A whimsical treehouse continues to draw visitors almost a decade after its first guest!
When guests arrive, the first thing I do is introduce them to the old man, the oldest and biggest tree at the end of the three treehouses,” says Peter Bahouth, the owner, builder, keeper and host of the Secluded Intown Treehouse Airbnb property in Buckhead. “I ask them to look up, and, almost always, they crane and smile. That’s what it means to be in the treehouse.”
A lifelong environmentalist, Bahouth wanted to make unique use of his spacious, wooded lot by building a place that would allow him to enjoy the bountiful nature beyond a walk in the woods. Recalling his boyhood treehouse and enamored by the nostalgia, he was struck with an idea to recreate that feeling. “Treehouses are classic things. [I could create] a bit of an escape where I’d chosen to have a home,” he says.
Partnering with a professional builder, Bahouth constructed his three-building structure around seven trees using found and reclaimed materials. The buildings required a delicate balance between structural integrity and the trees’ natural movement. “We knew the trees were going to let us know what to do. They were only going to put up with so much. We had to do it right, or they were going to spit it back out,” he says. The project was completed in 2000.
At the time, he kept the peaceful retreat to himself, but he welcomed his first guest in 2016. The unique design, a suite of three distinct spaces— a living room, a bedroom and an outdoor living space each connected with footbridges—offered a secluded in town escape. Since then, he’s hosted more than 2,000 people, their memories and experiences tucked within the pages of five volumes of leather-bound journals. “The very first people that came here bought me my first guest book and put the first note in there. It was amazing.” Bahouth leaves the journals for guests to peruse during their visit.
More than just a place to stay, the treehouse offers a chance to disconnect from the digital world and reconnect with nature. “Travel is important, not because it changes you, but because you bring yourself to that place,” Bahouth says. “And that place influences you and who you are.” The treehouse, he believes, allows guests to be present.
For an accommodation built around living, breathing things, it is elegant and refined yet rustic and simple. Seashells, branches, nests and stones serve as tchotchkes. Flowers and leaves are pressed between glass as the artwork. The bed, situated in front of a window draped in ethereal curtains, is on wheels, so it rolls just slightly beyond the structure for sleeping beneath the stars. A babbling stream covers any city noise. “This is a Southern treehouse; it’s gracious,” says Bahouth. “It’s just like what you would expect from someone who is a good Southern host. It’s not me; it’s the treehouse.”
Rates starting at $389
202.341.3310
@treehouseatl
Another Forest Escape
East Atlanta has its own treehouse.
The Alpaca Treehouse is built from reclaimed architectural pieces, offering a unique, historic stay. Its cedar and heart-of-pine siding, salvaged from an old Atlanta home, surrounds antique furnishings. Stained glass, church floors from 1905 and French doors leading to a catwalk highlight the design while an 1871 tin roof lulls visitors to sleep in any rainstorm. Live-edge cedar stairs and bamboo spindles access the structure, nestled in an 80-year-old bamboo forest. Alpacas and llamas roam around the property below.
Alpaca Treehouse
alpacatreehouse.com
@alpacatreehouse
