Local News

Girl, 14, Builds Lavish Treehouse, Township Ordering Her To Take It Down After Neighbor Complaint

May 19, 2015 / 6:56 PM EDT / CBS Pittsburgh

LEET TOWNSHIP (KDKA) - A front yard treehouse in a Leet Township neighborhood has everything a kid could want.

"It took like a lot of planning to do, and to figure out what should go where, and stuff," says the 14-year-old builder, Elise Truchan.

It was her eighth grade project at Quaker Valley Middle School.

A rope ladder is required to reach the first floor, and there's a built-in wooden ladder to a carpeted second story "penthouse."

Her getaway is filled with Harry Potter posters and nature is just outside the windows.

"There is a birdfeeder out here, and my grandparents got it for me," she says, rolling up the curtain that covers a sliding window.

She also has a battery-powered fan and light. Elise and three friends even had a slumber party in the second story room.

"I brought up a TV, and put the TV over there," she gestures toward a corner. "It's a flat screen, so we could watch movies and stuff."

But, when a neighbor complained, the Leet Township Council ordered the family to take the treehouse down by Oct. 1.

The township code prohibits such structures in front yards.

"At first, I thought it was a joke, but then I found out that it wasn't," Elise says. "So, then I got really sad."

Now, she's decided to enjoy it while she can. As for that class project?

"I got 'exemplary' on it, which I think is A-plus," she smiles.