In Crossville, Tennessee, the Minister’s Treehouse, the world’s largest wooden treehouse at 97 feet, met a tragic end in a fire. Built by Horace Burgess, who claimed God commissioned it in 1993, the structure stood for two decades. The colossal wooden edifice boasted 80 rooms across five stories, connected by a white oak tree.
Burgess used donated lumber and believed divine assurance that he’d never run out of material. The treehouse, attracting visitors with its unique blend of quirkiness and spirituality, was closed in 2012 due to fire code violations. It burned down in less than 30 minutes in 2018. Captain Derek Carter, recalling it as “very cool, but also very dangerous,” highlights the structure’s demise, once a cherished memory for visitors like Macy Leatherwood.
