Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- John Osburn, a former Hubble subcontractor, built a renowned tree house that he rents out on Airbnb.
- The Nephi tree house attracts global visitors with unique features like a zip line.
- Osburn plans to add an underground Hobbit hole to enhance the guest experience.
NEPHI — Tucked in the heart of Juab County is a tree house that is bringing visitors from all around the world — and, perhaps, the galaxy.
Former Hubble Space Telescope subcontractor John Osburn built a tree house on his Nephi property 11 years ago. He carefully designed and constructed it, with the hope that he, his wife, children and growing number of grandchildren could sleep nestled under the night sky that he dedicated years to studying.
"We have six kids … and my oldest son is an aerospace engineer," Osburn said. "And then my daughter-in-law is concentrating on producing crops in an enclosed environment, improving the ability to grow nutritious foods in space —let's say on the surface of the moon or Mars or other planets. I've joked that Elon Musk has his eye on my son and his wife, and he'll want them to be the first breeding pair on the surface of Mars."
Osburn's experience on the Hubble also played into the construction of the tree house. In fact, one might think that if it weren't for the roots keeping the tree grounded, Osburn was getting the tree ready for takeoff and bringing his family with him.
"I used flight hardware to secure the tree house," he said. "It has aerospace design bolts that have 20,000 pounds of strength. I tried to be as careful as I possibly could to pierce the tree as little as possible. In all actuality, it's a 50/50 blend in what the tree is holding vs. what structural support I've got coming up to keep it there."
The tree that is "housing" the house is extremely hospitable. In fact, it would be considered the "mothership" of many of the surrounding trees.
"The tree is huge, and it is as healthy today as ever," he said. "It's a giant white poplar, which is in the same family as quaking aspens, and it's the mother tree. She, just like aspens, spreads out and through her root system, grows new babies. I've never stopped and counted how many babies she's got, but some of them are getting pretty good-sized. They're growing on both sides of the stream."
That's right — a stream.
Osburn has several acres of land, and he said that many have deemed the area "John's Oasis." And 7½ years ago, he decided to share his oasis with people from all around the world by turning it into an Airbnb.
"I've had people from the Philippines, Latin America, Brazil, Venezuela, Chile, Peru and Mexico," he said. "They've come from all over Canada, Europe, Germany and Holland. I've had three families from Israel and families from England. People will go online and say, 'Let's go to some place really cool we've never been before.' Then they'll book a flight to Salt Lake City and stay three to four nights here."
Locals have also managed to snag some nights at the tree house. Chelsea Gambles, of Cedar City, recently stayed with her daughters in the three-level, two-bedroom, one-bath oasis, complete with a hot tub, pavilion, zip line, suspended bridge and, of course, internet access via the new SpaceX Starlink system. She said it was a great place to "unplug and just be together."
"My daughters and I stayed at the tree house, and it turned out to be one of our favorite getaways," Gambles said. "We roasted marshmallows and ate meals and played cards on the two different patios surrounded by trees. It felt like we lived in the trees. We loved time in the hot tub, and we all slept better than we had in weeks. The love and care the owner pours into every detail was so special."
When KSL.com spoke to Osburn, he was en route to add yet another "special detail": a two-bedroom, one-bath underground hobbit hole.
"It's 8 feet underground and covered up in earth," he said. "It has two bedrooms and a bathroom in between the bedrooms and a small living room, dining and kitchen area up front and a big, round door."
Osburn said, out of all the jobs he has had — including working on the Hubble — creating a hospitable space for people to gaze into outer space has been his favorite. He said he welcomes people from all over the world and isn't opposed to hosting visitors who may or may not share our same orbit around the sun.
