The Background

I am married into a a crazy bunch and I say that lovingly.  My in-laws own many acres of land just south of  La Crosse, WI and they have an A-frame house on the property that they affectionately call "The Hut".  It had been their refuge from the Chicagoland hustle and bustle for 20+ years and their original plan for it was a vacation get away they could call their own and bring their children.  Let me introduce the in-laws:  Karen and Doug.  Look out for the one on the right, he is a wily one.

Well, the children have grown up, but Karen and Doug still travel up there in the warmer months.  Now that they have grand kids, they are looking at The Hut as round two for the family vacation spot and have always allowed any of the family to go enjoy the seclusion.

They casually mentioned they would like a tree house built on the property.  There is a tree house already there, but it is old and decaying and probably not safe and they would like a newer one for the grand kiddies.  At first I didn't take it seriously, but the more I thought about it, the more I though it would be fun, so I started doing some research.  Then the dreaming began.  This could be COOL!  I did further research and was hooked.  Yup, this is something I want to do.

I talked to Doug and the budget is around $500, so I want to make this economical.  However, I also want it to be fun for the kids, but useful.  I am also thinking of it as a guesthouse to the hut.  That means it needs to be water proof, bug proof (VERY important) and have a bed or two.  It doesn't have to look pretty, but does need to be safe.  Everything else is open to interpretation. 

So.  With that is mind ... where do we go from here?