Inspectors came about a year ago, she said, and found the treehouse and several other code violations. She supplemented that income by renting out her son's former house and allowing campers to use the property.Ī disgruntled former tenant complained to county officials about the campers. The main house on the property has bathrooms she can use and a sleeping area for her if needed.įor 40 years, Chasser has made, at a nearby facility, and marketed Shawnee's Green Thumb Popcorn, which is organic and gluten-free and which she currently sells to Whole Foods - "hippie cheese," she calls it. Just outside, winding wooden stairs lined with a string of purple lights lead to a small open air bedroom.Ĭhasser said she would probably evacuate if a hurricane threatened but not much else would force her to leave.
The open-air ground floor includes the kitchen and a small living area lined with books and photos and a desk. The treehouse is nestled in a large banyan tree. The lot features a traditional house, large pond with a waterfall where Chasser can bathe, tropical foliage, a grass-roofed tiki hut, and fanciful signs such as "Please Do Not Feed the Fears" and "Be Here Now Street." The current dwelling is on land that was owned by her son, who built the treehouse but died in 2009. Before that, she lived for 15 years in another one on property owned by her brother in nearby Little Haiti after deciding she did not like air conditioning and would rather live in the fresh air. Instead, they are imposing an ill-fitting regulatory framework on her, and thus essentially fining her for being different."Ĭhasser has lived in her current treehouse for a decade. "The county's only concern should be whether her treehouse is safe. "Shawnee's treehouse is a peaceful, harmless structure that hurts nobody," said Bargil, who works for the nonprofit Institute for Justice law firm that advocates for private property rights. Bargil said the county is being overzealous for ordering the treehouse's destruction.
"It's an unfortunate situation that must be corrected for the safety of the residents and neighbors," county officials said in a statement.Īri Bargil, a lawyer looking into Chasser's case, said the county code has plenty of space for structures beyond a traditional home, such as servants' quarters or a guesthouse. The county's Unsafe Structures Panel ordered it demolished within a few months unless it is brought up to code. They found the treehouse's construction to be substandard and with improper and possibly hazardous electricity and plumbing. "I don't want them telling me what my happiness is because I don't fit in one of their boxes."Ĭounty inspectors are not backing down. It's just who I am," Chasser said, her flowing hair streaked with purple.
Purple tree house for free#
She has attorneys and an architect working with her for free on possible solutions and is holding a November fundraiser to pay the bills. It looks more like something out of Swiss Family Robinson than a simple child's retreat.Ĭhasser, who noted her protest history, said she won't give up easily. It's also home to her dogs, cats and a pet raccoon named Mary J. Now Chasser is fighting to keep her arboreal home, which is two stories, with a sink with running water, a stove, a refrigerator, a computer and a television. Not long ago, Miami-Dade County code inspectors discovered the treehouse, declared it unfit for human habitation and ordered it torn down. The 65-year-old grandmother who once protested the Vietnam War and nuclear weapons says she hates the oppressive feeling of walls and air conditioning, loves the open breeze and relishes the connection to nature in lush, tropical surroundings. MIAMI - For a quarter century, Shawnee Chasser has lived in a treehouse not far from downtown Miami.
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