Grandma lived in beloved treehouse for 17 years. $40,000 in fines has her tearing it down

From the multicolored gate to the tiki huts, Shawnee Chasser has long considered her front yard her paradise. But it is the statuesque treehouse that’s long been the highlight and subject of controversy over the past few years.

But now, after 17 years at the property, the 72-year-old has decided to tear down her treehouse to come into compliance with Miami-Dade County code violations levied against her dating to 2015.

The treehouse sits at the corner of 135th Street and Northwest Miami Court in the Biscayne Gardens neighborhood in unincorporated Miami-Dade County near North Miami, according to property records. Built in 1948, Chasser said she purchased the 1,985-square-foot property, including a two-bedroom home, for her son Joshua, who craved a home with walls. He died in 2009 at 32 from a heart attack.

“That was the saddest day of my life,” she said, “and I took over because he loved every inch of this place.”

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The front yard has been Chasser’s sanctuary. Facing the front of the property, to the left is a makeshift beach and to the right is a playground for her grandchildren. Near the intersection of “Be Here Now Street” and “Joshua’s Way” — a street sign tribute to her late son — is the treehouse, which Chasser said her granddaughter has made her own sanctuary of sorts. The treehouse also sits near an elaborate water fountain that Chasser said has doubled as a pool.

There are two tiki huts on the ground near the treehouse in the front yard, one of which includes a bed where Chasser sleeps, a television, and a smaller bed fit for a child. The other serves as living space with a kitchen and includes a stove and is adorned with family pictures. The scene masks the one-story home, which is fully shaded under the tree canopy.

Scattered throughout the property near the treehouse are a few portable toilets, hammocks, lawn furniture and at one point electricity ran through the tiki huts. Two campers also sit on the property, and a third tiki hut is in the back of the home. A structure added to the property when Joshua was still alive is scheduled to be torn down later this week, Chasser said.

“I’ll watch my sweet little home disappear,” Chasser texted a reporter Monday when asked about details of the demolition.

The treehouse was put on Miami-Dade County’s code enforcement radar in 2015 when a neighbor called 311, and said Chasser was living in and renting the treehouse. Chasser said she believes the county backed off when her property gained international attention.

The county has tried to work with her since Chasser was issued a citation in 2015 for an unpermitted treehouse with plumbing, said Lorna Mejia-Lopez, spokesperson for the county’s Department of Regulatory & Economic Resources, which oversees building regulations. Another case was opened in 2016 for having tiki huts and other structures on the property.

Those citations amounted to a combined $3,988.74. “The county isn’t taking any additional enforcement action on her right now,” Meija-Lopez said.

Chasser appealed the unsafe structures citations and the unsafe structures appeals board gave her two options: bring it up to code or demolish it.

Both cases remain open, and in the years since Chasser’s treehouse gained notoriety, she’s accumulated more than $40,000 in liens that are now in collections, according to the county. That amount stems from two neighborhood compliance cases, which were initially $510, in which she was living in and renting out the treehouse and for building the tiki huts and additional structures.

While Chasser paid the fines, even after appealing them, she never came into compliance with the county’s code and was assessed liens, which were initially for $11,481.50 and $11,320, but they have now ballooned to $21,035.37 and $20,791.58, respectively, due to interest, Mejia-Lopez said.

As for why she didn’t bring it up to code, Chasser said, “it seems like an impossible thing. I don’t even know where to begin.” She’s hired contractors to do the demolition work for her, starting with a structure in the back of her home.

She plans to demolish the treehouse, the tiki huts and the fountain beginning Monday, Sept. 18. Mejia-Lopez said the county has not given her a firm deadline to demolish it. With Chasser’s debt mounting, she launched a GoFundMe campaign in July to raise the money needed to pay contractors and her liens, among other fees.

Apart from her financial woes, Chasser is wondering whether she’ll be able to sleep under the stars and feel the rain on her as she dozes at night.

“When they demo, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said. “I’m trusting the universe. And that the universe will give me a place to sleep outside.”