Seattle real estate expert and community leader, Jim Thorpe, has donated to help fund the construction of The Villa Treehouse at Villa Academy. The treehouse's main purpose is to provide various outdoor learning experiences, activities, and projects despite the weather. Jim Thorpe is passionate about giving back to the community and has a long history of supporting local causes. This latest donation is another example of his dedication to helping those around him.
Thorpe's construction team at Summit Capital Partners helped oversee the five-year development of the Villa Treehouse- including fundraising, permits, planning, and construction. Completed in the summer of 2020, the Villa Treehouse is the first permitted treehouse in the city of Seattle.
The 1,500 square-foot structure arches over a wooded slope on the campus of the Villa Academy, a private, Catholic PreK through eighth-grade school located in the Laurelhurst neighborhood of Seattle. Dubbed the “Classroom in the Sky”, this one-of-a-kind structure houses two different classes of 15 students at a time and is meant for and accessible by students of all ages. While the original intent of the Villa Treehouse was not to provide expanded learning opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic, it will undoubtedly help the school conduct classes with social distancing in mind.
The students of Villa Academy will certainly enjoy the many benefits of expanded outdoor learning at the Villa Treehouse. The new outdoor classroom fits in perfectly with the Villa Academy's focus on outdoor learning. Throughout the school's campus, students can explore the ecosystem of a forest rich with old-growth trees.
They release salmon fry at the school's lakefront and even examine water samples using a microscope, study birdlife throughout the campus and gather various data points from the organisms living in the school's organic garden. As the school wrote in its 2016 Fund-A-Need booklet, the Villa Treehouse would be "accessible from the ground level with a formalized overlook and gathering space to take advantage of views of Mt. Rainier and Lake Washington.”
"In childhood, treehouses hold sway over the imagination. They provide shelter but also a respite from an adult-sized world. They give kids a vantage point from which to see the world as it sometimes appears in dreams."
About Jim Thorpe
Jim Thorpe is a Seattle-based entrepreneur and a real estate expert with over 30 years of experience in real estate development. He has sourced over a billion dollars in real estate and is a master of acquisitions and off-market real estate. He is a past member of the Board of Trustees at Villa Academy and the owner of Summit Capital Partners LLC.
About Summit Capital Partners
Summit Capital Partners is a real estate development and management firm based in Seattle, WA, dedicated to finding and creating abundant opportunities. Their focus and expertise are in developing risk-adjusted solutions, for both quick deals and long-term portfolio strategies. Summit Capital aims to positively impact the neighborhoods and communities in which they operate.
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