The Untold Truth Of Treehouse Masters

When a Texas family needed more space, they turned to the trees — and to a man named Pete Nelson, who's more in tune with the trees than just about anyone. That was the first episode of Treehouse Masters, an Animal Planet show that portrayed Nelson and his crew building a treehouse for the family. 11 seasons later, it's safe to say the show is a hit.

Treehouse Masters follows a simple premise: somebody wants a treehouse, and Pete Nelson builds it for them. Nelson runs his own business, which encompasses everything from building treehouses on TV to running treehouse hotels to selling books about how to build your own treehouse. Let's take a closer look at Pete Nelson, the charismatic Treehouse Masters host, and what happens behind the scenes of his show. This is the untold truth of Treehouse Masters.

In 2015, the Oregon Construction Contractors Board fined Nelson and his company $5,000 for a treehouse the crew built in Neskowin, Oregon, without a license. Since the treehouses built on the show are meant to be residences instead of simple children's playhouses, they require a contractor's license just like a home on the ground does.

"While working in Oregon, our company purchased supplemental workers' compensation coverage which comprehensively insured the talented team who worked on the project," said a spokesperson for Nelson Treehouse and Supply. The company didn't have a CCB license, however, and that made all the difference.

This wasn't Nelson's first offense, either. The Oregon CCB had also fined the company $1,000 in 2014, when they worked on a treehouse in Central Point without a license. "Contractors need to know how to operate legally in whatever state they are doing business in," CCB Enforcement Manager Stan Jessup said. In these two cases, however, it appears that Nelson Treehouse and Supply did not.

Sometimes, treehouses built by the Treehouse Master are more expensive than regular houses. According to Steve Bowler, a former senior field producer for the Animal Planet show, the treehouses that are built on-screen generally cost between $250,000 and $600,000.

It's a far cry from the $50 a father might spend on some nails and wooden planks to put up a treehouse over the weekend. But these aren't your average backyard treehouses — Nelson's creations are more like luxury homes, with kitchens, air conditioning, and more.

Take this treehouse, for instance, which the show dubbed "the coolest treehouse ever built." A bridge leads you through the branches to a glass-paneled door that opens into a small entryway with a river rock floor (number 26 on the list of things your backyard treehouse doesn't have). And inside the main treehouse, the rustic bedroom looks like something straight out of a mountain resort.

When you add up the materials, labor, and everything else that goes into the creation of one of Nelson's masterpieces, it's no wonder that they're so pricey. We understand... but that still doesn't stop us from being upset that we'll never get one.

Ronald Rae, a former lawyer who lives north of Spokane, commissioned Treehouse Masters to build a $100,000 treehouse for him in 2013. Located south of Perkins Lane and on the southern part of the Magnolia bluff — an area that's not accessible by vehicle and is a bit of a walk from the closest road — the treehouse looks like a lighthouse. It has a kitchenette and queen-sized bed, plus beautiful views of Mount Rainier.

But this treehouse isn't as charming and perfect as it might seem. When Nelson's crew built the treehouse, they didn't have the proper permits, so the city sued Ronald Rae in 2014. Rae had to pay a $10,000 fine and needed to either get the permits in order or demolish the treehouse.

Rae contested that although the area was known for avalanches, the land under the treehouse was stable, and the property was put up for sale. The asking price is $475,000, and since it's not a house, there's no mortgage available — meaning the treehouse is cash-only.

The fast-paced nature of the show — building houses, climbing trees, planning the next episode — suits Nelson well. "I've got ADHD, so you've got that 'hyper' in there. I've gotta do something, or I'll get bored," he told House Beautiful.

ADHD, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, is a condition that varies widely from person to person. ADDitude defines it as "a neurological condition defined by a consistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactive impulsivity that interferes with daily functioning in at least two settings — for example, at school and at home." It's also more common than you might think, with at least 4.4 percent of the adult U.S. population carrying the diagnosis.

Luckily, it looks like Nelson has the perfect career — one where he can stay constantly busy and channel his energy into a new challenge every day. Between Treehouse Masters, the properties he manages, and all of the other ventures involved in the family business of Nelson Treehouses, we don't think there's any danger of Pete Nelson getting bored anytime soon.

The groundwork for Treehouse Masters was laid many years before the first episode aired in 2011. Nelson built his first major treehouse when he was just 25. In reality, though, things started even earlier than that.

"I first fell in love with treehouses at age five when my dad built me an adventurous treefort behind the garage at our home in New Jersey," Nelson said. He and his family had read an abridged version of the novel Swiss Family Robinson and were inspired by the nature-based illustrations, prompting Nelson's father to build a treehouse. "The world of treehouses, carpentry, and design continued to captivate me through college."

And after college, Nelson wasn't slowing down. He built his first "adult" treehouse at 25 years old. His blueprints were more sophisticated than the plans he'd made as a kid. "This one that I had imagined as a 25-year-old was a little bit more," he recalled. "It was still small, but it had a brick fireplace for insurance."