Crossville tree house to God still a work in progress

Multiple decks, staircases and balconies wrap around an oak tree in a tree house created by Horace Burgess in Crossville.

Photo by The Knoxville News Sentinel /Chattanooga Times Free Press.

CROSSVILLE — Horace Burgess didn't need blueprints to build a 10-story, 14,000+-square-foot tree house that towers over surrounding oaks and that thousands of people flock to each year. God was his architect.

The Lord supplied the design to the builder and the wood from old barns, weathered buildings or scrap construction bits. Burgess supplied the nails, the sweat and the faith.

The collaboration is a massive structure rising up to 100 feet into the Tennessee sky. Formally called "The Treehouse The Way," the 19-year, still unfinished project includes winding stairs, a bell tower and a rambling maze of rooms and corners. Its center is a light-filled sanctuary that's both chapel and basketball court.

Read more at KnoxNews.com.