A Tree House

Between Mendenhall and Star in Simpson County, high atop a ridge and nestled between two creeks surrounded by a glorious forest, a quirky tree house rises above the ground on large cypress trunk supports. A split-log staircase winds upward under a fairy tale canopy to a welcoming space filled with objects made from nature, fairy doors and a reminder to “believe” strung from a tree branch near the entrance to the kitchen.

The tree house was the work of the late Johnny Knight, a quiet man with family roots deep in Mendenhall. Many folks say he was as quirky as the tree house he built. Others marveled at his genius, designing the architectural and engineering wonder on paper napkins — long before computers were used for that sort of thing. He built the house himself in 1971 and worked on it throughout the remainder of his life. At the center of the house is a 300-pound cylinder with beams arranged in a spider-like pattern radiating outward. Windows around the home look out into the surrounding treetops. A large deck extends from the back of the house, and a swinging bridge leads to a smaller deck surrounding a large tree.

A designer, an artist and a writer, Johnny Knight undoubtedly was a creative soul. He was the sixth child of Mr. and Mrs. Sylvester John Knight. Born on Aug. 25, 1930, in Mendenhall, Johnny also was an athlete. A younger classmate from Mendenhall, John Edwards, said anyone who saw Johnny Knight play football for Mendenhall High School believes he was one of the best to ever wear the uniform.

“He could throw the football with the accuracy of a .22 rifle. He was a coach’s dream. Many athletes were in awe of how he could throw a football the full length of a football field,” Edwards said.

Johnny’s artistic ability was evident in the tigers he hand-painted on each of his teammates’ helmets. He went on to play football at Copiah-Lincoln Junior College before joining the Army with several of his Mendenhall buddies. They were stationed in Cheyenne, Wyo., where he was a cook. It was in Wyoming that Johnny developed a love for the mountains. While at the base, he painted murals on the office walls of some of the officers. When he returned home, he painted storefronts throughout Mendenhall and he painted a picture of the courthouse on a billboard along Highway 49. Today, his artwork stands in the form of a large totem pole in front of the Mendenhall library, which serves as a memorial to the artist.

Across the street at Pop’s Discount, Johnny painted the large rooster and cow on the side of the building. Up Highway 49, at Donna’s #6 Produce in Florence, he painted many of the signs seen around the building.

“He was a great friend and a great artist,” remembers Donna Harrell, owner of Donna’s #6. “I have many fond memories of Johnny and his dogs. He once had a dog named Eastwood, and when Johnny said, ‘Make my day,’ the dog would jump up on people. He was a volunteer firefighter in Mendenhall, and he’d never leave his dogs at home because he said if there was a fire, the dogs couldn’t get out. So we ended up keeping his dogs for him if he had to go somewhere.”

Harrell remembers when Johnny was baptized.

“He didn’t bring a change of clothes, so he walked home with wet clothes on. He didn’t care, because he was so happy that day,” she said.

She remembers how kind a man Johnny was and that he’d do anything he could to help others.

Johnny Knight died in his beloved tree house on Dec. 29, 2003. The following year, his sister put the house on the market.

“She put an ad in the paper and said she was going to take bids,” said Gail Hederman, who lived in Magee at the time. “My next door neighbor went with me to see the house and she said she knew by the look on my face when I first saw it that it had to be mine.”

Hederman took her husband to see it the next day and he thought she was crazy.

“It was pretty rough,” she remembered. “My husband said it would be a big money pit, but I put a bid in on it anyway. He said mine was probably the only bid!”

Hederman got the house, and her next door neighbor gifted her with a book by John Harris of Fenwick, Scotland. Harris has written several books about tree houses and is considered an expert on the unique home type. Hederman contacted Harris to find out if hers was a true tree house, as it wasn’t actually built in a tree. After a few exchanged photos and conversations, Harris came to Mississippi to see the tree house for himself.

“That was the best thing that could have happened,” Hederman said. “He appreciated Johnny’s ingenuity and craftsmanship as much as I did. He was here a few days, and said that theoretically, the house shouldn’t be standing, but there it was, over 30 years after Johnny Knight built it.”

The house had sunk a few inches on one side, so one of the first things Hederman did was to take the heavy covers off the windows.

“Johnny had them in case of bad weather, of which he was extremely afraid,” she said.

Additional weight was taken off the log supports by creating a frame for the home. A concrete pad was then poured underneath where there was once only dirt.

A friend told Hederman about a local carpenter and jack-of-all-trades who could help her with additional renovations and restoration of the tree house.

“The first time I met Tim Hudson is when he roared up the hill on his motorcycle. As it turns out, I believe he and Johnny Knight would have been kindred spirits,” she said. “Tim breathed life back into the house. He really worked to capture the spirit of the place.”

Hudson rebuilt the tongue-in-groove ceiling himself, cutting and installing each piece. He constructed a stacked stone fireplace, and handcrafted the heavy doors and beautiful redwood slabs used for the bathroom vanity.

“Tim amazed me with his ability to turn boards, limbs, rocks and other bits of nature into works of art,” she said.

One of the pieces Tim created is a light above the bar in the kitchen.

“Johnny Knight used to drive the church bus for mission trips. He would bring back things he found along the way. Tim found a piece of driftwood in the shed that Johnny used a magic marker to write that he brought it back from a mission trip to Snowy Range, Wyo.,” she said. “Tim used it to construct the light fixture above the bar in the kitchen.”

Sadly for Hederman, life changes and a move to Slidell marked the time for her to sell the tree house. She contacted Sue Humphreys of RE/MAX Alliance in Brandon, her next door neighbor’s mother. Humphreys put the house on the market and in record time began getting offers from all over the country.

“It was posted on Facebook and went viral,” exclaimed Humphreys, who has been selling real estate for 47 years. “I’ve never seen anything like this!”

As fate would have it, Johnny’s niece, Gloria Lucas, called Hederman and told her she wanted the tree house.

“I told her to call Sue,” Hederman said.

Lucas is thrilled to have the home back in the family, and she is looking forward to hosting family gatherings in the tree house on holidays. As she walked around the home, she pointed out details, such as the original floors, which Johnny built using salvaged lumber from construction sites, and the little “fairy doors” placed along a beam and high on a wall. She also noted the sleeping loft, a perfect hideaway for children.

“Gail did a beautiful job renovating this tree house,” Lucas said.

Lucas signed a contract the night before Humphreys was to show the house to the six potential buyers.

“I have such fond childhood memories of coming here to see my uncle, and now we can remember him for long into the future in the place he loved the most. She really preserved his legacy.”

STORY Susan Marquez
PHOTOGRAPHY Melanie Thortis