Luxury Treehouse Prompts Schaumburg Officials To Seek Regulations
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Daniel Alexander's treehouse in Schaumburg might be the only one in an area couples can rent as an intimate romantic getaway, and village officials want to know beforehand if any other homeowners try to follow his lead.
No permits were needed when Alexander built an elaborate treehouse in his back yard seven years ago. It has a full-size bed, WiFi, cable TV, mini fridge, bar, coffee maker, microwave, fireplace, deck, and air conditioning.
"You don't need too much, because you get a nice breeze up there in the tree, but on super-hot days, it's nice to have," he said.
Alexander rents out the treehouse for $195 a night or $1,200 a week on Airbnb.
"We get a lot of people from Chicago. It's kind of odd. I mean, we get Lincoln Park hipsters who would never in their wildest dreams come to Schaumburg come out here to stay in our treehouse," he said.
Thursday night, the village's planning and development committee will meet to discuss proposed changes to the Schaumburg zoning code, to establish the first ever regulations on treehouses for anyone who wants to build them from now on.
"I don't think they're anti-treehouse, and I don't think they're going to stop people from building treehouses, they just want to make sure they're not too big," Alexander said.
His 112-square-foot treehouse was built 15 feet above the ground. The proposed regulations would limit property owners to one treehouse per lot, and any treehouse could only be built in a home's back yard. Treehouses could be no more than 25 feet high, 100 square feet, and would have to be at least 10 feet from the property line. A $15 building permit would be required before any construction takes place.
"I want to point out that it's just reasonable restrictions that we're trying to put on tree houses," said Community Development Director Julie Fitzgerald. "We're certainly not trying to prohibit tree houses in the village of Schaumburg."
Alexander's treehouse would be grandfathered in under the new regulations, so he would not have to meet the regulations unless it undergoes future construction.