The crackle of the wood fireplace and the muffled sound of the creek rushing under ice sets the stage as we sip our hot beverages and the dog settles on the couch next to us. Even she knows the purpose of this space. One lazy leg hangs from the plush seat as she settles her snoot next to her owner in anticipation of attention.
There is a silence to the forest; we take a moment to savor the cozy hush.
This is my first time meeting Robin Wall, and with little background on the assignment, I had unwittingly invited myself into her home. She didn’t balk at the request. She knew the story was in the experience.
After driving the winding, snow-lined roads up to the property, I found the old hunting lodge nestled in a canyon at the base of Pikes Peak in a neighborhood called Crystal Park. Initially erected by Dr. Edward R. Neeper in 1910 as a place for him and his friends to get away from city life and experience the outdoors, the lodge has become Wall’s home.
An Extraordinary Tree House
After quick introductions, we trek further down into the canyon to experience the tree house.
Colorado is beautiful, but this canyon has an ecosystem of its own. As we wind down the narrow trail following the creek through the Douglas fir and spruce trees, over the hand-hewn log bridge, I'm struck by the moss growing on the rocks and roots around me. Colorado is an arid landscape, not to mention it is the dead of winter–these things seem out of place. With the landscape somewhat leveling out, I raise my head from my next step and there it is, peeking out from around the hill, standing proud between the trees and overlooking the ice-covered creek: the tree house.
The sleek black dog leads us up the spiral log staircase to the deck surrounding the tree house, which is 20 feet high in places and tucked near some native boulders with the creek surrounding it on three sides. Turning slightly, I am ushered through an old barn door and into the tree house–one room with a wood burning stove in one corner and an L-shaped couch on the adjacent walls. We set our warm beverages on the coffee table bench and take a breath as the dog settles in.
Amid conversations of kids and jobs and life in general, the story of the tree house emerges. A mother made the historic lodge a home and raised her children in the outdoors of this Colorado canyon. A dream of building a tree house with her kids somewhere on the property came to fruition during the pandemic when both kids came home to take their college classes online.
Locally milled wood from the property, old brick from Denver, barn hardware from the main lodge and windows from a 1920s house complete the space.
A Variety of Ecosystems
The story outside is just as interesting as the one inside.
Wall speaks about the landscape intimately, as she has spent years getting to know it. She reminisces about growing up in Papua New Guinea and how this landscape reminds her of parts of her childhood. The canyon in which she lives hosts a variety of ecosystems unique to Colorado encompassing streams and bogs where moss, fungi, and ferns live alongside cacti and evergreens. She is partnering with a neighbor who is a master gardener to make the meadow between their homes more hospitable to local pollinators. She has also invited local botanists onto the property, and they have documented a handful of rare species including the oak fern and the bunch berry.
The tree house became a retreat for those experiencing the forest to stop and rest. It evolved from a dream to a reality, to an art project, to an intentional place of peace.
Colorado Camelot
“What’s in a name?” Shakespeare penned for Romeo to wax disdainfully to his love over the tendency for our species to give distinguishing conventions to things in the form of titles. But in this instance, I might have to disagree with the contempt Romeo has for this particular convention. Wall has nicknamed her little piece of heaven Camelot. Even prior to King Arthur’s castle, according to Webster, this word carried the meaning of “a time, place, or atmosphere of idyllic happiness.”
With all the adjectives in the world at my fingertips, I cannot think of a better description of this space.
Wall invites those interested in visiting the treehouse to fill out a form under the "projects" tab on her website.
Website: https://www.coloradocamelot.com/
