Blending design, conservation, and scalable innovation, Artistree specializes in creating immersive experiences that honor the land while pushing the boundaries of sustainable design.
A Spyglass treehouse at a proposed forest ecology research center in California
From master planning to architectural design, CEO and founder Will Beilharz prioritizes thoughtful development that caters to nature-loving guests. Both a developer and operator, the company’s signature treehouses, for instance, contribute profits to reforestation and other environmental preservation initiatives, while new manufacturing partnerships are poised to expand their mission globally.
Here, Beilharz discusses his background and design philosophy, and how the company integrates conservation into its projects.
How did you get into design?
Will Beilharz: My background came through the general contracting and construction space. I’ve been building things since I was 9 years old, when my family moved to a ranch outside of Austin and started homesteading.
You build everything yourself and learn as you go. That led into building homes for people. We started an eco-tourism business in 2005 on our property in Spicewood, Texas—a canopy tour that was the beginning of an industry in the continental U.S.
How did this lead to Artistree?
WB: I got to see the adventure tourism industry blossom in the U.S. I ended up traveling around helping set up about 25 of those sites [which introduced me to] large-scale experiential design. I started doing master planning for these projects to figure out how people were going to traverse mountaintops or eco-resort reserve spaces. I became interested in the intersection of humans and nature. That led to the treehouses. We wanted to build shelters for people who are deeply interwoven with nature.
Now, our clients want to position nature as part of their amenity package—whether that’s a creek running through the property, a forest, or a beautiful wetland.
The Juniper treehouse at Cypress Valley in Spicewood, Texas, which is owned and operated by Artistree
Tell us about the treehouses.
WB: Artistree Home is the design studio. We have designers and architects and draftspeople who work on these projects, including myself, to come up with creative design solutions [for] custom clients that have a unique site and may even have their trees picked out. Our prefabricated line came out of a desire to create something that was replicable, scalable, and cut costs, while also reducing environmental impact.
How do the treehouses prioritize the environment?
WB: When you’re building in ecologically sensitive zones, the usual construction schedule degrades the environment. A prefabricated solution allows fewer days of construction and allows us to deploy units into more remote areas. Our Spyglass treehouses are like a looking glass into nature. You can point guests to whatever you want them to look. This is important for hotel and higher-density developments too, where you have many units side-by-side.
We [prioritize] sustainability and high-quality FSC wood products, hemp wool insulation, and materials that add to carbon capture through the building science. We have a fire-resistant unit with a beautiful metal shingle product. We can customize the color to fit into the environment. We’re always trying to present something that is architectural but also evokes a natural feeling.
The guestrooms of the Spyglass treehouse in Sonoma County, California, complete with an outdoor tub
This article originally appeared in HD’s December 2024 issue.
