Before our trip, feeling quite drained, I remember telling Josh that if I wanted to write some meaningful field notes for our getaway, I’d have to carve out a lengthy chunk of quiet time to find the inspiration, which I imagined was buried deep beneath all the tiredness. The past year has involved too much screen time, which I mostly accumulate through work, but admittedly also through the occasional late-night doom scroll.
It had been a long time since I’d gasped at the beauty of a place. Until Hårtwood.
September 30 | I’ll Be Around
After our three-hour drive from Guelph to Minden, Ontario, Cam greeted us warmly, and we immediately felt at ease. As if the sight of the most stunning treehouse in the distance wasn’t enough. Opening the door to Treehouse 001, I really did gasp. I was in total awe of the design. I quickly realized inspiration could strike in an instant if a space was beautiful enough, even if you’d been running on empty.
I walked into every room to take it all in, snapping iPhone pictures in disbelief and sending them straight to my Dad because I needed someone else to understand that I’d found a place like this. There was the openness, the warm tones of the walls, and the enormous windows that made the forest feel like part of the treehouse.
We changed out of our driving clothes and headed over to The Hydda to experience the Wine Bar in the Woods. It was every bit as dreamy as we’d imagined, and to our surprise, it was nice and quiet. This meant we got to spend some time with Cam, who walked us through the menu and made us drinks with so much care, right down to the final touches. We started with their signature drink, The Hydda, and a Paper Plane, then ordered another round: an Amaretto Sour for Josh and the best Espresso Martini I’ve ever had.
We were tempted to ask Cam a million questions, but we’d already booked an interview with him and Lauren, the founders, for the following day. We joked that we’d have to resist the urge and save our questions for the official interview.
A Rhye song came on through the speaker, and I told Cam it was a good one. That led us into a conversation about music, a favourite topic for Josh and me. We talked about how much we loved having a record player in the treehouse, and Cam mentioned how special it is to listen to an album in its entirety. Josh and I exchanged a look. We’d recently had that exact conversation ourselves.
I love when you realize you’ve been thinking about the same things as someone you’ve only just met.
We ordered a pesto pizza to enjoy back in our treehouse and talked through our plan to capture the whole next day. We wanted to wake up early enough to take in the morning light and enjoy the view from our bed, which we didn’t yet know was about to give us the comfiest sleep we’d had in months, if not ever. Josh is extremely picky about pillows. Wherever we stay, he usually brings his own, but this time, he never even took it out of the car. That’s kind of a big deal for him.
As we planned out the questions we wanted to ask Lauren and Cam, we took a moment to look out at the moon glowing in the distance, perfectly framed by the windows. We put on Yo La Tengo and listened to I’ll Be Around on loop while we brainstormed. I could already feel that familiar sadness creeping in, knowing our first day was coming to an end. Josh knows my brain works like this, so he reminded me that our alarms were set nice and early, and we had a whole day ahead of us to savour.
October 1 | There’s No Time, Round Like A Lime
We slept with the curtains wide open so we could experience what it was like to wake to the sight of towering trees surrounding us, their vibrant colours casting a golden light throughout every room. It isn't hard to wake up to a new day when this is the first thing you take in. It's only hard to leave the bed.
I made Josh a pourover, which took me back to my barista days. I often miss the sensory experience of it all. But making it here, with Josh and the trees, felt especially good. Every window was like a painting on the wall, and you could spend a lot of time just sitting and staring. That's exactly how we spent the rest of the morning in Treehouse 001.
Eventually, it was time for our interview with Lauren and Cam. We set up our gear, excited to learn more about the people behind the place we’d fallen in love with. The conversation came easily, maybe because their vision resonated with us, or because we could relate to them as another creative duo bringing an idea to life together. We learned about their backgrounds, personal inspirations, and love for nature and design. Lauren also mentioned wishing she’d chosen a different pair of socks, which made me laugh because I’d changed mine twice that morning before settling on the right ones.
After the interview, we headed back to The Hydda. I needed a coffee hit, so the Espresso Martini was calling my name. Josh got a beer, and we chatted with Shae, who we’d heard is incredibly talented at creating and styling drinks. Unsurprisingly, the Espresso Martini was just as glorious as the day before. We nestled into the velvet green couch and enjoyed our drinks while the rain began to fall outside.
It continued to rain for the rest of the day, but we’d come prepared. We pulled on our waterproof shoes and headed out for a forest walk, recording the sounds around us and taking in the smell of the drenched forest floor.
Earlier that day, I’d skimmed through the record collection and we were delighted to find Big Thief’s Double Infinity. Josh pointed out the lime on the album cover, which I’d always assumed was just a green ball. We spent the evening cooking our jackfruit tacos with Big Thief playing in the background. I kept thinking about something Lauren and Cam had talked about in their interview that morning, their idea of selling “nothing.” We hadn’t done all that much that day, yet somehow it already felt full. After dinner, we sat on the couch with a beer, the fireplace going, and listened to the rest of the album together. Then I heard the lyrics in No Fear: “there’s no time, round like a lime, destiny.”
Ahh. So it really was a lime.
October 2 | What’s the Use of Holding? It’s Unfolding
I tend to catch myself thinking about how much I’ll miss a place while I’m still in it. Fort Treehouse was no exception. But while I didn’t feel ready to leave somewhere that had made such a mark on us, I also couldn’t wait to get home and go through all our footage, to see it all again through the photos and videos we’d collected.
We rolled our luggage-filled cart back to the Crosstrek, packed up, and headed to The Hydda for one last coffee and a goodbye.
Before heading home, we decided to take a final walk through the trails and capture a few more photos and videos of the treehouses. I don’t think either of us was quite ready to be done looking.
There are a lot of things I’ll take with me from these few special days. When I was younger, I remember noticing synchronicities everywhere I looked, and how much they lit me up. I wonder if they happen less often now, or if I’ve just gotten worse at noticing them. Life gets busy, and between the challenges that come with time and the constant pull of a packed schedule, I think it becomes easier to move through the day without paying much attention to what’s around you.
At Fort Treehouse, I found myself noticing those synchronicities again. Cam talking about listening to albums in their entirety, just after Josh and I had talked about the same thing. Lauren’s socks, and mine. And the green blob that turned out to be a lime. I’d arrived convinced I’d have to dig for inspiration. But I only had to look up.
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Hårtwood - Treehouse 001
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Pesto Pizza (ordered from The Hydda)
Campfire Collection: Jackfruit Tacos
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The Hydda (The Signature Drink)
Espresso Martini
Paper Plane
Amaretto Sour
Beer by Slake Brewing
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The forest trails (rain or not)
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Big Thief - Double Infinity
Yo La Tengo - Extra Painful
Yo La Tengo - Fade (Deluxe Edition)
