Ridgeline Community Treehouse Approved

Imagine looking out past the forest canopy onto the distant Adirondacks, the pink glow of the sunset spilling through their peaks. Imagine being suspended fifteen feet above the earth in a silent congregation of conifers with the face of a hill dropping sharply beneath your feet. Imagine feeling the peace in the air and the life in the woods on your skin and in your bones. Imagine unwinding at the Ridge Perch at the College, a 113-square-foot circular structure that a group of students plan to erect at the ridge of the Ridgeline Woods by the summer of 2016.

Julia Rossen ’16 originally conceived of the treehouse for her MiddCORE project in January 2014, after a conversation with her mother, alumnus Kate Troast ’76. Troast described to her daughter a treehouse that used to be on the College’s property during her time at the College, and Rossen was inspired to propose her own treehouse as a new community space. Her idea was also inspired by the David S. Stone ’74 Treehouse Fund, which funds community projects that do not qualify for other sources of funding.

Rossen collaborated with Brandon Gell ’16 brainstroming for this project. Because the Space Committee rejected the initial proposal, wary of the hazard of students being up in a tree, Gell and Matt Gilbert ’16.5 worked on the project during Winter term of 2015 and are responsible for modifing the treehouse plan into its current iteration: The Perch.

Architecture major Morgan Raith ’16.5 has  also joined the project, working with them to bring it to fruition. Professor of History of Art and Architecture Pieter Broucke is advising the group, and Facilities Services Director of Operations Tom McGinn is eagerly on board as well.

The Perch will be accesible by a small bridge and mounted on a steel beam between two pine trees. Its main body will consist of close-fit six-foot cedar planks that organically slope down to a west-facing 42-inch glass railing. The Perch will also feature a bench lining its inner wall and a keylock entrance that limits visitors to the hours between dawn and dusk.

A 220 foot architectural path, accessible from Ridgeline Road, will loop toward it through the trees and lead to the Trail Around Middlebury (TAM). The project will be fully ADA compliant.

A place of retreat, the Perch will function as an alternative natural space of quiet, solitude, and creativity where individuals, groups, and classes that are usually cooped up inside can liberate their bodies and minds and connect with the outdoors.

“The purpose of it is an escape from college, which now more than ever seems to be something that’s important, with recent events, everyone hyper aware of stresses at school,” explained Gell. “All that we really have is The Gamut Room and the organic garden, but both of those spaces really function for specific groups on campus. The Perch, it’s not associated with anyone. It just is for the students.”

Gell also believes that The Perch will address students’ lack of ownership over campus spaces.

“That’s another really big problem with the campus in general,” he said. “The Perch could serve as a place where everyone knows that students made this and funded it. It’s like the solar decathlon houses in that everyone feels ownership over it.”

Yvette Lui ’15, who heard about the project in her architecture thesis studio, enthusiasticaly supports the idea of The Perch and approved of its design.

“I think it will provide a healthy escape for students from the school,” she said.

“I can’t imagine that anyone would not be really psyched about it,” said Gell. “It’s so within our grasp, too. It’s just, right now, a matter of money.”

The structure will cost around $21,000 to create and install. The team has already obtained $9,500. $2,000 came from the Treehouse Fund. The architecture department and individual donors contributed the rest of the money. The students are also waiting to hear back about their application to the Fund for Innovation. They hope to reach their fundraising goal by launching a MiddSTART campaign by the end of this academic year.