Crossville, Tennessee: The Minister's Tree House (Gone)

We went to visit the Minister's Tree House and had a great time. We went during the week, and there were over 30 people going through it. The kids ran through the house with other kids they met. My little niece and her friends found a hidden passage that let them enclose themselves in the wall. We could hear them, but could not get to them. Once they let us in, we could see a couple of trap doors and a handle on the wall which let them close themselves in.

Horace was there, and told the story of why he built the house. He started in 1993 at the age of 43. He has been building it for 17 years. He is now 60 years old and said he has another 40 years to go. he is hoping his body will hold out. The tree house has electricity wired in. It has an old wooden stove for heat and he is now in process of putting water in. If you make it up to the top you can ring the church bells (be careful -- the makeshift rail there is a little shaky).

We went to this Ministers Tree House, and were walking around inside, and had the living crap scared out of us when we found some homeless guy sleeping in the bed.

My husband and I went to see the Minister's Tree House last weekend. The gate/entrance had 5 "Posted/Keep out" signs on it, so we did not enter. I later called Crossville's Chamber of Commerce and learned that, due to previous vandalism when open all the time to the public, Mr. Burgess wants people to call now before visiting. They provided me a phone number to call but I haven't yet. Plan to visit later.

The Minister's Tree House is amazing! If you ever go to Tennessee you must see it. They say there are secret passages, but I didn't know that at the time, so I did not see any. It seems scary, but you will get over that.

I did not get to meet Horace Burgess.

The inside of the Minister's Tree House is like being in an Escher painting. While searching its endless rooms I found a group of people having a picnic in the chapel/basketball court.

A man in the group asked if I would take his picture ringing the bell. We climbed the ten stories to the bell tower and I snapped him ringing the bell. He then said "Watch this" as he lifted up a hidden trap door and disappeared. I didn't see him again.

Exploring the lower part of the Tree House I found a little apartment complete with bed and a cabinet full of canned goods. A couple told me it was okay to go in it because the guy that was living in there moved to Florida. The couple went on to tell me that they were married in the Tree House and consider themselves as caretakers. They said they have done a lot of work to keep it clean and safe.