Traditionally built to protect properties against the devastating effects of flooding and to stabilise houses on tricky sloping sites, stilt homes offer a wealth of unconventional design possibilities. Plus, there are incredible views from their lofty structures raised above the ground.

From a mid-century marvel floating over a sheer drop to a stunning beachfront home built into a cliff, these spectacular stilt houses take architecture to new heights. Click or scroll to be elevated...

This eye-catching residence was designed by Bali-based architect Alexis Dornier, who teamed up with start-up entrepreneur Florian Holm to create a company dedicated to building beautiful, movable homes.

The pair founded Stilt Studios after Florian hired Alexis to design and build his own house in Canggu, Indonesia. During the project, the duo realised there was a huge gap in the market for stylish, sustainable homes that were also affordable.

Dornier and Holm designed four models for people to choose from and this one is possibly their best. The sky-high, single-level structure offers a clever 387-square-foot (40sqm) interior that makes the most of every inch of space.

There's a kitchenette, a lounge and a bathroom, while the bedroom is situated on an elevated mezzanine level. 360-degree windows allow for light and airy living spaces, while the exterior balconies add valuable extra space. 

Starting from just $50,000 (£40k), each prefabricated house is built offsite, before being moved into place on the back of a lorry. It can be erected quickly and constructed on difficult terrain, thanks to its stilt legs.

This makes the property ideal for remote locations and areas where natural disasters are more frequent. If the need arises, the treehouse can also be taken apart and moved to a new plot.

What's more, the home is entirely eco-friendly. Sustainable features include natural cross ventilation that was built into the design, a rainwater harvesting system and energy-generating solar panels.

Food can also be grown beneath the house, allowing the resident to live completely off-grid. You can even try before you buy, because this cosy cabin is currently available to rent via Airbnb.

The ultimate way to disconnect with the digital world and reconnect with nature, this amazing treehouse near Florence, Italy, is almost too good to be true.

Nestled among towering pines in the heart of Italy's wine country, this modern home is rustic, stylish and entirely unique.

Access to the luxurious treetop home is via a metal staircase that leads up to an exterior deck. Step inside the petite property and you'll discover snug yet stylish living areas, encompassing a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. 

Far from an ordinary treehouse, this modern residence boasts walls of glass, a stunning ceiling that draws the eyes to the sky, and vintage-inspired details.

From chalkboards covered in hand-scribbled messages to antique furnishings, exposed pipework and rustic finishes, the home offers a charming 'old school' vibe.

The interior spaces blur into the surrounding woodlands thanks to sliding doors that lead out to the balcony. You'll also find an outdoor dining deck, a swimming pool, an interior wood-burning stove for cosy nights in and a hammock swinging below the home.

This unique upcycled home is currently available to rent on Airbnb.

This unusual structure is actually an award-winning getaway lodge, nestled in the forests of Antoing, Belgium.

Known as ‘The Birch’, the whimsical home sits perched 11.5 feet (3.5m) above the ground and is designed to give the impression of floating in the treetops for those inside.

Outside, meanwhile, its natural wood panelling and reflective glass windows help the house blend seamlessly into its surroundings.

With supports hewn from whole tree trunks, this home takes stilt housing to a whole new level – literally!

The Birch has been praised for its sustainability; with natural materials helping to create its rustic, lodge-style design. Rustic, yet convenient, it's within easy reach of major metropolitan centres including Lille, Brussels, and Paris.

The loft-style home can be entered through a cleverly concealed trap door, from which you will emerge into 635 square feet (59sqm) of luxurious living space.

Inside, the home includes two bedrooms, a cosy living room with a fireplace, a dining area and a fully equipped kitchen. There is also a spacious terrace from which to survey your treetop domain.

However, even from within the home you can still feel immersed in your woodsy surroundings. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer breathtaking views of the lush forest outside.

And, if this rural tranquillity doesn’t offer sufficient relaxation, the master suite also boasts a luxurious bathroom complete with a sauna for the ultimate in unwinding.

While from a distance it may look like a remote fishing shack, this waterfront stilt home is actually a treehouse ‘spa cabin,’ located in the Saint-Léger-aux-Bois region of France.

The towering house sits propped above the water, maximizing views of the beautiful azure ponds beyond.

Inside, the raw pine panelling on the walls, floors and ceiling gives the home a truly cabin-like feel, but with plenty of luxurious touches throughout.

On the mezzanine level, a cosy living area combines with a dining room and kitchenette, all of which benefit from floor-to-ceiling glass doors which overlook the lake and flood the space with natural light.

Upstairs, the lofted bedroom also makes the most of the unobstructed views, allowing you to wake up with the sun each morning.

Plus, the home’s elevated construction enables you to feel as though you’re sleeping in the treetops. What could be dreamier?

Perhaps the property’s best feature is a spacious terrace which extends off the mezzanine level and includes a small table ideal for dining alfresco, as well as a spectacular Nordic bath. You can enjoy the ultimate relaxation while overlooking the beautiful lake beyond.

It’s certainly not hard to understand the appeal of an elevated home with views like these!

Unlike most Mid-Century Modernist architecture, stilt homes were designed specifically for building on rocky or steep terrain.

Although the style later spread to other areas, this classic example in the City Terrace neighborhood of Los Angeles perfectly shows the original intent behind these homes.

While approximately 150 stilt houses were built around California in the 1950s and 60s, this teetering LA property is one of the very few left standing. It was initially constructed as a case study for the engineering program at Cal State University, Los Angeles in 1962.

As if that weren’t enough history, the home also served as a filming location for Michael Mann’s crime drama Heat, starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.

The 2,000-square-foot home is encircled by a 60-foot wooden deck, which offers sweeping panoramic views of one of the world’s most iconic skylines, including the Hollywood sign, the Griffith Observatory, and Catalina Island.

Numerous sets of sliding glass doors ensure that the view can also be enjoyed from inside the home, which boasts classic Mid-Century hardwood floors, white walls and high, beamed ceilings.

The home includes three bedrooms and three bathrooms, as well as ample entertaining space, and even a minibar. A particular highlight, the original kitchen boasts hand-fired orange tile, decorative stained glass, and KitchenAid appliances for a truly vintage feel.

With impeccable attention to detail throughout, the home is truly a piece of LA architectural (and cinematic!) history.

Talk about far out. This incredible property in Siloti Pant, India lets you truly escape into the treetops. The tiny stilt house sits nestled among the peaks of the Himalayas, thousands of feet above sea level.

Open the window and let the misty clouds drift past as you enjoy this mountainous retreat.

Perched atop a scaffold of steel beams, the stilted home is only accessible by means of a suspension bridge, reached by a steep flight of steps down the mountain.

The house itself is strategically positioned just above the treetops to maximise the view of the surrounding verdant landscape.

While the home is definitely on the small side, it still offers everything you could need as far as amenities.

That includes a double bed, bathroom, kitchenette and dining bar, all with breathtaking views out the window which comprises the home’s entire back wall.

With its quirky, asymmetrical roofline providing dramatically slanted ceilings, the living space also offers several convenient storage nooks, epitomising the phrase ‘a place for everything and everything in its place.’

However, with such a spectacular panoramic view out the back window, the single-room house feels much larger and airier than it is in reality.

A custom design by JAWS architects, this stilted tiny home overlooks the beautiful Dolphin Sands beach in Swansea, Australia.

The home is designed to maximise privacy because, yes, that is a bathtub on the upper balcony! After all, with sunset views and cool sea breezes, why not make the most of this stunning location?

The home is supported by a combination of steel beams and a concrete prism, which also serves as an entryway.

Unlike most stilt homes which utilise supports because of uneven terrain, this home actually makes use of the sheltered space below the house.

A paved patio offers a shaded dining area, and naturalistic landscaping mimics the surrounding bush.

The Studio, as the property is known, offers just 452 square feet (42sqm) of living space, but with top-quality finishing and plenty of fresh air and sunlight, it’s easy to forget the size of the space.

The new build boasts beautiful granite countertops, hardwood floors and sleek modern furniture. Several local touches add charm, including ceramics by a Tasmanian artist.

The living area includes a comfortable lounge complete with a television and log burner, kitchen and dining bar.

Cool earth tones and clean lines unify the space, one wall of which is comprised of a set of sliding glass doors which flood the room with light and provide access to the terrace. You can dine alfresco with ocean views.

This unique build by Jessie Bennett Studio was completed in 2014, and sits nestled in a rugged corner of tropical north Queensland, Australia.

Perched above the treetops, the property has received copious accolades for its innovative concrete design, including the Australian House of the Year at the 2015 Houses Awards and the Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture at the 2015 National Architecture Awards.

The property’s elevated construction enables it to perch on the ridge of the rainforest, with spectacular sweeping views of its tropical surroundings.

It is comprised of a curved, open-plan living space, with additional wings extending on stilts and encircling a lush yard and swimming pool.

With living rooftops and copious greenery incorporated into its external structure, the house blends almost seamlessly with the surrounding landscape.

There are also a range of eco features incorporated into the structural design including passive cooling systems, deep eaves to shield the interior from the sun, and cross ventilation to cool the property during the day.

From an aesthetic standpoint, designer Anne-Marie Campagnolo has turned the home’s interior into an eclectic explosion of texture and colour overlaying sleek modern finishes.

However, the home’s interiors are also expressly designed to maximise its beautiful surroundings, letting the rainforest serve as a centrepiece in many of the rooms.

This bathroom, for example, boasts swathes of floor-to-ceiling glass which frame phenomenal treetop vistas, drawing the natural beauty of rainforest into the home.

As global warming wreaks havoc on the planet, rising sea levels and heavy rainfall have caused countless devastating floods around the world.

So, how do you go about designing and building a home on a flood plain? Well, the team at John Pardey Architects had a clever idea... 

Their clients bought a plot on the scenic banks of the River Loddon, a tributary of the Thames in Berkshire, UK. Classified as a Flood Zone area, with a potential flood depth of 3.8 feet (1.2m), the property needed not only to suit its surroundings but be able to withstand the worst-case scenario should the river burst its banks.

In order to protect the property, John Pardey opted to elevate the house off the ground using a series of stilts. 

The design places the house 6.5 feet (2m) above the predicted climate change flood level to ensure the home's interior never comes into contact with water.

Spanning 3,552 square feet (330sqm), the modern home was completed in 2019 and features a stylish, free-flowing interior.

Large glazed walls allow for unbroken panoramic views of the river, while sustainable elements like a ground source heat pump and solar PV panels render the house eco-friendly. This flood-resistant home is truly inspired.

Unsurprisingly, the property has been acknowledged with various awards. Named the winner of both the RIBA Regional Award and RIBA National Award in 2021, the house was also on the longlist for RIBA House of the Year 2021.

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