Arkansas retiree's $1.25M treehouse dream took twice as long, cost twice the budget

In Bentonville, Arkansas, a retired tile-layer named Mike Fitzgerald transformed a lifelong childhood fantasy into a towering, handcrafted reality — spending over two years and more than $600,000 to build an 866-square-foot treehouse suspended among four oak and hickory trees. What began as a personal retirement dream became an act of experimental construction, requiring arborists, expert consultants, and extraordinary patience to honor both the vision and the living trees that hold it aloft. Now listed at $1.25 million and renting nightly on Airbnb, the structure stands as a quiet meditation