit back then.” Some design choices are unchanged, like the TV area, while others are new additions, like the various reading nooks around the place.

“I love books,” says megavalve. “That is why there are a lot of books and places to chill while reading in the house. If you want it to be homey, think of something that would never let you leave your house. Some people like lush greenery, some like to wake up to an amazing view of sunrise and much more. Build around your preference.”

What’s megavalve’s favourite space in the house? “The cottage on top,” he says. “The view is pretty nice.” Most of the treehouse is a sprawling, mansion-like space, but the tiny cottage on top - which can only be accessed by one of the many secret entrances - is a “small, cozy house” designed for the times when a gigantic house is just a little too much. It was one of the last things that megavalve added to the build, along with the terraces and the aviary. He began with the trunk of the tree, only deciding to make it into a treehouse about halfway through.

The whole build took about three months to construct, and that’s largely down to the leaves. “You know that sometimes, authors have writer's block? I had mine when I tried to plan the branches and leaves,” megavalve says. “Sometimes, I just logged in and did nothing. One day, I decided to take time during a long weekend and built the branches once and for all. Once the branches were set, the tedious part came in. The leaves.“

If it sounds like megavalve has some kind of vendetta against leaves, there’s a reason for that. “The leaves gave me nightmares,” says megavalve. “You have to be extra patient and careful.” Megavalve ended up using four types of leaves - oak, birch, jungle and spruce - to make the tree as natural as possible. “It adds a lot of texture and depth to the build,” he says, but it also means a lot of attention to detail.

There’s a big reason why those leaves were so difficult to get right: this build was made entirely in Minecraft Pocket Edition, the version of Minecraft for mobile devices, which means megavalve did all of this with his fingers! “My work requires me to be on the go most of the time,” says megavalve, who works as a manager at a security firm. “While building the leaves, I learnt to be patient.”

One final detail in this impressive build, in case you were worried: “The build is in creative mode with fire spread disabled,” says megavalve. So there’s no worry that it’ll all burn down over night, but just in case - “I always make sure to create a zip archive as a backup. Better to be safe than sorry!”

So no need for the fire department after all. Hoorah!