FROM luxury lodges to hidden huts in the hills. Lord of the Rings-themed hobbit houses to geodesic domes. It’s fair to say there have been some wild, wacky and wonderful diversification projects popping up around Powys in recent years.

And top of the tree in terms of bewildering beauty and design might just be a Montgomeryshire-based eco-friendly resort of…treehouses.

The Living Room Treehouse Experience is a collection of six breathtaking homes high up in the secluded woods of the Dyfi Valley – named by Lonely Planet as “one of the top 52 weekends in the world”.

Located at Bryn Meurig Farm, Cemmaes, near Machynlleth, there is no electricity on site, with the luxury treetop residences powered by a woodburning stove which heats the treehouse, including the water that falls from the spring water shower. The treehouses have an ensuite Swedish compost toilet, with lanterns, tea lights and lamps setting the scene at night for a romantic few nights away with your partner or a peaceful getaway with the family.

Offering cosy wood-burning stoves, flickering candles, fast flowing streams and wobbly bridges, not to mention scenic walks and fascinating encounters with local wildlife, it’s no wonder the Living Room has earned rave reviews from a plethora of media outlets, which also includes Vogue, The Times and Country Living magazine.

The Good Web Guide this week featured the Living Room among its top six treehouse staycation destinations in the UK. But while farm or rural diversification projects are still very new, and many will never have heard of Living Room, Mark Bond has been singing from the treetops about them for nearly two decades.

“We were among the first treehouses in the UK,” said Mark, who together with business partner Peter Cannon, is the brains behind the wooded wonderland.

“We started with teepees and yurts 18 years ago, and we’ve evolved over that period. There are about 100 similar treehouse sites now in the UK, but we were the first.

“We design and build them ourselves. Peter is the designer, he’s worked at the Science Museum in London.”

Like the entire hospitality network in Wales, the coronavirus pandemic shut Living Room down for the best part of the last year. But the downturn in tourism as least gave Mark and his colleagues the chance to improve the homes and enhance the visitor experience.

“The unique thing is that the homes are totally supported by trees,” added Mark of the treehouses, which are built 30-40 feet off the ground.

“They have everything you need. They have water evaporation fridges, you cook on a wood burning stove, they’re totally off grid, although you can still have a hot tub. They’re completely autonomous homes, spread out on a 250-acre sheep farm.”

That sheep farm, at Bryn Meurig, is run by Richard and Jill Jones. Mark, originally from Northamptonshire, now lives in nearby Glantwymyn, with his Swedish wife and young son, who is learning Welsh. In fact, Mark, who says the project “plays to the strengths of Mid Wales”, is the only person involved who doesn’t speak the local lingo. “We only use local craftspeople from the Dyfi Valley and all materials come from within 10 miles of the site,” he says, proudly.

And despite the torturous nature of lockdown for the sector, the treehouse business appears to be as solid as oak.

“We’re fully booked until October next year,” he said. “We’re very popular. We have about 800 families stay with us a year.

“We’ve been featured in Vogue, a lot of national newspapers, and the feature in Lonely Planet tended to publicise walks or areas rather than individual businesses, so that was cool.”

While Peter is the design genius, Mark is the business brains, owning several small ones. After diversifying from teepees and yurts, he admits other projects are in the pipeline…or maybe that should be on the grapevine.

“Treehouses are one of lots of diversification efforts around the UK, but it’s important to keep up to date. We’re part of the glamping world but we’re a little more extreme. We keep wanting to build new and innovative ideas and we have some new plans and ideas for the future, which we’d like to develop in the area.

“The Dyfi Valley is a really exciting area, they’ve just built a new bike park which is amazing, and the area is full of makers and creators.”

To find out more or book a stop in the treetops, visit Living Room at their Facebook @livingroomtreehouses or Instagram page @treehousewales or the website at www.treehouse.wales.