After the threat of the loss of homeowners’ insurance, a 5-year-old treehouse is coming down.
LISBON FALLS – Jessica Holton and a carpenter friend built a sturdy treehouse for her son, Dillon, when he was 6. Her son and his friends have used their imaginations as they used the house as a fort for more than five years.
There are a lot of memories, Holton said, but the treehouse has to come down.
Holton said she received a letter in June from her homeowners’ insurance company’s underwriter. She said that for the company to continue to insure her property, the treehouse had to be dismantled and debris removed by February.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Holton said.
An inspection had been done on her property, unbeknownst to her, she said, until she received the notice. Not only did the treehouse have to be removed but about a half-dozen landscape timbers piled on the ground next to her garage also needed to be removed.
She called her local insurance agent. She said the agent hadn’t heard about it but promised to look into it.
Holton said she received a call back, and it was true. The treehouse had to go.
The local agent told her the company had said, “There was a potential for someone to get hurt,” Holton said. It came under the guidelines of a trampoline, she said.
“My son was very, very upset,” she said. “It is a big part of his life. He asked me if I could built something on the ground for him, but I don’t know if they would let me.”
The one-story treehouse was built 6 feet above the ground with one side attached to a tree and had three legs underneath it made of 4-inch-by-4-inch pressure-treated posts.
There were three walls and a porch with sturdy railings where needed, she said. A wooden ladder was made from 2-by-4-inch studs.
She estimated if she were to buy the materials it would have cost about $400.
“My friend and I built it strong enough to hold two or three adults,” she said. “I’ve limited it to four children up in it at a time. Everyone followed the rules. I had no problem with safety. … I felt it was very safe.”
There have been no problems with the house and no lawsuits filed, she said.
Now Holton has partially torn down the treehouse; she plans to remove the rest within a couple of weeks.
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