IT worker-cum-carpenter, Joel Allen, harbored a dream of creating a house that organically meshed with the environment of his much loved woods around Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. His dream became a reality after finding friends in two fresh new architects who set him on his path of a uniquely egg shaped treehouse, now known as the HemLoft Weekend Cabin.
The ideal location was decided after a months-long quest to find the perfect tree on the perfect spot of land. Without the sum of money required to buy property, Allen took the risk of squatting in the public forest, he recalls "Finding that perfect spot on crown land wasn't so easy, I had an informal checklist of requirements, the most important ones being that it within a reasonable distance to a road, yet out of sight and out of earshot of human traffic. The other requirement was hard to qualify, but was of prime importance: the shape of the egg would need to suit the environment and be proportionate to the tree. I couldn't explain exactly what that was but I figured I would know it when I saw it."
After finding a patch of old growth beyond the major development of multi-million dollar homes, Allen began a long process of secret construction, which lasted over several years.
Three years after the project was complete, Allen wanted to share the beauty of the treehouse with the world, but as it was built on crown land he does not technically own it and now risks the very real possibility that it will be torn down by officials, but for now, it stays hidden safely in the forest.
