As far as bowel relief goes, you could try an Incinolet.
And a dumb waiter/lift to bring stuff up!
Chronos - My buddy brought that up to me, and we decided to run 220 outlet out there. We’ll go from the basement underground to the Tree and up the tree disguised in an insulated 3" pvc. Thats the running theory. We may go across the bridge as well but it’s going to be flimsy… (BTW, we’re doing a wooded suspention type thing with chain leads and wooden steps. Kinda like what you’d see at some kids play areas)
We are running into a problem right now actually. Thats why I’m in here and he’s running to Home Depot. The way we are affixing the hut to the tree is a non-invasive-green-peace kinda way. We are going to use the the rubber bricks we have, attach them to our lead beams and invert them. So the weight of the structure will provide the tension on the beams allowing it to hold itself up. Great design for something that is going to have a bit of a sway to it. we have the outline for the structure all set on the ground. All we need is more rubber. the structure itself is 12 X 12 with a large hole in the center for the tree. There are four large branches each helping hold it up. It’s gonna look really cool.
Where do I post the before and after pics?
I think this is what you’re talking about. That’s exactly what I was thinking.
http://skymall.com/webapp/skystore?process=prodDisplay&action=&pid=101814764&catId=ANY_CAT
Make sure you run a network cable, too, so you can surf the internet and print stuff out from up there. Oh, and a zip line from the roof down to your deck so you can get down in a hurry. Particularly useful if the bathroom option doesn’t work out…
Also, the big sign, “NO GIRLZ ALLOUD”. Very important.
Sky Mall Rocks. Yes something like that would be really nice. I want t be minimally self-sufficient. I want to plug my laptop in, listen to the trees and the wind, and take a nap in my hammock. No more little bunk. It takes up too much room. Soo the hammock is perfect. with a couple of chairs for friends.
Put a swing on it and call it a children’s playset.
Phlosphr wait a minute! What about the hobbit hole? How am I going to live vicariously through other people if you ditch that for a tree house? 
Already bought the 100’ network cable…
My wifes going to freak out! I’ve been talking about building one of these for sooooo long. My wifes best friend is my buddy who’s helping me wife, so I should remain out of trouble. I think she may already know…I’ve been alluding to this project for some time
Grey the hobbit hole turned out to be quite a bit of work. We are settling for an underground shed. You know the circular windows and doors are very expensive…Home Depot guy said, “…well now, thats a specialty item…”
Dollar signs got infront of my better judgement. But hey we have a pretty cool shed now, the grass just has to finish growing on it. The birds really decimated it. It’s big enough for my lawn mower and a small work bench. But thats about it. I wanted to turn it into a wine cellar, but it’s kinda far from our house. 150 yards.
For water you could just put a large tank in some strong area & just fill it every now and then with a hose. Get the food-safe kind sold for RV’s & it’ll be safe enough. Plumb the tank to a tap & you’re set.
I can’t think of a potty option that wouldn’t stink, literally. As rare as it is, you might just want to run into the house.
If you run 220v up there, you’ll have to figure out some way to step-it-down to 120v for all your appliances. Unless you’re sticking a clothes dryer up there, 220v isn’t that useful.
Just do the math for wattage and you’ll be fine. Buy exterior romex (no paper insulation) & run it through a conduit for extra safety.
Heck, a 12 amp circuit can handle 1440 watts, which is a heckuva lot of power. Short of an electric heater, it should be able to run nearly everything. Run two circuits if needed. Be sure to put in proper circuit breakers.
This is a great project. Definitely post before, during & after pictures.
Frankly, I don’t think large lag bolts would harm a tree of that diameter. The puncture is small compared to the surface area. It’d be a lot more secure, though.
I wanna live with Phlosphr.
Chronos has been watching Fear Factor, I see! 
This is a way cool project. I too hope we’ll see Swiss Family Phlosphr pics later.
I need a place to post the pics. I don’t have a website. Those who saw my “Phlosphr got a cat” thread only saw my pictures of the cat because the lady who sold us the cat was kind enough to put them on her website for me…I wish I had a website but I don’t have the time to make one up really. I suppose I could buy a little brochure page…
My wife and I were about to get one going for my business (Environmental Interior Design Works) but it’s a part time business. I teach during the academic year and I do that on the side. I’m partial to tree houses, so much so I designed a children’s room last year with a tree house in it. Right inside! It was really nice. See this thread to see more about what I do.
My philosophy: Human Life taken in geologic time, is like one, one billionth of a blink. i.e. live it to the fullest.
Shit I’m 33 and building a tree house!
Safety tip, don’t climb trees with more than one Heinekin in you…Wew!!! :)
You need a Mech to guard the place, of course…
As to the running water, if you don’t need it to be drinkable, why not build a rain barrel above the treehouse? I’m sure there’d be a way to make a nifty flush toilet using one, though damned if I know how.
Don’t let the sun shine on the PVC pipe, bad for it.
Standard conduit for the electric line, buried–piece of cake.
Go Phlosphr!
Phlosphr
Your intention for 220V is not necessarily a bad idea say, if sometime you do want a heater.
Put two 30-amp breakers (= one double-pole breaker) in the main panel in the house. One goes on one phase and the second one, below it, goes on the other phase (in a modern panel, as you go from top to bottom, each breaker slot alternates between the 2 phases.) Run 10-3 from the panel to the tree in 1-inch conduit.
Put a small sub-panel in the treehouse with room for say, 4 breakers (circuits). This sub-panel should have 4 bars - one for circuit/breaker 1 from the main; one for circuit/breaker 2 from the main, one ground, and one common. The common bar cannot be bonded to the ground or the panel casing. If it is, there is a bonding screw you must remove before you use it.
When you wire the tree house, use 12-2 and 20-amp breakers. Hook up black to hot, white to common, and ground to ground.
One circuit can power pretty much the whole thing. Two other circuits, with a double pole breaker can provide the 220v if you ever decide to use it, and you will have a 1 spare. All outlets in this structure should have CGFI protection.
Although this seems like overkill, I have found that when you scrimp on this kind of infrastructure, you will be kicking yourself later. Not to mention, that if it’s to NEC (code), there may come a time when you will have to deal with that.
Save yourself the hassle and go 802.11g wireless (54Mbps).
As I wait for my buddy to get here I’ll tell ya what went on the later half of yesterday. We went back to Home Depot (4th time) and got some of our electrical conduit. He’s installing all of that and we are going with the 220V for the very purpose of a space heater in the winter. A fireplace or woodstove was just out of the question. Nutmagnet, my buddy is putting the two 30amp breakers in the house and a sub-smaller one in the treehouse. Luckily the main breaker is located in the basement, level with the ground layer of the tree. I’m not an electrician but my friend has been wiring houses for 20 years, I’m not too worried about it.
The main plateform is attached to the tree and a it looks fantastic! we did include a small trapdoor for when my nephews come over, I’ll probably never use it. I tried getting through it last night and it wasn’t pretty. I think I made it too small. It’s only 24" X 24".
We did end up drilling into the tree, the rubber bricks are working nice, but I wanted something more sturdy. The makeshift elevator is up as well. Basically t’s a pully system mounted for hand powered lift or we can attach it to the winch on my truck for heavy stuff. All the walls and roof will be assembled today. We’ll assemble them on the ground and move them up when completed. The will be assembled today but most likely not put up till tomorrow. My buddy is bringing another friend with him today to check it out and make sure most is up to code, or can be modefied for it. I’m going down to the town hall when they open to see about a permit.