Treehouse staring into our living room

Mojisola

digitalphase wrote: »

I understand your annoyance.
We had horrible neighbours a few years ago (we have since moved house) and just to add to their constant noise, they moved their large trampoline right on the adjoining fence. So when they were bouncing on there (17 year old and adult height) they could see right into our dining room/kitchen.

I find it curious that when parents put trampolines in the garden, they rarely place them close to their own house where the jumping and noise would affect them. They're usually put as far from the house as possible and then wonder why the neighbours aren't happy with the placing.

aliasojo

purple.sarah wrote: »

Surely if the kids are determined to cause trouble then a bit of board over the window won't stop them and will just set them off and show them they can get a reaction? Also the OP would probably have mentioned if the kids were troublemakers.

Oh I don't believe for one second the kids would start out with a determination to annoy. That is not what I'm saying at all.

However, I think some kids playing in the treehouse on a summer afternoon who get a bit bored might start looking around for other things to amuse themselves with. If the window is gone from the get go then so is the option to annoy.

I thought I read the neighbours were new? So not much known about the kids one way or another.

londonsurrey

Find out the children's names.
If they invite friends over, and start causing trouble from the treehouse, just wave enthusiastically, calling out greetings and baby name versions of their names in a really friendly manner.

The children might suddenly put in a request for some DIY to the treehouse.

dizziblonde

aliasojo wrote: »

Oh I don't believe for one second the kids would start out with a determination to annoy. That is not what I'm saying at all.

However, I think some kids playing in the treehouse on a summer afternoon who get a bit bored might start looking around for other things to amuse themselves with. If the window is gone from the get go then so is the option to annoy.

I thought I read the neighbours were new? So not much known about the kids one way or another.

Yep - we've got a somewhat delightful one out the back to us who likes to climb the fence and sit on top of it just staring into our back windows (like all the houses in our area - the lounges run full-length front to back - but of course in MSE forum-land one must always insist till blue in the face that EVERYONE'S circumstances are identical to those that blow the arguments away). It's not nice, it's very disconcerting to be stared at for an amount of time and if it's not an obliging family that you feel can be approached for a quiet word - it's a pretty horrid feeling of loss of control and privacy. In the case of our little friend it's a family that can't get out to school on a morning without 30 minutes of yelling and swearing at each other and aren't the most obliging in the world to put it mildly.

Pretty sure the one in our case was doing it for a reaction though - and ignoring them completely killed interest in the "game" for last summer and after a week or so we went back to our usual game of "let's sound like we're murdering our younger siblings."

sassyblue

heretolearn wrote: »

Anyway, I'm going to go and talk to the parents and see if they will block up that window, if they are reasonable people I can't see it being an issue for them, they probably just haven't thought about the effect outside their own boundary. If no joy, we'll have to see how the kids behave. .

But why not wait and see how the children behave first? Or use the nudist approach, anything but 'your children MIGHT stare at us'

Hootie19

Well, if I were you, I'd get a telescope set up in your lounge, pointed directly at the tree house.

Better still, get a cardboard cutout of a person standing looking into it, so they think they are being spied on 24/7.

See how they like the lack of privacy.

londonsurrey

Hootie19 wrote: »

Well, if I were you, I'd get a telescope set up in your lounge, pointed directly at the tree house.

Better still, get a cardboard cutout of a person standing looking into it, so they think they are being spied on 24/7.

See how they like the lack of privacy.

Right, everyone keep a look out on Freecycle. When you see "WANTED - telescope and mannequin", we've found the OP

Dunroamin

purple.sarah wrote: »

Maybe they just wanted the extra light or fresh air? Try not to take it personally.

It's a tree house !!!!!!, how much more fresh air do they need?

londonsurrey

dizziblonde wrote: »

Yep - we've got a somewhat delightful one out the back to us who likes to climb the fence and sit on top of it just staring into our back windows (like all the houses in our area - the lounges run full-length front to back - but of course in MSE forum-land one must always insist till blue in the face that EVERYONE'S circumstances are identical to those that blow the arguments away). It's not nice, it's very disconcerting to be stared at for an amount of time and if it's not an obliging family that you feel can be approached for a quiet word - it's a pretty horrid feeling of loss of control and privacy. In the case of our little friend it's a family that can't get out to school on a morning without 30 minutes of yelling and swearing at each other and aren't the most obliging in the world to put it mildly.

Pretty sure the one in our case was doing it for a reaction though - and ignoring them completely killed interest in the "game" for last summer and after a week or so we went back to our usual game of "let's sound like we're murdering our younger siblings."

I think it's incredibly sad how a lot of children from families like these are so deprived of positive attention. Don't get me wrong, I've met a lot of little oiks, and am none too fond of them either!

motherofstudents

I'm in agreement about the trampolines. Our neighbours at the bottom of our garden have one and of course it is close to the boundary, not near their house. I do feel like Victor Meldrew but it's the constant boing and the way they pop up above the fence. I wouldn't complain about it as our garden is 150' long so just don't go down there if they are bouncing.

The tree house sounds like it could be annoying but in the end I suspect there is little you can do apart from having a word about the window. It's one of the hazards of living in a densely populated country.