Posted on July 21, 2012 – 11:12 by Susan DeFreitas, EarthTechling
If you ever had a tree house as a kid, or saw The Return of the Jedi, or both, chances are, you’ve dreamed of a tree house village.
Erica and Mateo Hogan did, and in 2005 — with the help of some friends who shared that dream — they created Finca Bellavista, a tree house community nestled high in the canopy of the Costa Rican rainforest connected via ziplines.
Billed as the world’s first planned, modern, sustainable, and truly arboreal tree house community, this neighborhood (which comes to us via Inhabitat) is located in the south Pacific coastal region of Costa Rica.
Offering comfortable-yet-rustic private lodgings for those seeking a home (or a second home) in the trees, the neighborhood features a base camp with a dining hall, an open-air lounge (with Wifi, of course!), a rancho, a bath house, a campfire ring and a wedding garden.
Nearly half of the community’s SkyTrail transportation network is currently up and running, offering views of the forest canopy and Bellavista River, which runs through the property. Treehomes are now starting to speckle the skyline, along with a handful of cabinas and treehouses that are ready for rentals and tours.
The community offers eco-lodgings for the tourist craving a natural retreat from civilization — the closest town to the community a school, a church, a pulperia, a bus stop, a handful of houses, and of course, a soccer field, but nothing else: no souvenir shops, no mini-malls, no billboards and no bars.
And for those who’d like to make that kind of peace and quiet a regular part of their lives, the community offers a limited number treetop “plots” where you, too, can building your dream treehome. (A number of these are currently under construction.)
In addition to maintaining sustainable practices throughout the community — including sourcing all of its food from within five miles, and growing much of it on site — Finca Bellavista fundsconservation programs centered on the southern zone of Costa Rica, where it’s located. It also works to assist communities throughout Latin America in regenerating rainforest assets and restoring native habitats to encourage healthier lifestyles, economies and opportunities. More information is available online.