Val Kilmer’s tree house
Batman star in his belfry
Nobody’s saying he uses his utility belt to winch himself up there, but he sure loves to get away. Val Kilmer’s love for nature, particularly trees, has deep roots. His second cousin Alfred Joyce Kilmer wrote the famous poem “Trees” in 1913.
Kilmer eventually will ‘build a new house here by the river, have some organic gardens to farm what I need and just get back to the land. In a way, this treehouse is my first step in that direction. Look at this tree. It’s so solid and yet so fragile that it moves with the wind,” he says, grasping one of the oaks. “There’s a sense of freedom and wonderment up here.”
TREES (1913)
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
And lets face it - you can’t live in a poem. (Trees and Other Poems (The Collected Works of Joyce Kilmer - 10 Volumes)
‘In places like this,’ he says, ‘I can figure out what I’m all about. I lived in New York for ten years and loved it, but I think once you find out what you really want, it’s important to live where you pray the best, where you’re the healthiest.’
We first mentioned Val Kilmer’s treehouse last winter. Its on his ranch, built into the side of a mountain and supported by five oak trees. The structure was built with wood from an old barn, as well as limbs and fallen trees from the property. Metal was taken local salvage yards. But others have written about it a lot since then. Now USA Today has revealed more details.
Kilmer commissioned Roderick Romero to design the structure — known for his attention to the health of the trees involved — as well as eco-sourcing of the building materials.
Kilmer specifically wanted the structure to blend in with the surroundings — staying true to his eco values. This treehouse is located on the same 6,000 acres of land that the actor wishes to build a massive eco-village on.
And Kilmer has been hands on through the process. He told CNN: “I put every darn nail in this treehouse. It’s all built with screws, you see. That’s my little contribution.”
For the Batman star, its all about beauty: ” I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree,” he says.
