22-04-2025
Finger Lakes Treehouse resort is the ultimate NY getaway. Take a peek
Scrolling through social media or flipping through home design television stations, you may come across exquisite fairy-tale-like getaways that seem far out of reach. But this private resort hidden within the trees is right on Lake Ontario.
Down a gravel road in Sodus, Wayne County, sits a serine 48-acre retreat called the Finger Lakes Treehouse.
The resort, surrounded by trees and nature, features five elevated a-frame "treehouse units" each with its own wood-burning hot tubs and fire pits, a communal sauna in front of a little pond, a communal workspace and clubhouse, Meishan pigs and of course, Curry the goat.
Darrel Maxam and Patrice Coney-Maxam built their first treehouse resort in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2016. They plan to build 20 treehouse hotels worldwide, and Belize is the next stop on their list.
Darrel Maxam is a combat veteran who fought in Afghanistan in 2010. He came home from serving with what he calls "invisible scars," including PTSD and a traumatic brain injury.
"I used that kind of as a fuel to calm my mind down, and I started building so I turned myself literally into a carpenter," he said.
Maxam began studying carpentry and woodworking and then began building tiny home treehouses in Atlanta, Georgia, which would become the first resort property for Maxam Hotels. Two years later, the couple purchased the 48-acre property in Sodus, as it had always been a dream of Coney-Maxam's mother for them to build in Upstate New York, where Coney-Maxam grew up.
"So we brought it back home and we started the business," Maxam said. "We got a lot of support from the local community."
The resort became a major hit, and now the couple is working on expanding to add five more two-person villas, tents, and tiny homes. Each villa comes in a pre-manufactured kit designed by Maxam and shipped from Finland. Once they clear customs and arrive on the property, Maxam said it will take his team about three weeks to get them up and running.
"No one builds as fast as we do," he said. "We work roughly 13 to 15 hours a day, we take no lunch breaks, and we work seven days a week."
These pre-manufactured kits designed by Maxam can also be purchased for customers interested in starting up their own getaway.
The couple and their four children are currently living in Malaysia but plan to move to Panama soon. Maxam arrived back at the upstate New York property to begin the expansion process.
In the future, they hope to have resorts in Tenessee, the Carolinas, Colorado, Utah, Washington, and even globally, with their next build starting in Belize soon.
Curry, a white fluffy goat, wears bells so that Maxam and the maintenance guy, who holds the fort down when the Maxams are away, know where she is. She likes to roam around like the queen of the resort. She often greets guests when they arrive at the clubhouse, the first stop for guests when they arrive at the property.
The clubhouse, or communal workspace, is where guests can purchase snacks, get work done, and rent a buggy to transport their belongings to their treehouse unit.
Each unit is an a-frame stock cabin six feet in the air that can sleep two people. It has a bedroom, a bathroom, and a small kitchenette and comes with its own wood-burning hot tub and fire pit, surrounded by the peaceful sounds and sights of nature.
"The experience is just to hang out, chill, relax, to be in nature, because we are surrounded on 40 acres of land," Maxam said.
The property also includes two airstreams, a tiny home, and a barn where they host weddings and will soon have tents for the summertime.
Maxam said another enjoyable experience for the guests is getting to hang out with the Meishan pigs, a Chinese breed of domestic pig known for their high-quality pork, in the back of the property. The pigs, most of which are babies that Maxam is raising, have free roam of a seven-acre fenced-in space with their own small a-frame huts.
"They just love life," he said. "They just eat and dig up the entire land for bugs and grubs, and the guys on the maintenance team here take really good care of them."
Guests can hop the fence in the summer and winter to hang out with the pigs when it's not too muddy.
Though the Finger Lakes Treehouse is busiest in the summer season, it's open every day year-round and stays booked 50 percent of the time in the winter, according to Maxam. It is about eight minutes away from Lake Ontario, so in the summer, guests can enjoy all of the water activities and trails within the area.
Booking prices range roughly from $250 a night during the week to $350 and up on weekends and holidays. Some of the units also allow pets.
Maxam said that the units tend to book up fast in the summertime, and the majority of them are already booked for the remainder of April. To check upcoming availability and to book your stay, visit
"It's pretty much just like a landscape hotel," Maxam said. "This is a place to just to disconnect, a place to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, or even other special occasions."
— Madison Scott is a journalist with the Democrat and Chronicle who covers breaking and trending news for the Finger Lakes Region. She has an interest in how the system helps or doesn't help families with missing loved ones. She can be reached at MDScott@
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Finger Lakes Treehouse resort is the ultimate NY getaway. Take a peek
