Voice of the Tree House

Mary Gift, 80, bubbles with enthusiasm when she takes guests on a guided tour of the 11-level, five-story-high tree house her grandson, Michael “Mick” Jurgensen, has been building in her back yard for the last 20 years.

“I love having the tree house in my back yard,” says Gift, affectionately known in Marshalltown, Iowa, as the Tree House Lady. “Each day I look forward to showing it to new people and greeting people who are returning once again to look at it.”

The story of the tree house began in 1966, when Mary Gift and her husband, Robert, moved from Des Moines after buying Shady Oaks, a campground three miles east of Marshalltown (pop. 26,009). With them came their daughter, Judy Gift Jurgensen, and her 3-year-old son, Mick.

“Mick loved growing up here,” his grandmother remembers. “The outdoors was his playground, and he was especially fond of a small maple tree in the back yard. That’s where he would go to dream and work out problems.”

While Mick eventually grew up and moved away, he returned for visits, and his affection for the tree never faded. In 1983, at age 20, he began work on a tree house around the maple tree, which by then stood tall and lush. Each summer he added more levels to the structure. The construction work got easier when he returned to Marshalltown to live permanently after being appointed principal of Rogers Elementary School in 1996.

Today, the tree house is a marvel of arboreal engineering—a winding, multi-level fantasy with its own museum, outhouse, electricity, running water, telephone, microwave, and television. Dozens of benches and porch swings offer tempting places to rest and relax. It even has an elaborate sound and light system. During warm months, the structure overflows with trailing vines and blooming flowers tended by Gift.

Not surprisingly, the tree house began attracting attention soon after Jurgensen started it. Though Gift has done no advertising, word-of-mouth has led thousands of people to her back yard, where she is happy to show off her grandson’s creation.

“I’m amazed when I think of the people who have come here,” she says. “We’ve had guests from all 50 states and 59 foreign countries. I love seeing their reactions as they wander through the tree house. Some people love it because it makes them feel like a kid again, and some respond most to how peaceful it is up there.”

Gift, who continues to manage the adjoining Shady Oaks campground, has put down deep roots in the area. She has written book-length histories of the campground and tree house and is particularly attached to the grove of 150- to 200-year-old burr oak trees north of the structure. “At night you can hear the locusts, tree frogs, and katydids singing away,” she says. “This is a special place.”

Most of all she loves to greet the people who come to see the amazing house between earth and sky that fills her back yard. One of her favorite stories happened several years ago when she led a tour from an adult day care center, which included a man who was withdrawn and rarely spoke. During the tour he became increasingly animated, chattering away as he led the group up to the top level. “People said they’d never seen him so excited,” Gift recalls. “The tree house really brings out the best in people.”

For her grandson (who adds to the structure each summer), Gift’s indom-itable spirit is a constant source of inspiration. “I wish I had half her energy,” he says. “I call her the ‘voice of the tree house,’ because no one else can speak for it like she can.”

Lori Erickson is a freelance writer in Iowa City, Iowa.

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