Yes, in Her Backyard

That's a lot of effort for a backyard treehouse. The mother of three teen girls, however, insists that it was worth it.

The treehouse in question adorns a tree in the backyard of Melinda Hackett, who lives in Greenwich Village, New York City. Hackett and her girls (ages 11, 13, and 16) are recently transplanted from rural upstate New York. They were missing a bit of the more rural elements of the northern part of the state, and so Hackett decided to write a check for $5,000 and have a most distinctive treehouse built, wrapped around a London Plane tree in the backyard of a townhouse built in the mid-19th Century.

Architects were called in, as were carpenters and interior designers. About five months later, the treehouse was complete. That's when the trouble started.

It seems that a neighbor didn't approve of the treehouse and waited until the thing was built before complaining to the Environmental Control Board. Hackett appeared before the board and argued her case, alleging that all she wanted to do by commissioning the circular treehouse was to offer a space that serves as the inner sanctum, clubhouse, and refuge for her daughters. The handwritten No Trespassing sign echoes that wish.

After months of legal wrangling, the Environmental Control Board dismissed the case. Hackett and her daughters got to keep their treehouses.

They might want to move that No Trespassing sign to the front of the house.