Billy Watterson’s “fairy cottage” that he painstakingly carved out of a dead silver maple tree has been stopping passersby in Brampton in their tracks mostly for its quaint beauty and craftsmanship.

Several folks have told him it’s almost as if wood fairies will fling open the doors and burst into a song with gnomes, goblins and squirrels joining in the chorus, Watterson shared with a smile.

The seven-foot tree house — christened “Haywood Hollow” — was the result of a neighbourhood-naming contest. Watterson and his wife Lorna received more than 40 submissions for the structure situated at the corner of Elizabeth and Fredrick streets in Brampton.

“I had pictures in my head on how I wanted this (fairy cottage) to be,” Watterson told The Guardian. “I didn’t expect it to become this elaborate, though. It has been very satisfying watching people, both young and old, stop and smile …”

The fairy-tale home has a crimson-coloured door with a wrought-iron door knocker. A wreath of twigs and wood frame the door. A pair of windows with red trim and lace curtains, a sloping roof and a chimney decorated with branches complete the fantasy. What’s more, an antique-looking lantern, powered by a bulb, will illuminate the cottage, announcing its presence at night, as well.

“I wanted to honour the 75-year-old tree,” said Watterson, an artist who likes carving in wood, leather and metal. “Twelve years ago, I carved an Old Man Winter on the side of the tree and called it Dale, after a prominent pioneer Brampton family that owned several businesses, including a nursery. Our home’s original owner was a member of the Dale family.”

In the winter, when the tree had to be cut down, the owners asked the arborist to leave a seven-foot stump.

Some months ago, Watterson noticed the bark of the tree peeled easily to reveal a smooth skin. He pulled out his trusted chisel and mallet and painstakingly began to build the cottage.

Karen Gammage and Ashley Goodfellow Craig, Watterson’s neighbours, said the cottage has the young and old enthralled.

“It has been great watching it evolve,” Gammage said. “It was a dead tree and we wondered if we were going to lose Dale (the face carved on the tree), and then he transformed a stump into this stunning cottage.”