You’re building a tree house?

The original family tree house.

My first official tree house build with Dad.

“You’re building a tree house? Huh….cool.”

This was the reaction I would usually get (generally accompanied by a sideway glance and a head tilt) after revealing to friends Andy and my plans to build a tree house accommodation on our farm in the Hakataramea Valley.. (Haka tara where??...I will get to this later). 

The conceptual design stage and build itself may have taken some time (shoutout to covid among other things), yet the idea itself had been churning in our minds for years – for me almost a lifetime. 

My father and two older brothers built the worlds most amazing tree house (as it was to my 5-year-old brain) at our home in Christchurch. It was up high in the trees, the only entrance by climbing rickety wooden steps and up through a hatch in the floor. So many hours were spent hiding in here, in the company of my older siblings feeling as though I was in the VIP lounge at a Six60 concert. Once the older siblings outgrew it, the tree house was finally mine…. to alter as I liked. First thing, it needed to be bigger so on went another story. Then came the dazzle! First was a rope commando bridge attached to nearby trees and then the flying fox. I still to this day do not know how I escaped this part of the build without breaking an appendage or two. Once the rope was tied onto a tree on tree house roof it was then attached to another several meters below. The first test was an abysmal failure. The rope I was holding onto snapped less than a meter along the flying fox and I plunged to the ground. Once dusted off I headed back up with a length of hose. This was a success and the tool I continued to use, but you did have to watch as it would disintegrate after several turns to, we had to have several lengths cut ready to go (much to the delight of my dad I’m sure). 

I like to think this fond memory fanned the flames of our creativity when we looked at diversifying our farming operation after we purchased the property from Andy’s parents in 2009. Or it could have been the hours we spent watching the American tree house masters on the discovery channel (only to sadly discover tight New Zealand regulations meant no such buildings could ever be consented here). But I digress.

Our friends were right, building a tree house was cool.

And frustrating, and exhilarating and exhausting.

One of the best parts about telling people about the project was (and still is), the way people’s eyes would change from doubtful to daring, they would twinkle as they invoked their own childhood memories of secret hideaways and hut making.

My babies in the trees.

It is here I realised the true essence of Nest, not just being a stunning location to stay, but an experience where people can let go and return to those long days of carefree fun…. (and return to their own version of a VIP lounge.)