This Developer’s Out on a Limb

The curious turned out by the hundreds to pay $2 each for the privilege of living a childhood fantasy. They toured a seven-story tree house that a Minnesota man had built to fulfill a promise to his teen-age son. Mark Tucker estimates he has put 2,000 hours and $7,500 worth of lumber into the treetop mansion, which he started in order to make good on a vow made years earlier to his oldest son, now 18. He says the admission fees he collects will go into a war chest to support his battle with the St. Louis Park City Council, which has ordered the tree house torn down because it doesn’t meet building codes. “I’ve built this thing with such love, care and concern for the safety of my own children, I believe it exceeds anything (city codes) would ever require,” Tucker said. Others contributed to Tucker’s cause by dropping extra money into the tour collection box and signing petitions. People want to help because “they see me as the little guy having trouble with City Hall--and everybody loves a tree house,” Tucker said.

--There are no beaches and the climate will never be confused with Palm Springs’, but the Murray-Kentucky Lake region of western Kentucky is the No. 1 retirement haven, according to a new directory. “There are places with better climate in the book, and there are places with a lower cost of living, and 92 of them have more things to do. . . but on balance, Murray-Kentucky Lake has more to offer in general,” said David Savageau, co-author of “Rand McNally’s Retirement Places Rated” with Richard Boyer. The book gives the area high marks for money matters, housing and personal safety. Other top retirement spots: Clayton-Clarkesville, Ga.; Hot Springs-Lake Ouachita, Ark.; Grand Lake-Lake Tenkiller, Okla.; Fayetteville, Ark.; St. George-Zion, Utah; Brownsville-Harlingen, Tex.; Bloomington-Brown County, Ind.; San Antonio, and Port Angeles-Strait of Juan de Fuca, Wash.

--He already owns a vintage Bentley that belonged to John Lennon, but tanning salon owner Leo Dutran couldn’t resist a 1952 Silver Dawn Rolls-Royce once owned by beleaguered TV evangelists Jim and Tammy Bakker. Dutran, of Worcester, Mass., plunked down $91,000 in an auction at the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Festival in Auburn, Ind., to buy the car the Bakkers used at their Palm Springs home. It is a smaller, post-World War II model Rolls that was built for the U.S. market--to be driven by the owner rather than a chauffeur--and has been updated with a 12-volt electrical system, power steering, air conditioning and stereo radio.