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Superhosts Taryn and Colin of Portland, Oregon, love a good adventure. Within days of meeting, they were rock climbing and waterfall jumping. After they relocated to Taryn’s childhood home in Portland, they decided to fulfill a lifelong dream: to build a treehouse.

Colin, who fell in love with the woods as a child and helped his parents build their own treehouses in Ohio as an adult, was inspired to construct a fully engineered house, using trees as the foundation. Taryn, who was raised by an architect and interior designer and loved climbing trees as a child, was hooked. “The treehouse was equal parts outdoor inspiration and design dream,” she says.

This wasn’t going to be just any treehouse. It would be a place for their family and future guests to savor the views, digitally disconnect, and live amid artisanal wares that celebrate local craftsmanship.

Taryn works in apparel and Colin is in construction management, so they had the tools to build a unique treehouse and hospitality brand. They just had to figure out how to afford it.

The first thing Taryn and Colin did was list their Portland house on Airbnb. They spent most of their weekends camping anyway, so why not host their space to help pay for the treehouse?

This was also a chance to practice hosting, and they discovered they loved it. Before long they were tracking their hosting stats and learning new hosting tips and tricks in the Resource Center. By the time they were ready to build the treehouse, they were Superhosts.

When they found a forested 16-acre lot with views of Mt. Adams in White Salmon, Washington, they pounced. It was time to turn the dream into reality.

Hosting their home had become a stepping stone to help afford their next project, so they decided to try it again. This time, they bought a tiny house where they could stay during the treehouse build and host guests when they weren’t using it. It was bare bones, but their guests loved it.

“We were nervous that it was too primitive to be an Airbnb, but that was a mistake,” Colin says. “We got the money we spent on the Cedar Shack back within the first year of renting it.”

Taryn and Colin say they rely on the “maximum exposure” their listings get on Airbnb. “We couldn’t [have built the treehouse] without Airbnb,” Taryn says. “We were confident in our business plan because we knew we’d immediately have high occupancy rates.”

After a year building and preparing their unique space for guests, they were ready to unveil the Klickitat Treehouse on Airbnb in March of 2020. Just as their listing went live, the pandemic hit and much of the country shut down.

“It was crickets,” Colin says. “We didn't get any bookings for the first 30 days after we launched. And we’d put everything on the line to get this going.”

But people yearned to travel off the beaten path, and eventually the bookings came. “In hindsight, it was really cool that we were able to spend a lot of time there first,” Colin says. “We got to fully immerse ourselves in what we're offering.”

There’s no wifi at the Klickitat Treehouse. Taryn and Colin created the space to disconnect from the digital world and reconnect with the natural one.

“Seeing that switch flip for families is powerful,” says Taryn, who’s read many guest reviews about the power of putting away the screens. “People enjoy the experience so much. They say they haven’t talked to their kids like this in ages.”

In addition to the guestbook, they provide an “almanac,” in which guests—including birders and kids—can leave field notes. It’s filled with black bear, deer, and wild turkey sightings—not to mention kids' drawings.

It’s all part of a broader plan. “How do we plant the seed for people to be better stewards of the environment?” Taryn asks. “Connecting people to the wilderness, so they can understand it and therefore care about it, is a big part of our vision.”

Since Taryn and Colin are obsessed with architecture and design, they wanted their treehouse to be beautiful and distinctly curated. If it was to be a truly unique space, it should be filled with unique things.

They proudly showcase local ceramics, linens, and art in the treehouse—a shop on their website features the brands—and they’ve stacked books about treehouses on the coffee table, including treehouse guru Pete Nelson’s book featuring Colin’s parents’ treehouse.

Taryn and Colin envision becoming full-time hospitality entrepreneurs. “We’re always looking for a property where we can build five to 10 treehouses, and level up,” Colin says.

But they have more than their financial future in mind. Having spent so much time in rural areas, they see treehouses that celebrate native flora and local makers helping reinvigorate communities.

“We’re always thinking about how we can plant roots and contribute,” Colin says. “Whether it’s education, environmental stewardship, or helping underprivileged communities have outdoor experiences, these are paramount in our vision.

“It’s very important for us to partner with other small businesses in the area to promote each other—another aspect of using Airbnb to strengthen community as opposed to dividing it.”