Terramara was an ancient structure dating back to the Bronze Age, built by people living in the central Po Valley, in northern Italy.

When my sons asked for a treehouse, I thought it would be too dangerous for their age and the height involved. So, I proposed an alternative: a "terramara."

Essentially, it’s a stilt house, but I simplified the concept into a structure more like a balcony, perfect for birdwatching. :)

For my sons, though, it’s still a "terramara."

Approaching it with an engineering mindset, I first looked into available (and affordable) materials from local stores in my area. I avoided chains like OBI or Mr. Bricolage because their materials are often low quality and overpriced. Instead, I found what I needed at stores specializing in building materials. There weren’t many options, but they had exactly what I was looking for.

I settled on two primary materials: what we call "morali" here (8x8 cm poles, 4 meters in length) and scaffold boards (30x4 cm, 4 meters in length). From there, I just needed to create a project plan that suited the materials I had.

I started by sketching it on paper. After some trial and error, I decided to use Google SketchUp: it’s free, easy to use, and made it simple to adjust the project as new ideas came to mind.

(To be continued...)