Yxe Underground

Megen Olfert smiles thinking about the backyard treehouse her father designed for her when she was a kid. It was wide enough for a motorised wheelchair to manoeuvre inside, and a cement path wound its way through the backyard up to the treehouse instead of stairs or a ladder. “I felt like I was on equal ground as a kid,” said Megen, “because sometimes when you’re disabled it means you have to do things differently even though you can do the same thing. It made me feel included.”Megen was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at nine months old. It became clear to her parents, Charles and Leila Olfert, that their daughter would need a wheelchair and their house would not meet Megen’s needs. So, Charles began designing a new home for the family.This is an excerpt from a story I wrote for the CBC Saskatchewan website based on this episode. I love the story of Megan's treehouse!Charles and Leila have been living in this fully accessible home for the past 36 years. Charles is an architect with AODBT architecture and inter