Treetops Hotel

Treetops Hotel is a hotel in Aberdare National Park in Kenya near the township of Nyeri, 1,966 m (6,450 ft) above sea level on the Aberdare Range and in sight of Mount Kenya. First opened in 1932 by Eric Sherbrooke Walker, it was literally built into the tops of the trees of Aberdare National Park as a treehouse, offering the guests a close view of the local wildlife in complete safety. The idea was to provide a machan (hunting platform on a tree during shikar in India) experience in relative safety and comfort. From the original modest two-room tree house, it has grown into 50 rooms. The original structure was burned down by African guerrillas during the 1954 Mau Mau Uprising, but the hotel was rebuilt near the same waterhole and has become fashionable for many of the rich and famous. It includes observation lounges and ground-level photographic hides from which guests can observe the local wildlife which comes to the nearby waterholes.

The hotel is known as the location where Princess Elizabeth acceded to the thrones of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms upon the death of her father, King George VI, while she was staying there in 1952.

Treetops (state park)

Treetops is the former estate of torch singer and actress Libby Holman. It forms the southernmost part of Mianus River Park and is overseen by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection as the Mianus River State Park. The larger Mianus River Park, which straddles the border of Stamford and Greenwich, is composed of Treetops (94 acres), Mianus River and Natural Park (110 acres owned by the Town of Greenwich), and Mianus River Park (187 acres owned by the City of Stamford).

In 2001, a successful effort was made by local citizens to save the estate from development. As a result, 94 acres of pristine grounds were preserved as a state park, with a further 11 acres around the Treetops mansion covered by a conservation easement. Many rooms in Holman's mansion have been restored by its current owners. These include the studio of Holman's third husband Louis Schanker, a renowned abstract artist.

In 2006, the Treetops Chamber Music Society’s annual concert series made Louis Schanker's studio its home.