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BY REB STEVENSON
It’s a rite of passage: Boy meets tree. Boy climbs tree. Boy builds tree house.
But time marches on - eventually boy abandons tree house. More often than not, it’s because boy meets girl. And we all know where the story goes from there…
Not so in the case of Tom Chudleigh.
This 56-year-old’s imagination never did relinquish the fantasy of a hideaway in the forest.
“The local people don’t even know about it, really,” muses Chudleigh, as he leads the way down a path flanked by solar-powered lanterns on his 5-acre property. Chudleigh, who hails from Bowness, Alberta, runs Free Spirit Spheres with his partner, Rosey.
To the right, a placid pond quietly sparkles. Directly ahead, two geese forage for snacks.
A polite sort, Chudleigh makes the appropriate introductions.
“Christmas and Thanksgiving,” he chuckles.
The mise en scene is stereotypical Vancouver Island: cedar and maple trees aplenty, that invigorating “nature” aroma that’s so perfect you wonder whether the tourist board is secretly deploying it via helicopter load, and the Audubon choir chirping away in the background.
But all at once, Chudleigh’s dream project jumps out of a little clearing, shattering all earthly expectations.
His tree houses – sleek spheres named Eve and Eryn – are a far cry from the ramshackle forts of your youth. Resembling the offspring should a pumpkin and a giant eyeball ever mate, they hang from the branches like an Ewok village outpost.
Eryn - the larger of the two at 10.5 feet wide - accommodates three guests and rises 15 ft from the ground. A spiral rope staircase that wends its way around a tree trunk provides access to the front door.
Inside, Eryn is equipped with fully modern bells and whistles, including a microwave, fridge, sink, table and bed. Both spheres offer heating and electricity. Think that’s advanced? You can even plug in an iPod or MP3 player and rock-a-bye to a custom soundtrack.
Eve is a smaller, toned-down version of Eryn. Two people with a combined weight of 305 lbs can cozily bunk in for the night.
“It’s a pretty luxurious way to experience the forest,” says Chudleigh.
In both spheres, large windows adjacent to the sleeping areas provide a perspective on dawn normally reserved for squirrels and woodpeckers.
Chudleigh tells the tale of a mother and daughter who recently stayed in Eryn. The evening was so blustery he felt compelled to check on their well-being and offer up the safe harbour of his guest room. “They said: ‘absoulutely not! We’re enjoying it.’”
Thrill seekers notwithstanding, safety is at the forefront of Chudleigh’s mind. In fact, he makes a point of sleeping in the spheres on stormy nights to study the dynamics of his creations.
“You could break two of the three tethers and they would still stay up,” he says.
Still, some visitors do grapple with vertigo.
Case in point: an American couple thought it would be a scream to have a pizza delivered to their sphere. It came as a shock when the “delivery boy” appeared in the form of a 300 lb woman in a muumuu who was terrified of heights.
To answer that inevitable question: no, the complex does not feature a lifted latrine. There is, however, a nifty composting toilet on terra firma, which is accessorized by felt pens and has been enthusiastically graffittied by users. Just be sure to deploy the lever that opens the hatch – or, put succinctly by a sign: “Don’t Crap on the Flap.”
More civilized on-site amenities include a sauna/bathhouse with a covered porch and barbeque. Chudleigh has also rigged up a nine-hole Frisbee golf circuit on the grounds.
Just 14 km up the road, the Horne Lake Caves are a tourist hotspot. Mount Washington, Horne Lake Provincial Park and the town of Qualicum Beach are all within close proximity, and the Little Qualicum River and Salmon Hatchery can be accessed on foot.
But a perusal of Eryn’s guest book leaves no doubt as to what really makes visitors’ spirits soar: the unique experience of bobbing amongst the boughs like a Christmas bauble.
“In the dead of winter, when we’re arguing about the car, not talking, whatever…when he’s going off to college or getting married...I’ll always have this memory of us hanging in the trees and laughing.”
Free Spirit Spheres
Address: 420 Horne Lake Road
Qualicum Bay, British Columbia
Phone: (250) 757-9445 or (250) 927-2525
Web: www.freespiritspheres.com
Cost: Eryn - $175/night or a weekend special of $299/2 nights. There is a $35/night surcharge for a third party.
Eve - $125/night or a weekend special of $199/2 nights.
Due to liability considerations guests must be 14 years old and up.
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