Friday, June 5, 2015

The "Minister's" Tree House

Located in Crossville, Tennessee, the Minister’s House took Horace Burgess 14 years to build around an 80-foot-tall white oak tree, with a diameter of 12 feet. The wooden edifice itself is 97-feet-tall and it’s supported by six other strong trees that act like natural pillars.

Burgess says he started working on this giant tree house after he had a vision back in 1993. God spoke to him and said: “If you build me a tree house, I’ll see you never run out of material.” And so he spent the next 14 years building God’s tree house, using only salvaged materials, like pieces of lumber from garages, storage sheds and barns. So, as far as Horace is concerned, God did provide him with all the materials he needed.

Although he never bothered to measure Minister’s House (he estimates it must be about 8,000 to 10,000 square feet), he did count the nails he had to hammer into it, 258,000. It cost the 56-year-old landscape architect around $12,000 to construct the world’s biggest tree house.

Officially this is a closed attraction on private property due to the fire Marshall, and there are posted "No Trespassing" signs.The word is "No one cares." No one cares, no one will report you going in, no one cares if you take pictures, and everyone is trying to save it. It is still trespassing to go in, of course, but the liability is yours, and yours alone.

When I saw the "No Trespassing Signs"; which one of them said absolutely no vandalism, smoking or sex allowed, they sorda threw me!  I try so hard to be law abiding; so Robin and I were content on  taking pictures from afar.  Then Robin and I looked up and saw a couple climbing through the gate.  They had tattoos all over their body, and one had spikes in her nose and in her ears.  I should not judge a person by their appearance, they were the sweetest people that I have met in a long time.  They told us that we had to walk down, it was so amazing to see up close.

I'm not saying that I trespassed; I am saying that short legs are not good when you are trying to climb over a fence into grass as high as me or higher.  The couple were exactly right that you have to see it up close!  I just can't believe it is sitting there, and the fire marshal will not work with the minister to get it reopened.  This would be such an attraction again, and bring so many people into the area to help the economy.

The funny part is that when I'm worried; I start itching, and I have to scratch.  So I itched from the time I was close to the structure until I was off the property, and every time that Robin told me that I trespassed (I'm not admitting that)!  Even today while I"m typing this post, I start itching.  

I'm going to look at it this way; I didn't do everything that was stated on that "No Trespassing" sign; I didn't vandalize, have sex (darn), so it's not that bad.  

I hope it gets back open soon!






his is the most amazing place I have ever been. I talked to several people at the "outlet center" just down the road, and they all said the same thing: "No one cares." No one cares, no one will report you going in, no one cares if you take pictures, and everyone is trying to save it. It is still trespassing to go in, of course, but the liability is yours, and yours alone.
The structure is very sound, and there is an amazing swing that hangs all the way from the top. There is a room full of huge wood carved statues, which are simply incredible.
[Lore, 06/21/2014]
Officially this is still a closed attraction on private property, and there are posted "No Trespassing" signs.
- See more at: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/13746#sthash.CWs76fjY.dpuf
his is the most amazing place I have ever been. I talked to several people at the "outlet center" just down the road, and they all said the same thing: "No one cares." No one cares, no one will report you going in, no one cares if you take pictures, and everyone is trying to save it. It is still trespassing to go in, of course, but the liability is yours, and yours alone.
The structure is very sound, and there is an amazing swing that hangs all the way from the top. There is a room full of huge wood carved statues, which are simply incredible.
[Lore, 06/21/2014]
Officially this is still a closed attraction on private property, and there are posted "No Trespassing" signs.
Closed by the State Fire Marshall.
World's Largest (aka Minister's) Treehouse
Yup. Closed. Padlocked. Plethora of NO TRESPASSING signs. Shut down by the fire marshall. No one to be found with whom to negotiate a visit.
[Jason, 10/28/2012]
Luckily for Human Civilization, the treehouse isn't going anywhere (it's just too big). We hope that the minister and fire marshall can resolve their differences, and that the treehouse can reopen to the public sooner rather than later.
- See more at: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/13746#sthash.CWs76fjY.dpuf

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