Grandmother Faces Eviction From ‘Paradise’ Treehouse

The treehouse, which features a picturesque back yard complete with a handmade waterfall, has become a local landmark for the people of Florida.

But Miami-Dade County officials are now ordering the purple-haired 65-year-old out of her open- air abode, claiming the treehouse wasn't built to code and is unsafe.

Shawnee said: “Everyone thinks that I am a little nuts and everybody says that when I am being crazy, that I am out of my tree.

"I didn’t choose this battle with code enforcement, it was handed to me on a platter. I have been fighting it for over a year now and crying a lot of tears.

“Code Enforcement are claiming violation after violation, for existing structures prior to me even owning the property.

"And now it has been stated that my treehouse has to come down.”

Shawnee’s treehouse, which was built in her late son’s back yard, is very different to your everyday childhood den.

It’s spread across two floors and features an outdoor bedroom and a kitchen with a range of working household appliances.

Chasser explained: “I have everything in my home that anybody needs. My little refrigerator, my little oven, blender, carrot juicer, wifi, and I have even cooked for 40 people in my kitchen.”

The grand treehouse, which took only two months and $45,000 to build, sits between an oak and a strangler fig tree on land owned by Shawnee’s daughter.

Shawnee has a particularly strong emotional attachment to the treehouse because of its connection to her son, Joshua, who passed away unexpectedly of a heart attack seven years ago.

She said: “This is my second tree house. My son died and it was his home. He did all the decoration and the woodwork around the pond.

“We worked in the yard every Sunday together. It was beautiful and it was his paradise.”

Shawnee’s tree house allows her to live amongst nature as she has no windows and also shares her bed with her pet racoon, Coonie.

The Miami-based grandmother claims that living in a treehouse is a necessity as she is too claustrophobic to live indoors.

She explained: “40 years ago I gave birth to my first miracle, Ren, my little girl and when I came home from the hospital, my ex-husband had a brand new air conditioner waiting for me.

“I woke up in the middle of the night having an anxiety attack and I turned off the air conditioner, opened up the doors and windows and it was that day I realised that I couldn’t live indoors.”

“So, since then I have lived in yards and teepees and travelled around the country in my camper.

"I also slept in a tent for nine months, walking around the country in 1986 for nuclear disarmament and when I got back to Miami I decided the last structure I wanted to live in was a tree house. So, I had my brother build it and it was magnificent.”

The 65-year-old now has her own Go Fund Me page where kind-hearted citizens around the world have been donating to help keep her tree house standing.

Shawnee said: “I feel like code enforcement are never going to take this home from me. I have heard from so many people that have volunteered to chain themselves to my tree house.

"It’s just beautiful, the love that is coming from all around the world.” And Shawnee is determined to stay living in the treehouse she calls home.

She added: “I am ready to just embrace life and stop crying, stop being sad, and to live my life in this tree house.”

Visit Shawnee’s Go Fund Me page, where you can find out more about her tree house and donate: https://www.gofundme.com/shawneestreehouse