By Ned Chala
Ellicottville has been growing exponentially in the past four decades. The houses and condos that have been built in the past 40 plus years are numerous. Not to mention, the dwellings that made up the village initially, have been refurbished and look as good as new to the older generation that watched the evolution of this town. All of the fields that were just on the outskirts of the village now have developments on them, and any property that lies vacant is going to have a house built on it. There is great demand for housing in Ellicottville as it has become an extremely popular destination during all four seasons. The Finnish development company Arctishe Boomhut claims they have the solution; they have begun plans to start building livable treehouses in the trees around the village.
Kimmo Sloof from Arctishe Boomhut has submitted the proper paperwork to New York State to begin the process of selecting the areas with the best trees to use as bases for the four to six room domiciles in and around the outskirts of the village. The state has forgone some local laws and is bypassing the local boards to get the project started. A meeting with the State land development officer for Western New York, April Skylark, has been set and a public hearing will be held as well. The planning is the first part, but The Villager has looked into the plans and found some interesting facts about these new style homes.
The trees are not built on or into, rather they make a stable base for the raised houses to set upon. Large timbers from former trees will be the main structural load bearing beams. The tree will still grow as it did, but the building around it will not be affected as the architects from Finland have come up with a bi-annual maintenance configuration. The tree will be part of the home and will allow for a natural setting inside the living room or bedroom. The maintenance includes readjusting insulation and electrical wires along with the plumbing to make sure that neither the growth of the tree nor the use of utilities are affected. It was also mentioned that since the house isn’t on land, taxes on these homes will be lower.
A large stand of larch and oak on the hill behind the Elk Creek development on Maples Road is said to be a perfect spot to build several smaller houses that the Finnish company claims will be less expensive and could fill the need for local housing. They noticed that many of the homes in and around the village appear to be for seasonal use only, so local year-round housing must be in high demand. They have also scouted eight trees in the center of the village that would be ideal for their larger tree condominiums. Arctishe Boomhut spokesperson Kimmo Sloof has pledged to make some of the most beautiful treehouses here similar to the ones his company builds in Finland just below the arctic circle. And some advocates for the forest creatures that this might displace have come forward to assure us minimal discomfort will come to them, but the many furry animals around the area plan a protest starting April Fool’s Day.