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This Purple-Haired Grandmother From Florida Lived In Tree House For 25 Years Before Being Told She Has To Come Down

By Trisha Faulkner
Published on: 05:06 PST, Sep 5, 2016

Shawnee Chasser, better known as the purple-haired grandmother from Florida, has lived up in a tree house for nearly three decades. According to Miami Herald, the Miami-Dade County now says the purple-haired grandmother from Florida has to come down from her tree house. This grandmother from Florida has been fighting the Miami-Dade County over her tree and tree house for a little more than a year now. To this purple-haired grandmother, this tree house is a much more peaceful way to live than a house with walls, windows, and air conditioning.

According to the Miami-Dade County, the tree house was built illegally, is not a safe place to live, and needs to be demolished in the next four months – despite the fact that the woman has called it home for more than 25 years.

The purple-haired grandmother from Florida – who once participated in a march from California to D.C. to protest anti-nuclear arms – claims that taking down her tree and tree house is never going to happen.

“I’m [The grandmother] not taking down anything. I’ll chain myself to that tree house.”

It was several decades ago that this purple-haired grandmother from Florida first discovered her extreme aversion to living indoors. She has slept in a tree since 1992. Her brother, Ray Chasser, built her the first outdoor home at the Earth N’ Us farm. He mounted telephone poles and wrapped the home around a pithecellobium tree.

The purple-haired grandmother from Florida later moved to her son’s home and ended up getting a new cottage with curved wooden steps that lead right up into the trees. The second story of her tree home is just large enough to fit a double bed for her. The ground floor of the tree house features a kitchen stocked with a small oven and a sink as well as a small circular living room with a ceiling fan to keep things cool. Her tree house is decorated in family pictures, and there is even a small couch where a 2-month-old raccoon the purple-haired grandmother from Florida named “Coonie” likes to sleep sometimes.

This purple-haired grandmother from Florida who walks around her tree house barefoot, claims there is no better way to live your life.

“When I am up in my tree house in thunder, lightning and rain, I am in heaven. There’s nothing nicer, more spiritual, more wonderful.”

This changed for this purple-haired grandmother from Florida about a year ago when someone called to complain about how Chasser was running the property as if it was an apartment complex. Chasser believes it is a booted tenant who caused the problem. The purple-haired grandmother from Florida was issued a citation for illegally running a rooming home and work that was conducted on the property without proper permits including a fountain, a chickee hut, a pond, and her beloved tree house.

The county claims the issue with the tree house isn’t the fact that the purple-haired grandmother from Florida lives there, but the fact that it is not safe. The county claims the strict building code rules are in place to protect people from harm. The county goes on to say the woman is welcomed to live in a tree house, but it must be one that meets building codes and is safe for her to live in. The county claims that things like electricity and running water would have to be installed. This week, the county gave the purple-haired grandmother from Florida three months to tear down her tree house.

The purple-haired grandmother from Florida has already paid at least $3,000 in fines and will likely end up paying another $7,000 in liens from the county.

“They’re creating a campground out there. You just can’t go into a residential property and start charging outsiders to come in. We’ve got neighbors who we’ve got to protect their rights also. It’s just a combination of situations that haven’t been well thought out.”

CBS Miami reports the tree house is treated as if it is a landmark. It is used as official marketing material, and it survived Hurricane Andrew.

This purple-haired grandmother from Florida claims she does not have enough money to hire professionals to bring the tree house up to code. Furthermore, the county is telling her she’d have to apply to the zoning department to get permission to inhabit the tree house in the first place. This purple-haired grandmother from Florida is not giving up, though. She has filed an appeal and has no intention of leaving her tree house.

[Image via Shutterstock]

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