History

The idea to build a treehouse hotel came from our travels abroad, near and far. Again and again, we'd discover suitable plots of land that inspired us. But at some point, we realized that we ourselves live in one of the most beautiful regions of Germany, and that that would be the best place to make our dream come true.

There are several reasons why the Seemühle impressed us: the beautiful location on the Waizenbach, the little waterfall Tretstein, the romantic oak and beech forest and the mill building, which we were determined to bring back to life.

According to our research, the Seemühle was first mentioned in documents dating back to 1688. Until the late 1990s, it was inhabited by a couple by the name of Klemm, who ground flour and baked bread – according to native Gräfendorf residents, the best bread far and wide! The old waterwheel was at a standstill until the 70s, but after we restored it in 2015, it's back in action – and now producing electricity.

Over the centuries, additional buildings were added to the lot. At the time of our purchase, the Seemühle was a settlement consisting of three buildings. Unfortunately, we were only able to preserve the mill.

The mill was plastered so that the framework was no longer visible. The old mill wheel was housed in a wooden mounting and was unfortunately no longer useable. Inside another wooden mounting, we found an old diesel motor: electricity was probably not implemented until the 1980s.

In November 2010, the time had come: We signed the purchase agreement, and we were able to fully devote ourselves to planning our eco-friendly treehouse hotel. We still had to wait two and a half years before digging, though, waiting for approval from various authorities. If you want to know more, you can read further details on the Treehouse Blog.

Earlier advertisement was made in Gräfendorf with the name "aeril health resort". Today one hardly hears from it more something - maybe the concept has fallen out of fashion. In any case, in the air it can't lie, it is still very good!