One of my first memories is playing in the roots of trees between my house and the road in the suburban neighborhood I was born in, pretending that the spaces between the roots were different rooms of a house. When I was five we moved to a rural area and I remember spending much of my time outside and in the woods. It’s where I feel at home and I feel so grateful to still be in the woods and able to share this beautiful experience with others. The earth, and caring for it, is very important to me and I try to share these values with my guests.
I’m a single mom to two teenagers and making a living in Vermont is challenging enough – you need a lot of persistence and creativity – but being a single-income household makes it even more challenging.
I started working with Airbnb in 2012 by renting out my house in order to make ends meet, and to share the beauty of this property and the amazing town I live in. My positive experiences led me to dream about how I could expand this business. I loved meeting new people, introducing people to the area, and, being a single parent, the income allowed me to begin thriving and provide more opportunities for my children.
I bought the property in 1999, anticipating building a house, which we built in 2002. It was the stream, which is right next to the treehouse, that sold me on it! After thinking about it for years, in 2014, I started making concrete plans for building the treehouse!
With a unique, site-specific project like this, I needed to spend a lot of time thinking through and researching it. I’m also lucky to have a boyfriend who is very supportive, creative, and resourceful, as well as being pretty knowledgeable about building – so, between these things, the vision for the treehouse developed.
In the end, I broke ground in the fall of 2017 and broke the construction process down into multiple steps. I hired The Treehouse Guys (formerly on the DIY Network) who are based in central Vermont, to design and build the platform foundation. They were the treehouse experts I needed to make sure the foundation was strong and properly engineered.
The next summer I hired a local crew to build the walls, put the windows and doors in, and put the roof on. This is a small crew that I’ve used for various projects around the property that were beyond my skill-level.
Finally, I did all of the work inside, as well as the siding, decking, railings, and the space underneath. This includes the flooring, the cabinet and counter, the bathroom, living room seating. My boyfriend helped me with installing the insulation, drywall, and the ceiling boards. A lot of blood, sweat and tears have gone into this space, but it’s also been a labor of love!
We opened for business in November 2018 and we’ve had very happy guests! Many mention the attention to detail and the peaceful setting as their favorite aspects, and others comment how they’ve always loved treehouses since they were very young. I think in this time of Covid, it is even more appreciated to have a beautiful spot you can socially distance from others and have an escape from the challenges of everyday life. It’s a space that brings peace and helps people recharge their batteries.
I dream of perhaps someday living in the treehouse as my primary residence, and I may eventually do that! But for now, I’m very happy sharing the space with my wonderful guests and sneaking a few nights in for myself here and there!