Living a treehouse fantasy
A Sewell man decided to build a little platform. It became a multilevel work of art, and he plans more.
Dan Chesnut has always liked the view from above.
At 10, he built his first treehouse alone. Years later, he and his twin brother fashioned one in the woods near his California home that withstood a sleep-out or two.
And after graduating from the U.S. Military Academy, jumping out of airplanes and mountaineering were his favorite duties during eight years in the Army.
Even decades later, Chesnut had never quite shaken the idea of a treehouse. Using the skills he learned in high school drafting and college engineering classes, he built the mother of all treehouses in his Sewell backyard, a multilevel structure 12 feet up that can hold 20 adults.
The high adventure started in 2005, five years after he and his wife bought their house. Daughter Alyssa had graduated, and he had a little extra money. Venturing out to his backyard, "I said, 'Let's see what we have.' "
He cleared the area and told his wife he would spend $1,000 to build a little platform up in the trees. By the time he finished in summer 2006, Chesnut was dreaming of a full-blown treehouse.
He knew he would have to get the township's approval, so he began drafting plans for the structure. The approval process was lengthy and costly (about $1,200), and while it was under way he took an 18-week shed-building class at Gloucester Community College, learning how to build a roof and install windows.
At home, Chesnut built a carpenter's table on the advice of a mechanic he worked with in his manufacturing shop. There, he would build the parts of the treehouse.
Chesnut worked on it alone almost every weekend and at night after work. That first summer, the treehouse was "open" for two months, and squirrels built nests before he was able to get the roof and windows in during the fall.
Though Chesnut did most of the work himself, he was known to knock on a neighbor's door to ask for help lifting heavy walls and platforms up into the sky.
"We have a great neighborhood," he says. "We all go out once a month for dinner, and all the men loved talking about it, so when I needed help, they loved giving it."
Chesnut also tapped the expertise of former colleagues. For a drawbridge that connects one platform to another, he asked a machinist/mechanic for advice.
A friend who is a carpenter lent him tools for some of the woodwork and the 30-foot scaffolding needed to work up close to the structure. (He bought a harness used for climbing to lock himself in while he toiled on parts of the structure). An electrician colleague reinforced ideas he had and gave him new ones for cooling, heat, and lighting.
The project required some modifications. Chesnut originally wanted a standard roof.
"After I loaded four bags of 75-pound shingles into the car, I said, 'I need something lighter.' " He found a special fiberglass material that would work.
Last winter, he finished the treehouse, an impressive structure with two massive platforms and a spiral staircase held up by 10 sassafras trees and suspended by an elaborate system of cables.
"The cables reminded me of Gulliver's Travels. The more cables you put on, the more weight it can hold," says the engineer, who works in manufacturing management for National Chemical Laboratories in Philadelphia.
The effect is that the house and platforms sway in the breeze - to the delight of some visitors.
Inside the treehouse, a ladder leads to a sleep loft that can accommodate a full-size air mattress. The oak ceiling is curved and looks like the bottom of a boat. Paneling and molding make things appear more finished and hide the electrical wires.
Chesnut lets plenty of natural light pour into the cozy space. There are four skylights, two picture windows, and a bay window with a spacious window seat big enough for an adult to curl up in with a good book.
Still planned is a fold-down table/Murphy bed to house more guests.
"When the township sent their guy for the final inspection," Chesnut says, "he was in awe."
He shows visitors three large binders with his renderings and photos documenting the design and build process. He'd like to write a book.
Of course, Chesnut's greatest fans are the neighborhood kids, who regularly knock on the door and ask for a tour. (He enthusiastically obliges.)
Often, they return weeks later with a friend, marveling at features such as the trap door that opens to a rope ladder to the ground.
Adults are transfixed, too. Neighbors ask to use the treehouse for a getaway, and Chesnut and his wife, Kathy, hosted their daughter's 25th birthday party there.
Daily, the space functions as an office/retreat. "When I was looking for my current job, I conducted my job interviews from this spot," Chesnut says.
His drafting table is the centerpiece of this living room in the sky, displaying the sketches for a second treehouse Chesnut is planning to build that will connect to this one by a long walking bridge.
"It will be a taller house even higher up in the trees," he says with a smile, eager to get to it. "What can I say? They are just a lot of fun to make."
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