Forever a Kid: Making a Treetop Village for a Living

Kevin Schandelmeier builds tree forts and adventure parks in the forest. A jack of all trades and needing some more fulfillment in life in his late 30s, Kevin went on a bike ride to clear his mind and stumbled across a Treetop Trekking park being built and he knew immediately it was what he was supposed to be doing. 11 years and numerous parks built later as the construction manager at Treetop, Kevin has found his True Calling.

Kevin has made a career out of building tree forts. A lifelong fan of Star Wars, many of Kevin’s parks are inspired by Ewok Village. Kevin also built an underground labyrinth that resembles Hobbit World. The tree house village is connected by nets, tunnels, tube slides, and zip lines.

Finding the right forest and building inside of it is key. Kevin needs to fall in love with the forest before he does anything, and then respect the forest during the entire building process.

Kevin and his team will have to look at different species of birds, bats, insects and every type of tree. The building process works with and around the forest as not to interrupt nature.

Kevin hopes to one day live in a treetop utopia where he can zip line to the garden to get fresh vegetables, take a rope bridge to the yoga studio, all while being totally self-sufficient. Kevin’s creative building process comes from being a big kid and never wanting to grow up. He just wants to build stuff, have fun, and live in the forest with his dog.

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