Bavarian farmer builds tourism business with holiday homes and a treehouse
Farmer Thomas Jetzlsperger in Bavaria complements his farming with tourism: his farm has several holiday homes, a café and, most recently, a luxury treehouse in the forest.
In Reut, in the Rottal-Inn district of Bavaria in southern Germany, farmer Thomas Jetzlsperger has built a tourism business alongside his farm. It began with two simple holiday homes. Today the farm offers several accommodations, wellness features and its newest addition, a treehouse. The example comes from German agricultural outlet agrarheute, in its coverage of farmers and tourism.
The farm lies among meadows, forest and orchards. Besides the holiday homes, it runs a farm café and direct sales, and Jetzlsperger also keeps Galloway cattle. He built much of the infrastructure himself or helped build it. His motto: don't just talk, do.
From idea to execution
The farmer says he has plenty of ideas but only carries out those that pay their way. He liked the idea of a mobile chicken coop with old breeds, but the numbers did not add up, so he dropped it.
The treehouse was a different case. His existing holiday homes were well booked, so he knew demand existed. Asked why he chose a treehouse, he says simply that he thought it was cool.
A house in the forest
Since 2026 the treehouse has stood in the forest, eight metres above the ground on massive spruce trunks. Part of the timber came from his own forest. No tree had to be felled for the foundation. The large terrace sits among the treetops and offers a lot of privacy. From the heated whirlpool the view stretches across the hilly landscape, and in clear weather as far as the Alps. Each holiday home has its own wellness extra.
