This geocache is a part of the Middle Tennessee Archives Series which highlights noteworthy geocaches that have been lost over the years.
Historical Geocache Name: The Minister's Tree House
Hidden By: Team_Noble
Hidden Date: 8/8/2010
Archive Date: 6/17/2015
Archive Reason: User posted needs archived (despite the cache being located off of the closed off property), and the CO was inactive
Unfortunately, this property was shut down by the state who argued that it had become an "attraction" that had to comply with building codes (even though no such codes exist for treehouses). The owner never charged any fees to anyone wishing to come and enjoy his life's work. It is said that he loves that visitors still come by and explore his treehouse, and that he put up the gate/signs merely as a legal formality. At the very least, you are still able to drive up to the end of the road and take a look at this beautiful structure from behind the fence. When I visited on a Monday afternoon, there were three different groups of people following the trail to the left of the gate to explore inside the treehouse, but I will not encourage those behaviors here on the cache page :P .
You are seeking a micro. Please only hunt for this cache during daylight hours. BYOP and rehide as found.
From the original description:
Located in Crossville, Tennessee, the Minister’s TreeHouse took Horace Burgess 17 years to build around an 80-foot-tall white oak tree, with a diameter of 12 feet. The wooden edifice itself is 97-feet-tall and it’s supported by six other strong trees that act like natural pillars.
Burgess says he started working on this giant treehouse after he had a vision back in 1993 at the age of 43. 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). God spoke to him and said: “If you build me a treehouse, I’ll see you never run out of material.” And so he has spent the last 17 years building God’s treehouse, using only salvaged materials, like pieces of lumber from garages, storage sheds and barns. So, as far as Horace is concerned, God did provide him with all the materials he needed. Although he never bothered to measure Minister’s TreeHouse (he estimates it must be about 8,000 to 10,000 square feet), he did count the nails he had to hammer into it, 258,000. It cost the 56-year-old landscape architect around $12,000 to construct the world’s biggest treehouse.
