Brentwood Treehouse of Horror
It seems that a Brentwood couple, a producer and his screenwriter wife, have drawn the ire of their plastic surgeon neighbor over the planned construction of an elaborate treehouse next door. It seems that the plastic surgeon next door had a problem with the proposed treehouse providing an elevated vantage point which allowed for easy viewing of his hottubbing activities. You can’t make this stuff up, folks.
Reading this story several of the details jump out at you and smack you about the head. First off, dig this:
The builder, Roderick Wolgamott Romero, whose creations cost $50,000 and up, assembled the structure around three eucalyptus trees using reclaimed wood, salvaged windows and vintage stained glass from Buenos Aires. It features a large viewing deck with a railing made from tree branches from the lush backyard.
Set aside the sonorous name of this “renowned” builder of treehouses for a second. Or that he has built one of his treehouses for Sting. Or that Roderick the Treehouse Builder (soon to have his own reality show–contact me) moonlights as the lead singer of the band Sky Cries Mary. YCMTSUF*
This yuppie retro trending back to a simpler time bullshit reaks of a BoBo’s misguided notion of letting their kids be kids in this krazee technology driven world. (You can put the whole American Girl doll phenomenon under this same heading.) Let’s go back to the olden days, you know, when we used to build $50K treehouses with stained glass windows imported from Argentina. Add to this the tiny detail that their kid is currently 18 MONTHS OLD. So it’s a good 8, 9 years before the kid even gets up there. It’s pretty clear who’s childhood is really being bought here.
And this quote from the dad is priceless. No doubt he was the spark in the “Drew Carey” writers’ room:
“We just want to make this a magical place,” said Firestein, whose credits include “The Drew Carey Show” and “In Living Color.” “It’s as if the city has come in and said, ‘We’re outlawing magic.’”
“Outlawing magic,” huh? You have to think that the AP stringer was framing the quote it for maximum absurdity by tucking in his ridiculous TV credits in same line. Well done, AP.
*You can’t make this stuff up, folks.
I don’t know… it’s their property. I sure as hell wouldn’t mind having a treehouse like that in my backyard!
Only in Los Anjealous!!!!!
Uh, is the accompanying photograph of the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse at Disneyland?
Bill Janovitz, sing of this.
I thought the city outlawed Sky Cries Mary in 1997.
I have found your site via my daily self-Googling, and I accept your challenge to sing of the Brentwood Treehouse, the Producer, his Screenwriter wife, their 18 month old child, the Plastic Surgeon next door, his hot tub, and of course, Roderick Romero, builder of said treehouse. Buffalo Tom will be reassembled immediately.
The city “outlawing magic” is by far the best quote I’ve read in a while, but there’s even more gold in this vein. The article is actually an original from Martha Groves at the LA Times. The AP chopped it up. I put the link in the URL field.
The quote continues… “”And where do we go from here? No viewing platforms? No climbing in trees? No swing sets? No children playing? It is, figuratively and literally, a slippery slope.”
First outlawing magic, then tree climbing, even *playing*. This really is a battle, not for a 600 sq-ft. treehouse, but for FREEDOM!
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