MONROE, N.C. — There are hundreds of wineries in North Carolina, but one place in Union County is quite different from the rest.

 
What You Need to Know 
  • Treehouse Vineyards features three treehouses for rent by the hour or by night
  • They are open 12-6 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 12-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday
  • The winery officially opened in 2010, but the treehouses came long before that 

 

It’s a bit of a hike to get to the best part of Treehouse Vineyards, but the views from up above are well worth it. Phillip Nordan said his dad built the first treehouse in 1999. 

“One of the neat things is there is this old-school phone here,” Nordan said. “My grandmother would call if she needed anything.”

That is why this treehouse was built — Nordan’s dad was taking care of his mother at that time. His dad built the treehouse as a way for him and his wife to get away and just be with each other. It’s also how it got the name “Date Night.”

“They came here and took care of her [his grandmother] for over 10 years,” Nordan said.

Nordan’s father never planned to make the treehouse into a business, but one day he decided he wanted to start a winery. He was going to plant roots in the Raleigh area because his father already had a tobacco farm there. It was also common to turn that type of land into a vineyard. But Phil Nordan’s wife had other ideas.

“My mom said ‘honey, our only two kids and only grandkid live here. Let’s do something here on the property we already have,'” Nordan said.

The family planted 50 grape vines in 2005, and the next year they planted 500 more. At the same time, Phil Nordan had built another treehouse. This one was an overnight one called “Papa’s Dream.” It can sleep two people.

“Many people called him crazy, saying nobody is going to come to Monroe to sleep in a treehouse,” Nordan said. “Within the first year, I think it was almost sold out.”

A few years later they stepped up their engineering game and built “Horsefeathers Hideaway.” It was designed by Charles S. Greenwood, who has built more than a hundred treehouses across the world. His structures are known as the real deal because the base sits on living trees.

“The bark around the structure is growing just like it would on a limb,” Nordan said. “What it does is it holds the horizontal load of the tab [metal rod] coming out.”

The winery officially opened for business in 2010. It’s still mostly family-run, and those who are not blood-related, Nordan calls “extended family.” That is exactly how Phil Nordan would want it.

“Everything here started so organically, it just started for love of nature and the family,” Nordan said. “It has really turned out to be something very neat.”