Floating Above the Forest: A Cantilevered Washington Home Redefines Treehouse Living

Frank Lloyd Wright hung a house over a waterfall back in the 1930s, and architects have been trying to one-up that flex for nearly a century. Most settle for one dramatic overhang, snap the hero shot, and call it a day. DeForest Architects wasn't interested in that shortcut when they took on a one-acre bluff above Puget Sound in Burien, Washington. Instead of a single showpiece moment, they let the whole house negotiate its steep, forested site room by room. Some volumes tuck into the hillside, others push past the tree line, and the living room goes furthest of all, floating above the forest floor like a treehouse with a structural engineer on payroll.

Ore Studios handled interiors alongside DeForest's architecture, and the two teams clearly worked in sync—the shell and furniture never feel like separate decisions. Floor-to-ceiling windows framed in thick black steel wrap the living room, turning the surrounding pines into part of the interior. Decks stretch off both sides of that suspended room: one facing a woodland meadow, the other facing open water, so the house pulls off two completely different outdoor relationships without moving a wall. A fireplace anchors the room dead center, and against an otherwise calm, dark palette, a red rug and a blue lounge chair do the emotional heavy lifting.

Surrounded by trees on three sides, that living room earns the treehouse comparison honestly. The owners wanted something peaceful with room for surprise—a contradiction until you see how DeForest solved it. Instead of decorative flourishes, they varied elevation and let the forest do the visual work through all that glass. A red sofa cushion, a cobalt lounge chair, and the room reads as calm and lived-in rather than staged. The steel framing is thick enough to feel structural, keeping the glass box from feeling fragile despite hanging in midair above the slope.

That same color language travels beyond the living room. Blue dining chairs with slim metal frames pick up where the lounge chair left off, adding personality without competing with water views. The kitchen sits just beyond, wrapped in walnut cabinetry that swaps the cool palette for something warmer. Red accent panels reappear, a quiet callback to the rug two rooms over—proof that DeForest and Ore Studios were working from the same script.

The most theatrical detail comes from a staircase. DeForest based its red steel structure on fire lookout towers that once dotted Pacific Northwest ridgelines. As it climbs through the house, the staircase echoes the actual climb up the hillside outside, turning a functional element into sculpture. Painted saturated red against white walls, it reads less like circulation and more like a commissioned art piece.

Upstairs, the bedroom dials the energy back down without abandoning the color story. Deep blues in cushions and bedding play against grey and black finishes for a restful atmosphere. Large windows keep the forest close, maintaining the connection to the site even in the most private room.

Cantilevered houses live or die by whether the drama feels earned. This one earns it. DeForest Architects and Ore Studios didn't settle for one showpiece room—they built an entire structure that renegotiates its relationship to a difficult site. The fire lookout staircase and suspended living room could each carry a project on their own, yet they coexist without stepping on each other. Toth Construction gets credit too, since none of this works if execution doesn't match ambition. Burien, Washington isn't known as an architecture destination, but this house makes a decent case that it should be.