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Q: When was the last time you were there?

A: Last week. I was doing some maintenance and meeting some of the people who have started finding it. I lived there last summer, but I didn’t build it to live in it, per se. I built if for everybody who can find it. And I actually freaked out and had a near meltdown when people started to. I guess I felt kind of vulnerable, and I nearly lost it and dismantled the tree house but then my fiancée kind of…

Q: Talked you down off the ledge?

A: Exactly. I remember being on the deck when two people found it. It is hard to explain what happens when people see it. It is the presence of the place, I think. It is breathtaking.

Q: What’s inside?

A: A desk, a chair, a guest book and enough room on the deck to sit down.

Q: How many people have signed the guest book?

A: Six. One guy who said he had visited said when he stuck his head out of the hatch it made him feel like a kid again.

Q: What are the neighbours like?

A: Multi-multi-ka-billionaires. I’m not sure we’d mix well.

Q: And the view?

A: A lot of branches. That was on purpose so it couldn’t be spotted from the air. There are mossy, rocky outcrops and you are looking at the other trees — 50 feet up. It’s the unadulterated beauty of being in the forest. There are a lot of bears. When we lived there last summer there was a bear that would wander by each morning.

Q: Did you have a tree house as a kid?

A: My dad built us one. It wasn’t an egg shape. It was basically a deck with railings. The funny thing is we didn’t spend much time in it. But I think it maybe seeded something.

Q: What’s you dream now, since you’ve crossed building a tree house in Whistler off the list?

A: What was manifested in the tree house: having a place on a beautiful plot of land is my dream. Except that maybe I actually own the plot of land, so I don’t have to live in fear for the rest of my life. I am also really tempted to try another tree house because I could do something much more stunning, either that or a completely new structure, maybe something mobile.

I’d also like to take another shot at retirement.

National Post

• Email: joconnor@nationalpost.com | Twitter: oconnorwrites

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