Tennessee has all sorts of hidden treasures. One well worth exploring is the world’s biggest treehouse, just off Interstate 40 in Crossville up on the Cumberland Plateau.
Unfortunately, the place was closed by the state fire marshall this past summer. We’re on watch for word of its re-opening. Below is my original review:
Tennessee has all sorts of hidden treasures, and this past weekend we explored one: the world’s biggest treehouse, just off Interstate 40 in Crossville up on the Cumberland Plateau.
Tennessee has all sorts of hidden treasures, and this past weekend we explored one: the world’s biggest treehouse, just off Interstate 40 in Crossville up on the Cumberland Plateau.
Words and pictures can’t fully convey the marvel of what Horace Burgess has created at the end of Beehive Road there. Inspired by God, since 1993 he’s been working on this expansive complex built entirely of scrap and donated lumber on and around a towering white oak. The house itself sprawls up and out in all directions, much like that massive tree.
It’s like a fun house on a grand scale with crooked, winding stairs, halls to nowhere, many rooms, layers of decks and ample seating throughout. If you climb all the way to the top, you can ring the bells in the bell tower.
At center of this straggling complex is a chapel for pause and reflection of all one man has achieved with discarded materials. And, he’s opened this labor of love to all, free of charge.
If you go, bring a marker to show you’ve been there, and don’t miss the donation box where the winding stairs begin their climb along the tree.
His generous spirit deserves a little support; if he asked, many would be more than willing to pay for the privilege of rambling though the treehouse
You can read an article and see some great shots here
