A monster in the trees
A 10-story tall Crossville treehouse nicknamed The Minister’s Dreamhouse — reported to be the world’s largest by some folks — continues to draw visitors even though the state closed it down as a fire and safety hazard. Travel websites warn visitors that they will be trespassing when they go to see the 97-foot tall cathedral nestled in a live white oak and five other load-bearing trees, but the dazzling 80-room structure topped with a belltower (oxygen acetylene bottles were repurposed as bells that chimed daily) still tempts tourists.Pastor Horace Burgess designed it as a church from what he called a heaven-sent vision. Each story has a well-shaded wraparound deck from which a visitor could see the daffodils, irises, narcissus, gladiolas and wild daisies that Burgess planted in the shape of the word “Jesus.” Inside the 10,000-square-foot marvel are wooden pews, spiral staircases and a basketball court.Burgess began building in 1993 and just kept adding grace notes to his sky cathedral each year till the fire marshall ordered the property closed in 2012. There is an online petition demanding the property be reopened. Art historians worldwide have urged Cumberland County officials to preserve the structure as folk art but it remains abandoned.
Andrew Alms and Enoch Elwell can hardly wait for autumn.
When the weather cools, guests in their newly finished hideaway can stand on a deck 16 feet above the ground and see vistas of copper and gold leaves sprawling to the horizon. Below them is a drop of 100 feet into a valley and, on summer days, the haven in Flintstone, Ga., makes visitors feel as if they’re cradled in cool, green, leafy clouds. In winter, it’s like being held in a warm, cozy cube of light above the mountainside as the fog rolls through the valley, obscuring the distant road below.
The hideaway, by the way, is a treehouse.
The millennial duo swear that, even when wind roars across the mountain, the treehouse is stable, supported by oak and gum trees, held steady by steel. Elwell and his wife, Hannah, own the land and live in a small duplex near the treehouse, described on Airbnb as Treetop Hideaways.