Down winding country roads and between miles of farmland sits a 48 acre property that has found new life in recent years thanks to one couple’s vision and determination.
Darrel Maxam and his wife Patrice are no strangers to hard work and big dreams. The couple has spent the past decade plus building unique properties that guests say are a welcome departure from standard hotels or short-term rentals.
Back in 2014, the duo began their journey when Darrel built their first prototype “treehouse” concept. Over the next few years, Atlanta Treehouse was born and expanded to include over a half dozen rentals on their 2.5 acre property in Georgia.
Equipped with his entrepreneurial spirit and a master’s degree in construction management, Darrel was ready to expand their business and so Maxam Hotels was born. As they couple contemplated their next expansion, Patrice’s mother Beverly had an idea.
Beverly Waterman worked as a bus monitor for the Lyons Central School District for 26 years. She convinced her daughter Patrice, a 2003 Lyons graduate, to come look at a property she had fell in love with years before in Sodus. A small house that was surrounded by a now abandoned apple orchard.
Darrel says “It was her dream house.”
They purchased the property in 2023 with the intent to move Beverly into the house and eventually add a few treehouses to test their concept here in Upstate New York. Unfortunately Beverly passed away following a battle with cancer in 2024, but the couple decided to move forward in her honor.
Wanting to be as efficient and economical as possible, Darrel drew up his own plans for a prefabricated A-frame style cabin that mixed rustic charm with modern amenities. He worked with a company in Finland that turned his vision into a reality, and the first five treehouse units made their way across the ocean to Sodus in flat packed containers. The couple, along with a ragtag team of helpers, assembled the units on-site and Finger Lakes Treehouse was born.
“We wanted to put a system in-place that we could duplicate,” Darrel shared, but his desire to further increase efficiency sent him back to the drawing board once again.
His newest accommodations are small, modern villas with dramatic lines that he says are more economical to build and operate. Each feature private, wood fired hot tubs also designed by Darrel after he said tariffs made it easier to design and build locally than to buy from them from overseas.
If the new villas feel too modern, visitors will also find a fully restored Airstream camper giving them several options for accommodations on one sprawling property. Darrel says much of it was kept as natural as possible, saying “There’s not a lot of nature style escapes where things don’t feel so polished,” adding “We want people to enjoy nature and they appreciate it.”
A small clubhouse sits out front and wooded hiking trails flank the back of the property with plenty of open space in-between for things like weddings, events to be held.
As for future plans, Darrel says they are always looking at what’s next. They have purchased land in Belize and still plan on adding even more to the Sodus property in the next few years.
Longterm, he is even considering a small “agrihood” community where an entire neighborhood of his small villa units could surround a community garden and let renters share the land with affordable rents and communal amenities. Darrel says he was previously homeless and knows the struggles people face finding housing, and believes these prefab-style units and communities could help fix the housing crisis both here and abroad.
Beyond their rentals, the Maxams also operate several other businesses including selling Darrel’s wood-fired hot tub design that he is manufacturing locally under the Wildfire Hot Tub brand.
You can follow along with the couple’s journey on Facebook or by visiting their website at maxamhotels.com.
