Creative treehouses are the dreams of kids and for Lionel Buckett he made his dream a reality by building a whimsical ecofriendly treehouse 12 metres up in the air on his 626 acers of land in the Blue mountains.
My fiancé planned for us to stay here for our anniversary, not until we arrived at the house did I know where we were staying or what we were doing. It was the best surprise - never did I expect we would be going into the bush to say in a tree house!!
Situated on Mt Tomah, it has world heritage views of Mount Wilson and its surrounds. With not a single building in sight it is truly a blissful escape from the city. Lionel Buckett has collected 19 awards for his pioneering work building environmentally sustainable homes and his tree house is no exception. There has been no compromise for the luxuries in this ultimate tree house, it has a wood fire place, full kitchen, electricity, gas, internet, toilet, hot shower and even a spa bath all wrapped in 360 degree views. There is detail and love put into every single thing, everything is custom built for the space which highlights that this place was not built the easiest way but the most creative way and I think that is what makes this place and all of Lionel’s creations so unique.
The floor was made of big planks of hardwood that were kept in the natural shape of the tree, no piece was straight or even and the surface was kept with its raw chainsaw markings. This is just one example of how everything was perfectly imperfect like this, making it feel so warm and inviting yet playful and quirky.
Upon arrival we were greeted with a lady who came to give us massages up in the tree house. It was the perfect start to our get away, lying on the massage table drifting off to sleep as her magical hands worked on my muscles. The smell of beautiful essential oils in the air and the warmth of the fire against my skin as I listened to it softly crackle away.
We also had some food hampers lovely prepared for us that included a full home cooked dinner, apple pie, plus an array of local produce to cook for breakfast in the morning. It was really beautiful country style food and perfect for this kind of getaway.
The next day we decided to go to the Jenolan caves, I hadn’t been there since I was a kid with school. I had forgotten how beautiful and big the caves are in Jenolan. We went on a 3 hour walking tour of one of the caves, which I loved. There is also a free audio walking tour that you can go on where you can go at your own pace.
When we arrived back at the tree house for our second night it started to lightly rain. I remember thinking it wouldn’t be great to be in here for a big storm as there is a fair gap in the roof where the tree goes through the middle of the room, I wondered how wet it could get. I have watched countless episodes of the Tree House Masters (one of my many guilty TV pleasures!) so I understood that there always needed to be a gap in the floor and the roof around any trees going through a tree house to allow for movement and to also to protect the tree. Each one I had seen on there had made some form of rubber flap on the tree to cover the gap. This didn’t have that, you could see straight up into the stars!
True to my concerns late in the night a big storm rolled in, high winds and a whole lot of rain! However to rain surprisingly didn’t come in! I didn’t know how, but it was pretty amazing! The storm was actually really nice to be in, we felt safe and secure while we listened to the taping of the rain on the tin roof and the slow soft sway of the house rocking in the wind.
On our last day we went on a guided bush walk of Lionel's property, where were scaled down into the valley below to a small river. Waiting for us was a billy that we boiled up and had some hot tea! Our guide was fantastic; he had so much knowledge of the area and showed us some great historical pieces of machinery that were left there from the convicts, who were sent there for tree logging.
The massages, bush walk and food hampers were all organised through Lionel. He has been able to think beyond his accommodation to create a truly special getaway, choosing to create an experience rather than just the tree house.
Everyone we met were all good friends of Lionel and locals of the area, giving me a real sense of community.
Before going home we dropped in to the Blue Mountains Botanical Gardens as it was recommended to us by a number of locals. The grounds were beautiful there with lots to explore. There is also a really great restaurant in the gardens called Tomah Gardens which had more amazing country fresh food.
The Blue Mountains is filled with hidden gems, and I definitely will be back to check out Lionel’s latest creation - The Cave!
AK x