It started around a campfire. A group of Swedish architects on a fishing trip, a documentary about a man who built a treehouse by the Lule River, and a question: what if we each designed one? Kent Lindvall, who with his wife Britta ran a guesthouse in the small northern village of Harads, bought the surrounding land when he got home. Construction began. And what has grown from that campfire conversation is now one of the most quietly astonishing places to stay anywhere in the world.
Treehotel sits in the boreal pine forest of Swedish Lapland, 50 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle, above the Lule River Valley. It consists of eight treerooms, each suspended between four and ten metres above the forest floor, each designed by a different Scandinavian architect, and each a completely distinct response to the question of what it means to sleep among the trees. They share the same forest, the same philosophy of minimal environmental impact, and almost nothing else. One is a mirrored cube that vanishes into its surroundings. One is a giant bird’s nest. One is a flying saucer. One is a glass and timber structure wrapped in 340 birdhouses, designed by Bjarke Ingels. Together they form something that defies easy categorisation: part architecture gallery, part wilderness retreat, entirely unlike anywhere else.
The guesthouse at the centre of it all, a lovingly renovated 1930s building that Britta and Kent have kept in its original spirit, is where you check in, eat breakfast, and gather yourself before making the short walk through the pines to your room. Head Chef Linus Lejon cooks from a philosophy of microseasonality: local fish, reindeer, moose, foraged ingredients, and produce that reflects precisely where you are and what time of year it is. In winter you might eat on a frozen lake. In summer, high in the canopy at a table set among the trees. The food has the directness and confidence of somewhere that does not need to impress anyone with anything other than what it has on its doorstep.
The surrounding landscape does the rest. In winter, the forest goes under snow, the rivers freeze, and on clear nights the Aurora Borealis moves above the treerooms in a display that can stop a conversation dead. In summer, the midnight sun means the forest never fully darkens, and the Lule River opens up for canoeing and fishing. The property offers moose safaris, dog sledding, snowmobile expeditions, ice fishing, and guided foraging walks. But the honest truth is that many guests spend most of their time simply in the room, watching the light change through the trees, and finding that entirely sufficient.
The Details
The Treerooms:
- Mirrorcube (Tham and Videgard): A mirrored aluminium cube built around a living tree, accessed by a rope bridge. Reflects the forest on all sides. Sleeps 2.
- Bird’s Nest (Bertil Harstrom): An oversized nest of timber branches, deceptively bright and comfortable inside. Accessed by ladder. Sleeps 4.
- UFO (Bertil Harstrom): A disc-shaped flying saucer suspended in the canopy, entered from below via a retractable staircase. Sleeps 5.
- Blue Cone (Thomas Sandell): A traditional wooden structure, bright red despite the name, on three ground pillars. The most accessible room; wheelchair friendly. Sleeps 4.
- Dragonfly (Rintala Eggertsson): A copper-clad two-bedroom suite with panoramic windows and a shower. The copper weathers to brown over time. Sleeps 4.
- 7th Room (Snohetta): The largest and highest room, at 10 metres up. Two bedrooms, a glass floor, a cargo-net terrace for stargazing, a fireplace, and a shower. Sleeps 5.
- Biosphere (Bjarke Ingels Group): A two-storey glass cube wrapped in 340 birdhouses, accessed by a 23-metre bridge. Private sauna and eco-shower. Sleeps 2.
- Oasis (Naden and Lind, opening August 2026): A new ground-level suite sitting within the forest rather than above it, with private sauna and outdoor hot tub. Sleeps 5.
All treerooms include underfloor heating, incinerating eco-toilets, and the Rukkamoinika water system. Dragonfly, 7th Room, and Biosphere have in-room showers; all others use the Forest Sauna facility nearby, which includes two saunas, a hot tub, and a relaxation area.
Breakfast is included and served in the guesthouse or delivered to your room.
