In anticipation of our Outdoors Issue hitting newsstands on Tuesday, we’re taking a look back at a few of our favorite stories from issues past, like this tree house in Santa Cruz. – “Building tree houses takes a lot of patience, a lot of daydreaming,” says San Francisco-based artist and designer jaynelsonstudio. He conceived this tree house for his friends Nerija, Jason, and their three young children. “The first summer, we made a trail that goes down to the creek, so we would go down there barefoot and swim and come back,” Nerija remembers. “It was just idyllic.” That ease is exactly what the couple hoped to channel throughout their residence. Trees and gardens planted years back now bear a bounty of fruits and vegetables, while an old barn hosts a ceramics studio and workshop. More recently, the couple turned to the trees. The structure now rises like a ship in an ocean of redwoods, with all the charms of Nelson’s imaginative, woodsy, and weatherworn aesthetic. Made mostly of reclai...