A Treehouse, a little you-and-me house

Laurel wanted to surprise Morgan with a day of sledding down Lincoln Gap Road followed by a night in Fern Forest Treehouse. Lincoln Gap Road is closed from Thanksgiving until about Easter, depending on the weather, but the brave and fit hike up and sled or ski down, navigating the hairpin turns or joyfully careening into a snow bank. A couple years ago our son Will hiked up with his puppy Rowdy, and Rowdy got so excited that he took off into the woods and disappeared. For days Will tried to find the little Hungarian Moody, but there was no sign of him. Fortunately, he was wearing a collar with a tag, and a week later a woman in Warren called to say she had found Rowdy shivering and hungry on her front porch. Somehow the pup had wandered over the mountain and into the village, managing to outsmart coyotes, fisher cats and foxes. Instead of the Lincoln Gap Road, Morgan and Laurel accidentally took the Appalachian Gap Road, which stays open all winter for commuters from Addison County on ...

I'm always amazed when people ask to stay in the treehouse in the middle of winter, but Suzanne and Patrick are used to roughing it. They've slept in a water tower in Mendicino and in a sugarhouse in southern Vermont. Patrick's a big guy and by his own admission generates a lot of heat, which is good because Suzanne is as tiny as a little bird and it was plenty cold their first night in the treehouse. Patrick runs a CSA in Saunderstown, Rhode Island, supervising the vegetable fields in warmer weather and tending the animals in winter. Suzanne is an art therapist who appreciates nature's aesthetic beauty. They had no problem with our tricky driveway in their huge SUV, which they rented for the trip. They're the kind of folks who said no to a red Mercedes SUV because it was too showy and went with the black Ford Explorer for the same price. Me? I'd have flashed that Mercedes right up to the treehouse...but that's another story. I met Suzanne and Patrick at the...

Renee and Stacy braved snow and wind to spend a chilly January night in the treehouse in celebration of Stacy's 30th birthday. They stopped in Woodstock on their way up from Greenfield, MA, where Renee gave Stacy a snowshoe lesson. It was after nightfall by the time they found their way to Lincoln, and their trusty Honda was not willing to climb the steep driveway to the house. They had enough energy left to hike up, packs on their backs, and snuggle under the down comforter in the treehouse loft for the night. In the morning we greeted Stacy with a birthday candle stuck into a fig muffin and sang her Happy Birthday, a little off key. She didn't seem to mind. These were two good souls. Renee does organic farming, and Stacy works for a nonprofit, helping underprivileged children. We enjoyed their company and wish they could've stayed a little longer, but they promise to return in warmer weather, and maybe they'll try a trek up Mt. Abe.

We were quite surprised when Colleen and Jay signed up to stay two nights in the treehouse just after Christmas. We'd had some snow, and the early winter nights were getting cold. But the treehouse looked sweet outlined by colored lights. They drove up from Brooklyn in Jay's 1996 Volkswagen Golf without snowt ires, stopping for a bite to eat along Route 22A. It was after dark when they arrived in Lincoln, getting within fifty yards of our snowy driveway before they skidded off the road into a snowbank. A neighbor came to help, and AAA managed to pull them out by looping a band around the old car's rear tire. There was no way the Golf was going to make it up our steep driveway, so H followed them to the local library, where they left their car in the parking lot, and he hauled them and their cross-country skis back to the house in his pickup truck. That night Jay picked some tunes on H's guitar and we drank a couple beers and got to know each other. Colleen is a freelanc...

I'm ever amazed when couples book the treehouse knowing the temps will dip into the twenties. While I was in Louisville at Spalding's MFA in Writing residency, H hosted Mike and Ivania . Mike is from Minnesota and Ivania is San Salvadorian, and they met in Korea, where they taught English. They had just landed stateside and were looking for a bit of adventure before figuring out the next path to take. They arrived around dinner time on Thursday, which meant H had to miss hockey night with the guys. Mike felt so bad that he and Ivania took him out to dinner at the Bobcat. They slept soundly in the treehouse and in the morning Ivania padded up the forest trail in slippers and pajamas, her sleeping mask dangling around her neck. She helped H serve the continental breakfast, and afterward they cleaned up the dishes together. The second night was colder, and the couple hung out in the guest room until the wee hours before heading out to the treehouse with flashlights. H said the...

A few love birds have nested in the Fern Forest Treehouse, beginning with Karrie and Isaac, who came up from Mystic CT to celebrate their third wedding anniversary. Karrie is a vegan, and in the morning we had a basket ready, decorated with anniversary ribbons and filled with vegan scones, vegan yogurt and fresh fruit. They took the basket back to the treehouse and had a picnic on the deck while they watched the sun rise over Mt. Abe. Newlyweds Ryan and English wife Jacqueline spent a night of their honeymoon with us and left us with wedding favors of British tea, which was delicious. H tried really hard to get the eggs soft-boiled just right for Jacqueline so that she could dip toast "soldiers" in the runny yolk, but, alas, his culinary skills where soft-boiling is concerned are in the embryonic stages. But he's practicing for Jacqueline's next visit. We didn't have egg cups, either, but Jacqueline taught us to perch the eggs in shotglasses, which we do have. Nee...

Thought you'd like to meet a few of the folks who've visited Linc oln, Vermont, to stay in H's treehouse. It took three summers to build the treehouse with son Will: They picked a grove of tall maples and started with the platform. As you can see from the picture, there's a ramp to the building, but the property falls off so that the treehouse is 30 feet in the air. The sleeping loft is another nine feet over the living space. Thank goodness Will used a harness to hammer the metal roof on. The treehouse is insulat ed and has heat and electricity so that it's cozy even when the temp dips below freezing. And because it's in the trees, it stays cool in the summer. Our first gue sts came in June '09 from Germany. Frank is a doctoral student in comparative literature and his girlfriend Friederike studied in the states and works for an American company in Stuttgart. They speak impeccable English and Frank's 6'5" frame fit nicely in the treehouse lof...