Thanks to a couple of cable television shows in the past few years, treehouses have had a great resurgence. Treehouses are no longer poorly constructed sanctuaries for kids to escape their parents’ rule and a place to stash nudie magazines that they stole from their dad. Many treehouses are now professionally-built structures that offer accommodations to multiple people and include all of the best modern conveniences. But what if you don’t have the money or the trees to build a treehouse? You can rent treehouses on Airbnb, and people are doing so. A lot. So much so that the most popular listing on Airbnb is a treehouse.
Instead of renting out a beachfront hut near the pristine blue waters in Maui, Hawaii or a penthouse in New York City or a mansion in Hollywood or a lodge at the top of a mountain in Vail, Colorado, more people are opting to rent a treehouse in Georgia. An Airbnb listing titled “Secluded Intown Treehouse” is the most popular online rental marketplace and hospitality service. The treehouse, which is located right outside of Atlanta, was named as Airbnb’s “most wish-listed property in the world” at the beginning of this year. The popular treehouse is owned by Peter Bahouth, the former Executive Director of Greenpeace USA. He actually built the treehouse himself 18 years ago.
The trendy treehouse consists of three separate rooms connected by rope bridges with string lights. This unusual abode features antique furniture and parachute sheets. The treehouse, which has hosted wrap parties for the casts of “The Hunger Games” and “Dumb and Dumber To,” sleeps two and has a bed with wheels so you can roll it out and literally sleep under the stars. To unleash your inner Peter Pan and return to your youth of living in a treehouse, it costs a whopping $375 per night. For that price, you do not get heat or air conditioning, and you also don’t have a bathroom inside the treehouse. The potty is a 30-second walk to the owner’s house. The next available day to rent the now famous treehouse isn’t until April 2018, and the soonest available full weekend to stay there isn’t until a full year away in July 2018.
“I’ve tried to understand why it’s been so popular,” Bahouth told the Today show. “I think it’s a simple response to a complicated world for a lot of people.”
