Business Spotlight: Tropical House

In a mystical atrium filled with exotic plants of every kind, a magical plantswoman can be observed in her natural habitat, masterfully tending to the lush greenery surrounding her. This veritable virtuoso of vegetation is named Leah Hunt, and she is a Sun Valley, Nevada resident and owner of Tropical House Indoor Plant Design and Maintenance (or Tropical House, for short).

I recently had the privilege of taking a guided tour to view some of Hunt’s handiwork at Airport Gardens, a nearby office building featuring a three-story indoor atrium, and to learn more about Tropical House’s services.

Biophilic Design

Tropical House specializes in biophilic design, which means they stage decorative, living plant environments inside commercial buildings and residential homes. In other words, Tropical House creates a feeling of living nature indoors.

Hunt explains, “Biophilic design is essentially what my business does. Biophilic design is adding elements of nature into the design of buildings indoors and outdoors, like the outside of a building. But mostly, it’s the inside of buildings, adding natural elements like indoor plants. It could be wood elements or water features, and it could even be seasonal changes.”

“Airport Gardens is a perfect example of biophilic design: They have the water features with live fish, the calming noise of the water, and they have the live plants. They also have the changing of the seasons with the seasonal decorations, and it lends the design a ‘living’ feeling, and it’s like you can feel the design, and so you come in here, and it just feels different. You feel more at ease, you feel relaxed,” Hunt continues. “On the other end of the spectrum, traditional office buildings are sometimes just little, boxed spaces and feel very stagnant. You go to work every day, so wouldn’t you rather work in a healthy, calming environment?”

There are many studies that show how much biophilic design really affects the day-to-day well-being of people. For example, it’s proven in hospitals to speed up recovery time for patients. And it’s not just the air purifying qualities of plants, but other benefits, as well. “That’s why I absolutely love what I do. I love plants, but I also get these health benefits, too,” says Hunt, smiling.

Onboarding New Clients

When Tropical House onboards a new client, they go in and install everything. Hunt explains, “We install all the plants, and we take care of the plants—not just watering, but fertilizing, pruning, maintaining, replacing anything that needs to be replaced, etc. Over time, we keep them looking as good as they did the first day we put them in, essentially.”

Hunt got the idea to start Tropical House when a friend of hers at church asked her, ‘Hey, I know you take care of plants. My boss is wanting me to get someone to put some indoor plants in our office and then take care of them. Would you be interested?’ Hunt thought about it, quoted him a number, and he came back with the approval. The rest is history. However, Hunt chuckled and admitted, “It was not even my idea. At the time, I didn’t even know there was a thing where people took care of indoor plants for other people.”

Origins

Growing up, Hunt didn’t always have a green thumb. “My grandma and my mom always had a ton of plants in their homes, but I never really paid attention to them. But, in college, I would get a plant here, and a plant there. Sometimes, they’d have plant sales on campus, and I would get some more,” recalls Hunt. “After college, we moved to Texas, and I got interested in buying plants. To my amazement, I realized I was actually keeping them alive!”

Hunt nurtured her newfound hobby, learning all she could about plant care from YouTube, but found that she was spending too much money on plants. Her husband, Jaron, remarked that perhaps she needed to reign in spending so much money, so that’s when she started importing exotic plants from Thailand and selling them, instead of just collecting. Hunt subsequently visited Thailand many times to learn specific care tips for her unique inventory.

“At the time, during the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone went crazy over plants because we were all stuck indoors. People needed to feel that outdoor feeling inside, and so plant prices skyrocketed, but I heard that you can import plants from Thailand for a fraction of the price, so many people would import them for approximately a fifth of the retail price, and then sell them here for quite a good profit. So, when I heard about this, I decided I should start doing that, too. I was also able to get some really cool plants for my own collection,” notes Hunt.

During all this, Hunt realized that she was really good at keeping the exotic plants thriving, because she would research how to take care of them, and it actually worked. That import gig grew and turned into a business. She admits, however, that “it was mostly to fund my hobby, and being able to buy plants at wholesale was very nice.”

Originally from Reno, Hunt then moved from Texas to Sun Valley, NV in 2023, and founded Tropical House in October of that same year.

Positive Feedback & Support

Regarding client feedback, Hunt says, “I love talking to my residential clients, and the people who work in the commercial buildings, and hearing about how the plants totally changed the environment and the atmosphere there.” That’s what Tropical House is all about—bringing the outdoors inside, and replicating that feeling of being in nature.

Nature is powerful with how it makes us feel, and the happiness it brings. “It’s really cool being able to replicate that feeling indoors because we spend like 70-80% of our lives indoors. And it’s even more cool to hear satisfied clients say that’s exactly what we did for them,” says Hunt. “It’s a joy to hear that what we’re doing actually makes a difference and impacts people’s lives for the better.”

Some of Tropical House’s other clients include an internet security company and a med spa/plastic surgery center. It just goes to show that everyone enjoys plants and everyone can benefit from plants by having them indoors. Hunt is excited to hopefully start work soon on a giant, 10-foot tall, living moss wall for a client.

Hunt credits her incredibly helpful mentors who work in the same line of business, albeit in different cities. But most of all, Hunt appreciates the support from her husband. “I could not do this without Jaron—his support and love, and him believing in me has been the biggest thing that has helped me be able to get to where I’m at now. He’s been the biggest help.”

Atrium Favorites

Of all the plants she cares for at the Airport Gardens atrium, Hunt’s number one favorite is the giant Fiddle-Leaf Fig tree. A three-story tall, long-time resident of the atrium, the tree is definitely the main attraction. Hunt loves being able to hang decorations from it, and it is right at the center of the space. This particular specimen has been in the atrium since the beginning, many years ago, so it is a piece of living history.

The fiddle leaf is a type of ficus (Ficus lyrata) grown in West African lowland rain forests, and they can grow up to 40 feet and live 25-50 years. The fiddle-leaf fig is a challenge to clean and keep dust-free indoors because it is simply so tall. In nature, rain cleans the leaves and keeps them shiny.

Hunt’s second favorite plant is the Monstera that’s partially growing over the pond. It has sprouted aerial roots that have now grown into the pond. Fish water is great fertilizer, so ever since it sent roots into the water, it’s popped out three new leaves that are simply gigantic. Hunt loves how it goes over the water, and its very unique growth ability.

Finally, Hunt groups the ferns together as her third favorite, because when she first put ferns in the atrium, she absolutely loved how they looked there, very tropical. Hunt has placed at least six fern plants around the atrium for her clients to enjoy. “They’re all doing great, and they’re getting huge,” says Hunt, pleased with her efforts.

If money were no object, Hunt would snap up a Monstera, herself—but a different, variegated cultivar known as Monstera Bulbasaur. “They’re amazing, but they’re in the neighborhood of $5,000-$6,000 or more here in the United States!”