The Minister’s Tree House: Tennessee’s Lost Ten-Story Treehouse
Horace Burgess’s Minister’s Tree House once stood in Crossville, Tennessee. Burgess said he began building it in 1993 after a divine commission. The ten-story wooden structure became a well-known roadside curiosity, but it no longer exists: authorities closed it to visitors in 2012 over fire-safety concerns, and it was destroyed by fire on October 22, 2019. The former attraction is not open to visitors.
Contemporary accounts described a ten-story wooden structure supported by six oaks and built with an estimated 250,000 nails. They put its combined floor area at more than 3,000 square metres and its cost at about $12,000. Those figures are historical estimates from the original story, not independently verified measurements or costs.
Burgess said he believed God had commissioned him to build the treehouse and would provide the materials. That account of his inspiration was part of the story he told about the project.
Descriptions of the house noted a penthouse, a large central room used for prayer and basketball, and a church bell. Visitors who saw it before the 2012 closure left messages on its wooden walls. The photographs here document a structure that no longer stands.
Atlas Obscura says the former site is no longer accessible to visitors. No public viewing point was verified, so this article does not direct readers to the parcel.
UnusualPlaces Field Notes
- Location
- Former Minister’s Treehouse location, Beehive Lane, Crossville, Tennessee, USA; the structure was destroyed in 2019 and is no longer a visitor destination.
- Access
- The treehouse was permanently closed in 2012 over safety concerns and burned down on October 22, 2019. SPACES Archives identifies it as non-extant. There is no visitor destination at the former site.
- Admission
- Not applicable: the attraction was destroyed and no longer exists.
- Time needed
- Not applicable; there is no surviving public attraction to visit.
- Best season
- Not applicable; the attraction was destroyed.
- Opening hours
- Permanently closed; destroyed in the October 22, 2019 fire. No visitor hours.
- Facts checked
- 2026-10-16
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Large “Permanently Closed” signs.
Sadly, someone set it on fire 10/22/2019 around 10pm. It is completely gone. This place was so mesmerizing and unique….will truly be missed! I’m thankful I was able to take my 2 girls and my son to see this and make memories there.
Stop sad someone burned it down. People are evil