Two story pirate fort

Have you ever wanted to build your kid a cool fort?

Check this one out! Woah….

A two-story pirate fort overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

My friend built this for his son…in his spare time. Incredible!

Look at the detail in this fort! No detail was forgotten. This attention to detail is also what he does when he’s creating and developing reality TV shows. He takes an idea, adds flair and creative touches to bring the concept over the top so that networks can’t say no!

My buddy made this treasure chest from scrap wood. Check out the rusted lock. Argh Matey!

He learned woodworking from his Dad as a child, and built this pirate’s fort over the course of a month.

Believe it or not, the entire fort was built without blueprints or sketched up plans.  He had it in his mind what it would look out and built it from scratch.  He did however use the golden rule in building: Measure twice. Cut once.

One of the challenges in creating this two-story house was how to access the two floors without giving up cutting a hole and giving up precious floor space in the small structure. (The floors are 4 feet by 4 feet) The solution, build an exterior chimney, which houses a ladder to brings kids from the first to the second floor. Brilliant!

Here’s the indoor ladder that’s encased in the faux chimney.

Check out this incredibly cool treasure map!

My friend had this aluminum skull and crossbones manufactured by a local metal shop. To enhance the metal piece and make it “pop” he jigged the back plate from plywood and painted it black. He then took a wood file and notched out the edges. He then gouged out the eyes and painted them red. Voila!

The thick rope that wraps around the deck posts, a cool noose, flag, miniature rusted lanterns, and heavy chains give this fort a sense of how a real pirate ship would be. The draped and ripped up fishing nets give it that extra touch in being AWESOME.

Just beyond the fort is the Pacific Ocean. A nice 180 view, with Catalina Island in the background. Not too shabby for a kid’s fort!

I’m reticent to bring the kids over as they’ll never want to leave.  I didn’t want to either!