Living in the trees could be a reality for Fayetteville residents in the future.
The south metro community has given developers of Pinewood Forest, a more than 200-acre mixed-used project of homes, retail and hotels under construction in the city, special permission to build “treehouses” for residential use in its next development phase.
Unlike the treehouses built for children, the “treehouses” at Pinewood Forest would be built on the ground and would integrate trees inside the facilities or as part of the buildings themselves, said Rob Parker, president of Pinewood Forest. The three-story homes would need to touch the ground to be able to connect to plumbing, electricity and other utilities necessary to be fully functioning houses.
“Our goal is to create owned units and potentially even rental units so that people could experience living in the trees,” said Rob Parker, president of the development. “We’re working on both concepts. It is not without its challenges because our building codes don’t typically anticipate that.”
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Pinewood Forest is one of the most dense developments in Fayette County, which historically has eschewed compact living. The county is known for homes on an acre or more of land, golf course developments in Peachtree City and the preservation of a rural style of living.
Parker said Pinewood is considering building 30 to 50 of the “treehouses” on 50 acres of forest that is part of the development. The houses would be about 1,200 square feet in size. The first one could be offered as early as fourth quarter 2019.
“We are designing a couple of public treehouse spaces to introduce people to the concept, ones that would not be for housing, but for event space or visitor space,” Parker said. “It’s an untested market for a unique buyer. It’s hard to estimate how many we’ll build. The market will dictate that.”
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