Muddy Brook Treehouse: Hidden Among the Ferns

It’s one thing to escape the city. It’s another to arrive somewhere that feels transcendent the moment you walk in. Muddy Brook Treehouse is that rare Catskills refuge — a creekside home that feels both deliberately designed and lovingly nestled into its forested surroundings. Wide walls of glass draw the tall woods in, dissolving boundaries between indoors and out, and reclaimed‑style rafters punctuate the ceilings like remnants of a forest life lived before the house ever existed.

Sunlight pours in all day, illuminating spaces designed for pause: a corner chaise perfect for reading, a kitchen where morning coffee tastes better because the light is this good, and a deck that feels suspended above the creek’s gentle murmur. This is the kind of place that makes you slow down without even trying — where every moment feels considered, quiet, and deeply restorative.

The space

Muddy Brook is crafted around experience, not just accommodation. Every material, view, and junction of interior to exterior feels intentional:Inside, rafters and wood elements suggest a sense of history — like salvaged structure given new life — while the exterior sits lightly in the landscape with classic cabin‑esque wood and frame construction typical of the region’s forest retreats. Vast windows and warm woods create a dialogue between nature and design that never feels forced, only deeply welcoming.

Why Locèlle chose it‍

Locèlle chose Muddy Brook because it doesn’t just provide shelter — it restores. The home invites quiet mornings with coffee, afternoons in a hammock, and evenings under a canopy of stars. Sunlight across the wood-paneled walls, the scent of rain on the forest floor, and the sound of the creek all combine to create a sensory escape. Every detail, from the architectural lines to the forest trails, encourages presence, reflection, and delight.

Photography by Chris and Pam Daniele, dirtandglass.net