Gatlinburg's Treehouse Grove looks to the future with 'Treehouse Masters' star Pete Nelson

Gatlinburg's trendy treehouse resort is sprouting new branches. 

Treehouse Grove has launched the new "mountain view" phase of its sprawling Great Smoky Mountains resort, and Knox News got a tour of its early plans for the next round of treehouse hideaways to be built on the property. 

Created by Joe and Joseph Ayres, Treehouse Grove opened in 2020 with eight treehouses designed by Animal Planet's "Treehouse Masters" star Pete Nelson.

Nelson came back to design the "mountain view" phase, which adds eight new treehouses to the property. He's already designing for phase three, which will be built on a whole new landscape.

"The part that I love so much is that I'm fulfilling all of the crazy dreams of being the treehouse guy," Nelson told Knox News. "And I'm taking along with me a lot of people that have a similar dream."

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New Gatlinburg treehouses

Phase three, which Nelson is designing now and will be built later, will put guests in a new environment. 

Instead of next to the creek or up the mountain, the new treehouses will be built in Norton Creek's holler valley. Because the valley is nestled between two mountains, Nelson has designed those treehouses to accommodate for the incline.

Unlike the current treehouses, the new structures in the valley will be built up into the trees instead of expanding out from them. 

He said "there's talk of linking them with a boardwalk," and he didn't disagree with a comparison to the Ewok Village from "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi."

"We got through eight new treehouses," Nelson said. "They're quite vertical. It's a steep slope in the holler there."

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Construction on phase three is not yet scheduled, and Nelson said it depends on how well the "mountain view" phase is received. Nelson said he hopes construction gets "underway next May."

Salvaging wood and building dreams

Treehouse Grove is a passion project for Nelson, and he wants the treehouses he designs to operate for the long term with minimal maintenance. 

He uses salvaged wood for his designs, including from a western redcedar cut down during from the Oregon forest fires.

"The No. 1 concern is we're not (cutting) into any old-growth forests," Nelson said. "We're trying to take from the urban forest, as we like to call it, which is buildings in Seattle, for instance, that are coming down left and right for the new Amazon headquarters."

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"The wood in these things, it's just so beautiful, and it's all that old Douglas fir they were cutting 100 years ago plus, and that gets harvested out and sits and waits for us to go get it and turn it into whatever we want to," Nelson said.

Nelson has been able to see his treehouse dream brought to its potential, and it makes him excited for the future of Treehouse Grove, which has captured the interest of so many across the country. 

"It was over 30 years ago when I decided I wanted to (build treehouses) and to see it in its full form with the kind of happiness that it generates, it hits man, it hits, and I think it hits a lot of people," Nelson said. 

Phase two of Treehouse Grove

Phase two, now open, includes eight new treehouses available for rent for around $500 a night. 

Each named for a different tree, the treehouses range from two to four bedrooms and each feature queen beds, a pullout couch, a small kitchenette, a living room, a full bathroom and an outside porch. Some treehouses have their own special features, like a bedroom with a garage door that raises to the outdoors or a covered bar area.

The new treehouses differ in layout, as each is molded around the area and the tree it occupies. A majority of the treehouses are split into two buildings that sit on one platform: one larger building with the kitchen and a small building with just the bedrooms and a bathroom.

All guests can enjoy three communal hot tubs and a grilling area with a pizza oven. The new area of the property feels more open air than the first phase, as the treehouses sit on a higher elevation and aren't situated in the dense forest.