Manicou River Eco Resort. How we built our dream.

Manicou River Eco Resort. How we built our dream: Photo Story.

Once the tree comes down “Chops” the master tree cutter with a steady hand starts cutting to the lengths required with his chain saw.

I met a man in Portsmouth market who told me of two young Americans who wanted to build a tree house because they could not bear to clear the woods for a house. After trying some ideas they came down from the treetops & built on the ground. When we arrived we were up in the trees too. None of our trees were big enough for houses so we built a different kind of tree house.

The resort sits inside the old Everton Hall Estate. This was never used for housing but as a lime & bay plantation. The only roads that ran throughout were the hand laid stone tracks used for wagons. We had to cut an access road. The day came for the trees to come down. We were very upset at the loss of each one. The local children consoled us as we covered our ears. So sad.

All who know in the local community advised that the trees have to be fallen “between the moons”. This is the day after the full moon until the last day before the new moon appears. The days are very precise. This is because the sap is low in the roots at this time, which will prevent the wood being infested and eaten by insects.

Storing and Drying the Wood

Once the planking was cut it was stacked and stored to dry in a make shift shed on site. It was kept dry with a plenty of through air. We turned the wood every 2 weeks ensure it dried flat. From our experience it needs at least 3 to 4 months. We did lay some earlier but it continued to shrink.

The Foundations

We used whole trees sunk into the rock with concrete footings as the foundation poles. The trees were soaked in diesel & garlic to prevent rotting and termite attack. A Venezuelan architect who has been building under similar conditions for 50 years gave this tip to us.

The platform for the floor is made up of 6” X 8” hard wood beams cut by chain saw from fallen trees.

3 Hexagonal and the deck

Foundation Under View

Building the House Frame

All the uprights and beams are tree trunks with their bark removed. This is such a beautiful, romantic way to build BUT also very difficult and time consuming. We did not have one straight edge to work with. Each piece of wood had to be hand carved to fit the tree trunks to complete this amazing jigsaw house.

The trees standing in the center of the 3 hexagons are over 30 feet tall. Running from the tip of the roof down in to the concrete foundations.

Bell is looking up at Kevin thinking "Hey Crazy Man, where’s my bed going to be?"

Tree Trunk Structure

Phew! It works.

This is a great stage. To see all the planning, changing of plans, theories and dreams come together. Nobody on site has built a project like this before. Believe us when we say a there are days when a 2″ x 4″ ready cut pine looks real fine.

The structure is very, very solid. We sit on a volcanic mountain that has regular earth quakes but we do not move when there is a rumble.

The Roof

The roof is also whole small tree trunks attached together with nuts & bolts and finished with hand-made 3/4″ rope.

Why we chose Galvalum Roofing paint free roofing

Galvalum Roofing: Places First, Wins Green Metal

We needed the roof to fulfill 5 main criteria:Long lasting, corrosion proof and waterproof, Lightweight, Maximum heat reflection, Toxic free for rainwater harvesting, Available here in Dominica

Galvalume is sheet steel coated with 55% aluminum and 45% zinc alloy. This makes it durable and ensures it will not corrode for the life of the product. Even though the manufacturer promises the paint is not toxic and will not peel we chose the untreated finish so as not to contaminate our water.

When the sun shines on our roof our neighbours tell us “It’s like a jewel in the trees”.

Walls. What walls?

The lee side of the house is sheltered from the rain. We wanted to be able to have it completely open and quickly closed. Each section is made from white cedar panels that form louvres. The windward side has 50%/50% full red cedar panels and louvres. We closed it up after our first big thunder storm.

Eco tips

Rainwater harvesting without electricity.