MOUNT VERNON — The inhabitants of 12 1/2 Cliff St. are, umm ... unusual. They can be seen doing a variety of tasks, such as working on a doghouse, taking a nap or relaxing on the back porch.

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The home is neatly kept, complete with window flower boxes.

“Quite a few people have stopped by to see it,” said Art Goeppinger of the treehouse located behind his home at 12 Cliff St., at the intersection of Kirk Street off of Newark Road.

The treehouse is built around a silver maple tree that was dying. About two years ago, Goeppinger cut it off about 15 feet above the ground.

Now it houses a family of gnomes, dwarf-like mythical people. Figures of the gnomes are posed on the porch and around the house. An accomplished woodworker with a garage full of tools, Goeppinger made front and back porches for the treehouse, windows for a second story, flower boxes — with real flowers — and a steep roof with a crooked chimney atop the tree.

Asked if there are individual rooms in the treehouse he replied, “Ants are working on it, there soon will be.”

Goeppinger got the idea for the treehouse after he saw a similar one at Jacksontown, south of Newark, several years ago.

He started the project this spring by peeling the bark off of the tree. Only a railing on the front porch is needed to complete the treehouse.