Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Don's Treehouse in France


So what does Don do when he doesn't have to build a theatre? Well he heads over to France to visit his grandkids and build them the best treehouse ever!
This April, Producing Artistic Director, Don Toner, took a well-deserved vacation during the run of Roaring to visit his grandkids in France. My mother and brother went along too. While there, Mike and Dad worked their tails off building an incredible treehouse for the kiddos.

Here's the family posing on the staircase of the treehouse. That's right, it was built 14 feet up around a Sequoia.
It took them some time to select the right tree, then they had to clear a lot of bamboo and prep the tree.
Then they built the deck. This was slow going as they were using a lot of reclaimed lumber from the property and were working 14 feet in the air. Once the base was stable they built a pulley system to haul up supplies.
Didi the terrier was an excellent supervisor.

The finished tree house has a roof, siding, and shutters that open and close.
Here's the view of the tree from the lawn for a little perspective!

And here's the finished treehouse! Some of the lumber will be stained and the bamboo railing will be replaced with rope. 
I missed my family a ton during April, but it was definitely worth it. When dad got home he needed another vacation from all the hard work!
-Lara