Where Will We Park?

Civil Engineer Team

We knew parking would be difficult and expensive, but now that I'm at that point in the project, reality is settling in.  I am still working on getting quotes for excavation and the retaining wall to create a driveway for parking, but our original plans of the driveway being about half the cost of the entire project is looking to be true.

I met with the team at the civil engineer office; we looked at our options and have realized what needs to be done.  And can I just say, another great addition to the "lovers treehouse" team.  Great people to be around and work with (extremely knowledgable within Crestline and they've have a foot in the door with the city for YEARS)  Good people to know ;)

A couple things that need to happen for the parking:

- Excavating into the hillside

- Approximately a 12' retaining wall

Overall Parking Concept

Plotting Additional Tree's, Meditating, Good Day at Work

I've been heading to the treehouse land quite often these days and it's so nice to breathe and take time to meditate. With every breath and all the beauty around, I begin to feel restored.   Anything is possible and I find clarity in this sometimes crazy world;)

My last visit to the treehouse was to plot any additional tree's (around the new main tree) that could possibly work as secondary tree's.  Great visit and below is a picture of the tree's that had been surveyed as well as the additional tree's that can be used.  I wonder what the new tree's have in store for the new treehouse formation. So many options...

The highlighted circle is the new "Main Tree"

The local Grub & Whiskey never fails me with a good whiskey after a good day at work

Theatre Room, Meditation Room, All Encompassing Room!

The county requires this treehouse to be 735sqft, but we would really like to keep the treehouse smaller.  Through our travels and treehouse research we have realized a few things:

1. We love running wild in the outdoors and feeling one with nature
2. We defiantly appreciate modern amenities and technology

With that in mind, the treehouse will have indoor/outdoor living areas, it will keep the quaint space of a treehouse but additionally have a feel of a boutique/high end space with modern amenities and technology.   Lot's of wheels are constantly turning ;)

So how do we keep the treehouse smaller than 735sqft and stay on the good side with the county? I have proposed the idea of having an exterior staircase to another structure that would add to the 735sqft.  This idea seems to have been given the go and we are designing with this idea in mind!  Now we have the main structure as well as a 2nd structure.  The main structure will contain a loft, a bedroom, kitchen, lounge area, and balcony.  And what about the 2nd structure?

Exterior Stairs to Secondary Structure and yes we're looking good on this being allowed ;)

What will the 2nd Structure Be?
My husband being the techy nerd that he is has a theatre room in mind. (sounds great)  I  also have in mind a fort type space for quiet meditation (for when the outdoor elements don't allow us to be outside)  Combining these ideas, being open to new ideas, still not quite sure what this 2nd structure will be, but we're having fun creating it :)

Possible Meditative Space in 2nd Structure (for when it's snowing or raining outside)

More Info, More Focus

Always new info to be known and a great learning process for future unique developments ;)  Design is constantly changing, guidelines for a unique project are constantly being looked at further, proposing ideas to the county, and on and on.  I've learned so much while working on the treehouse:

- Timeline for a unique project takes a lot longer...

- I've learned what to have in mind when looking at a lot for creating a unique project (a few shortcuts)

- I've learned more about the county than I ever figured I'd know

And my civil engineer's (Boyer and Associates) grandaughter (7 years old) taught me a thing or 2:

Lesson Learned

The Tree's Are Calling...

After realizing we had more land than we thought, I was curious to see how our architect would take the news (having to re-arrange the treehouse to the new tree cluster... eekk)  Dave's response: The more tree's the better!  We like more Trees!
I gotta say, it feels good to be surrounded by such a great and like minded team ;)  With Dave on board, we continue to move forward and time is starting to move quicker than we thought.  We must start the build around March/April to finish before the snow season hits again....

Meet our Artist

Talking about possibilities...!

Talented, Visionary, Sweet as can be..... Gaby Perozo  

Gaby (aka Gabs) received her bachelor's degree in Ceramics at Long Beach State and continues to live in this great city where she also has her art studio.  Gabs is a close friend and it just so happens that we have similar art style;)  I look forward to collaborating with her and creating a unique piece, made especially for the treehouse.  Check out some of her artwork below:

Magic is in the Air - Meeting with the Surveyor

Early in the lot buying process, our surveyor Mike, placed marker's on our lot to easily define our property line. After doing so, Brendan and I went for a site visit to check out the property line and we were never able to find the corner flag to our lot... we assumed that the weather knocked it down. Current time: I have been talking back and forth quite a bit with the architect and every time we talk, it seems that our measurements are off....  I go a few times to the lot, to do additional measurements... the additional measurements confuse us even more.  Our architect suggests getting a surveyor to do a full survey and locate the tree's on the lot, as well as utilities.

We give our surveyor a call and Mike comes to the rescue ;)  I can not say enough about Mike; he's easy to work with, has a calming and confident energy about him, really enjoys the outdoors and is excited about the treehouse.  I meet Mike at the lot and mention the flag that we were never able to find... we begin to climb the lot and to my surprise, our lot is about 30%-40% bigger than we had originally thought!  (I guess we never found the flag, because we hadn't walked far enough...!)  In addition to our lot being bigger, we also found a cluster of beautiful tree's tucked away from the street.  My mind was going wild as I was standing on this lot, with the sun on my face (things felt magical)  The new cluster of tree's will give us a lake view from our living room, and we're far more tucked away and secluded!  Mike then proceeds to let me know that he thinks Lake Arrowhead water owns the lot to the right (18 acres of land) of which most likely will never be built on- space to hike, meditate, let the kids roam, run around naked....hehe  The possibilities are endless.  Back to the architect...  Things continue to move forward and work so well - we have special guidance ;)

Land we discovered 

More Land we discovered nestled in the trees