World’s Largest Treehouse Burns to the Ground

World’s Largest Treehouse, Built by Divine Inspiration

As Minister Horace Burgess tells the story, in 1993, the Minister was praying when God told him, “If you build a treehouse, I’ll see that you never run out of material.” Inspired by this vision, the quiet Minister set out to build the largest treehouse in the world.

Located just outside of Crossville, Tennessee, the 97-foot-tall tree house and church was supported by a still-living 80-foot-tall white oak tree with a 12-foot diameter base, and relies on six other oak trees for support.

For fourteen years, Minister Burgess has been adding to the tree house, spending $12,000 to build it. Over that time, the treehouse has grown to truly monumental proportions, and the Minister may have already achieved his goal of building the world’s largest treehouse. His treehouse was 90 feet tall, with five stories containing 80 rooms, and was complete with a church and a bell tower. The bell tower at the top of the treehouse was equipped with oxygen acetylene bottles that, repurposed as bells, chime daily.

In southern style, every story of the treehouse was surrounded by a porch deck. There were no “Private Property,” or “No Climbing” signs posted around, Burgess say the treehouse is God’s house and everyone is welcome. From the top of the treehouse the word “Jesus” could be seen spelled out in flora in a nearby field.

The structure stood vacant and dilapidated since it was closed in 2012 for fire safety violations. It became a frequent target of vandalism. On October 22, 2019 the structure completely burned to the ground. The fire department responded however by the time they arrived nothing was left of the structure. Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire.