‘Simpsons’ producer’s epic tree house may get the ax after ‘absurd’ fight with city
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An epic treehouse that has stood in Sherman Oaks for 24 years now teeters on the brink of destruction after the city of L.A. declared the whimsical creation a crime.
“The Simpsons” producer Rick Polizzi built the treehouse, dubbed Boney Island, in his front yard as a playhouse for his daughters. He says it’s become a quirky local landmark loved by the neighborhood children and visited by celebrities such as Halle Berry, Christina Aguilera and Will Ferrell.
But the city says it runs afoul of building permit requirements and has pursued criminal charges against him.
For the last eight years, Polizzi has fought to keep the three-story structure standing, spending more than $50,000 on legal fees and zoning permits. Now, with a trial looming in March, Polizzi is preparing to tear it down rather than spend thousands more defending it in court.
News of the tree house’s imminent demolition has been met with public outcry; more than 6,000 people have signed a petition to try to save it.
“If nothing happens in the next few days, that [demolition] is what’s going to happen,” Polizzi told The Times. “I’m not spending another $30,000 in court for a silly tree house. I know it means a lot to everybody, but I’ve got to stop the bleeding.”
Polizzi, a three-time Emmy Award-winning producer, built the structure with the help of fellow “Simpsons” producer Michael Mahan. Polizzi said it quickly became a favorite gathering spot in Sherman Oaks and, on Halloween, attracted thousands of visitors as part of an annual Boney Island display.
Many of its fans are now speaking up to try to save it.
“In all the deep sadness we have felt in the city plagues by fires and fears, you can’t let this beautiful magical tree house, which brings so many people insane amounts of joy, stay?” wrote actor Missi Pyle in an Instagram post addressed to City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who represents Sherman Oaks.
Raman said her office had worked hard with Polizzi and city departments in the past to try to save “this beloved staple of the Sherman Oaks community.”
“Our goal has always been to find a pathway to preserve the Treehouse, which has brought so much joy to neighbors and our office is willing to continue that work in cooperation with Mr. Polizzi,” the council member said in a statement shared with The Times.
The quirky structure is sandwiched among three gum trees and features a secret door, indoor bar, tiki torches, hammock, and rope-and-pulley system for hoisting up supplies.
The L.A. Department of Building and Safety filed a code enforcement violation against Polizzi in 2017 on account of the tree house lacking building permits. The city then filed misdemeanor charges against him in 2020, which he has been trying to get dismissed ever since.
A spokesperson for the Department of Building and Safety did not respond to a list of questions on how the structure could be brought into compliance, noting only that the case is with the city attorney’s office. A spokesperson for City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto did not respond to a request for comment.
The tree house has been featured in television shows “America’s Got Talent” and “Treehouse Masters” as well as in a Make-a-Wish Foundation advertisement. Its fantastical design inspired an episode of “The Simpsons” where the animated family rebuilds their backyard playhouse after a fire.
Former L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and his daughter have visited the tree-top hang, Polizzi said.
But despite the history, Polizzi says he’s ready to give up the fight.
After a pretrial conference went poorly this month, Polizzi said he lacks the financial and emotional stamina to battle the city with no guarantee of prevailing at his upcoming March trial.
“It [pretrial] was just kind of infuriating. We didn’t get to have our say on anything,” he said. “The city attorney said they’re not dropping the criminal case. It’s either get all these permits or tear it down completely.”
His attorney, Paige Gosney, is dismayed by how the situation has unfolded.
“It’s an iconic structure in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood that’s going to be gone for no reason other than bureaucracy run wild,” he said.
Gosney said he had worked closely with Polizzi to try to bring the structure into compliance with city building codes, a process that he says has proved to be a Herculean task.
They were able to secure zoning permits in 2023 but have since found it impossible to secure building permits from the Department of Building and Safety given the stark differences between a tree house built for outdoor play and a single-family residence built for indoor dwelling.
“Staff wanted soil reports, structural designs, Americans With Disabilities Act compliance and all this stuff that is just kind of absurd,” said Gosney. “At the end of the day, this is a tree house, and it’s an existing tree house that has been there for almost 30 years.”
Polizzi said he was willing to pursue the building permit process but balked at the fact that it would cost him thousands of dollars to have an architect draw up designs for a structure he had already built. He ultimately never submitted a building permit application.
He did submit an application to the Department of Building and Safety for a waiver from the building permit requirement in April 2024, and says he hasn’t heard back since.
Polizzi said the city paid little attention to his tree house for the first 16 years of its existence, until a neighbor complained about the massive crowds the Halloween events were attracting in 2017.
After the city was aware of the structure, it issued a code enforcement violation, he added.
Polizzi said to avoid complaints about crowds, he relocated the Boney Island spectacle to Griffith Park and later to the Museum of Natural History, where it currently serves as an annual fundraising event.
He maintains that the tree house is structurally sound and secured from potential intruders or squatters with multiple locking gates.
“We’ve never had any problems in 24 years,” he said. “We didn’t lose a single shingle in the last windstorm we had with all the fires.”
Gosney, the attorney, said there are two pathways to saving the tree house — the city attorney’s office could drop the case, or the Department of Building and Safety could approve the building permit waiver.
“The whole thing is absurd,” he said. “It is literally just a tree house. Let’s use some common sense.”
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