The Hermit Thrush Treehouse
As a child I recall playing “house” while entangled in the limbs of the trees in my front yard, claiming one hearty branch as my bedroom, and declaring another one as the kitchen. An orange tree would be my domicile, while my little brother acquired a neighboring tree as his own. I never dreamed of adding walls to my treehouse, just being up in a tree and imaging it as a home was thrill enough. Palmer had his own childhood “tree fort” he built near a quaint babbling brook, he recalls spending hours in it with pencil and paper in hand creating his own comics inspired by his favorite series.
Arriving at Rik’s treehouse instantly brought fourth all those related imaginative childhood memories that we haven’t reminisced in quite sometime, I can only guess that Rik’s guests have similar experiences when they visit. I imagine the treehouse not only being a place of nostalgia but also a place where happy memories are created for visitors of all ages.
Getting to tour the unique treehouse with the visionary who built it was a true delight. It was apparent that Rik is an artist, not only by the awe-invoking outcome of his vision and craft, but also in how he described the way nature and the surroundings helped dictate the project. Like a true artist, Rik built his treehouse for himself, and yet if you ask him today what he enjoys most about the Hermit Thrush Treehouse he reveals that its how others enjoy it.
To learn a bit more about the man behind the creation here are a couple of things he had to share about his vision and how it came to be.
Q: Do you recall the very first time you saw a treehouse?
A: My older brother used to build forts and semi-treehouses out of materials that he and his buddies would scavenge (..and probably stolen ..or "liberated" as he liked to correct) from all the continued construction as the suburban development we grew up in expanded. In an effort to follow suit I attempted a fort and mine was triangular. Even though my attempt fizzled very quickly resulting in no treehouse, I have always thought that the fact that I chose to make a triangular structure spoke to my desire to look outside of what I was seeing around me.
Q: What was the first structure you built and what inspired you to build it?
A: See above. That was my first attempt. My first successful completed structure was my outhouse currently up by my treehouse pavilion though originally it was in a different location to be used for my first house.
Q: Your dog was so friendly and seemed to love attention, can you tell me a little about him?
A: He is my girlfriend's dog and she is very loving with animals so that may account for his love of attention. He is 11 yrs old and really enjoying his new lifestyle (she moved in half a year ago). He was fairly neurotic and his connection with me is tentative since I am also the one that is trying to change his normally whining and barking tendencies.
Q: What do you believe is most unique about your treehouse?
A: I think the fact that I designed and constructed the treehouse to blend into its surroundings as well as construct it from materials that were used, as often as possible, with as little alteration as possible from their natural appearance, helps make an integrated structure that relies upon the natural characteristics and traits of the individual local materials. Some examples would be: using naturally strong and rot resistant Black Locust in its log form as the foundational beams and as posts (because it is also naturally twisty and exotic looking), also having it sawn into boards that would be exposed as decking. Using the thick sawmill waste bark slabs that have one flat side from the saw and a thick rounded bark side (these slabs can be quite thick and when used as walls they are sturdy, creating structural support as well as decorative, offering a rounded bark and knot siding for the exterior). Or using large Willow cookie slices as organically shaped window opening because they were very large and lightweight wood, easy to cut and otherwise useless as lumber or firewood....and because I had them from a tree that I removed for someone else. Reuse, repurpose, repeat.
Q: How has your own background and experience prepared you for treehouse building?
A: I was a stonemason and carpenter for 30 years so I have a sense of what is required to support weight, what happens when things are exposed to weather or in contact with the ground and how to move things that are many times my own weight.
Q: Any future treehouse building plans in the works?
A: I have now made two for myself and I will most likely make more, but I will need another piece of property to pursue that. I am also interested in making other unusual structures, another underground house is tempting and lately I am seriously considering making a tiny house on a trailer that I don't use for anything else. The very next building on the list is a greenhouse/winter chicken coop. That was supposed to be this summer.....but I am usually off by a year or two.
Q: You mentioned that the views from the treehouse evolve with each season, if you had to choose a favorite season for the treehouse which would it be and why?
A: I don't like to play favorites with my seasons. To me, the deep enjoyment that I experience with each of them is reliant upon my ability to love them all equally and not tease one particular satisfaction out of a single one thus making it seem more important. I suppose it would be comparable to asking a mother which of her four children she liked the best.
Want to stay at one of Rik's Unique Dwellings? Here's a link to rent the Hermit Thrush Treehouse.
