4th Submittal and Fingers Crossed...!

We have now submitted to the county for the 4th time.... whew, long process for an unconventional build.  At this point architectural and engineer plans have been ok'd (which is the biggest hurdle) and now their main concern is the interior strength/decay of the tree's.  As mentioned in our previous post "Will Our Tree's Pass the Test" Our tree's are uber healthy with no interior decay, approximatly 300 years old and fire resistant...Go tree's! Now we wait to get the OK from the county with the documents we presented showing the tests done on our tree's....  Fingers are crossed that we hear back  soon and with good news soon....and when we do, we'll be in the building stage at full speed!

Will Our Tree's Pass the Test?

Tree Testing Equipment

After many, many corrections on Lovers Treehouse, our last set of corrections showed that architectural and engineer plans had been approved!! (Biggest hurdle) and the last step before acquiring the building permit would be to show no interior decay of our tree's...

Scott Baker from Tree Solutions  fly's in from Seattle, Washington (another one of those intelligent guys from the treehouse world - the world is smaller than you'd think)  We head out to Lovers Treehouse site and the time has come to see what the interior strength of our tree's are like....

It was a bit nerve-wracking and quite the trip (hopping over fences at 7 mths pregnant; luckily I had my husband to help me over - not quite sure I could have done it without him)  And I can't say I looked too graceful doing it...  The testing began and after a couple of hours and loads of equipment, we found out our tree's are about 300 years old, the species of tree is fire resistant (these tree's just keep getting better) and that there's no interior decay!!

We'll be moving forward with these tree results and hoping to receive that building permit sooner than later ;)  Stay tuned for the building to begin!!  

Getting nerdy for trees

So much growth with the recent rains

"Most Cutting Edge Treehouse"

Received word from our 3rd Plan Submital and although we still have 3 corrections to go (started with over 30 corrections) the Architectural and Engineer plans have been approved! 

I knew I was getting into a big project when I started the Lovers Treehouse project but it wasn't until the other day that my architect (the architect for Treehouse Masters and The Treehouse Guys) said 

         - "Your project is as cutting edge as any that have been done"

So what does it mean when I say the architectural and engineer plans have been approved, it means we'll have the advantage of the following elements:

1. Having trees live throughout the house without having window's or doors covering them!  This means, you'll be able to live in the home, while living with the tree (touchable)

2. Able to have a structure completely supported by a tree without any ground supports! 

3. Able to build a smaller sqft home by adding a bridge to calculate the sqft and keep true to the treehouse feel

4. Our years of work have pushed the county to create a treehouse building system.  This means building tree houses in the county of San Bernardino will be much easier from this point forward.  Moving the Treehouse Movement forward ;)



We still have 3 corrections, one of them being that the tree's be tested by an instrument and technology called Picus Sonic Tomography.  This test is a non-invasive one that uses sound to detect interior tree decay.  

So we're not quite in the clear, until we can prove that the inside of our tree's are in fact healthy...  

We've made big strides up to this point, and the Picus Sonic test will be a biggy for us (fingers crossed)

Minor Variance Approved!

Moving Forward

Constantly inching our way towards the build and for the 1st time in while it feels that we are making bigger strides than normal ;)

Update #1
We had proposed a minor variance for the width of the treehouse - the code was requiring to make the structure much larger and wider, thus taking away from the authenticity of a treehouse.  After some time, we received confirmation that the minor variance was accepted

Update #2
Waiting to hear back on the 3rd Submittal that we turned into the county.  Best news we've heard back yet - the biggest hurdle which is the architectural and engineer approval, is a go!  The county now just has to see how to set up a system for the future health of a treehouse (seeing as there isn't a treehouse in that county and we're paving the way)  Whoever wants to build a treehouse next in this jurisdiction, will have it MUCH easier - your welcome ;)  The other correction is that our parking is in the road right of way, and so we're pulling the permit on that ;)  And the last thing the county would like to see is a sonogram on the tree that will contain the meditation pod (the structure in the tree, without any ground supports)  Time to put in a call to Scott Baker in WA, and see what we can get together..... SO CLOSE!

Closer & Closer to the Build....

With our 3rd Submittal last week, we are now waiting to hear (and crossing our fingers) that this will be the last round of corrections.  In case your just starting to follow, let me give you the quick version of building in San Bernardino County.

1. Buy the land

2. Submit plans and all needed documents (in our case apply for a major variance - since our property is so unconventional)

3. Wait to hear back and if there are corrections, correct and resend (over 25 corrections on our project...)

4. Wait to hear back and if there are corrections, correct and resend (we cut out a few and had 12 corrections to go;) Aaaaand, in our case apply for an additional minor variance (since we're unconventional)

Real time: we are in the waiting stage after the 3rd submittal and crossing our fingers that this is the last set of corrections.  If so, we'll receive our permit and we'll hit the ground running!  Venture Yours is tying up all the loose ends to get this CA treehouse ready for all our travelers; stay tuned!

Latest Design - After Corrections Back from County

Sneak preview to the latest design!  Features include - metal main structure, a rock climbing wall, a bridge to the meditation pod, 4 tree treehouse.  So much fun to play with; will continue to keep you updated with the county's response to this playful dream!

Thoughts I have...

We received the 2nd review from the county; crossed off lots of corrections, and have about 10 more to work with.  Originally, we had 25 corrections so it feels like we're getting somewhere ;)  As time gets closer to build, I begin to think of how I will logistically be managing the build...  After managing The Gypsy Wagon build, I know I will have to be physically available to make decisions and keep the work flow going.  But how will I manage a 2 year old getting to daycare while my husband is spending the night at the fire station and Lovers Treehouse is 1.5 hrs away (without traffic)...

So... I don't quite have a solution, although I haven't put much thought into it either, but I did get side tracked and began to think of management work flow on site....  I like things done fast and efficiently (although "fast" has not been a word I would describe Lovers Treehouse so far...)  I need to finish daily work "to-do's" for my Real Estate Business (so I need a desk space for my computer) I also want to be able to step on site if builders have any questions (meaning my desk space should be on site)  And if my work space is going to be on site, why not just have my sleeping space on site as well?  My initial thought - I can build another tiny house... reality check - an added project that I'm not going to have time or space for.  Buuut, the tiny house idea is a good one - computer space on site, I'm available to builders and I can sleep there ;)

I began to search for tiny houses, and came across this site that has pre-fabbed homes.  The home, I'm looking at, takes about 3 days to build and I can build on a trailer (could be movable for future projects ;)  http://www.archedcabins.com/

Thoughts I have...