Steampunk Treehouse (Dogfish Head)

Milton, Delaware, United States

Public art

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

The Steampunk Treehouse is a steel, wood and reclaimed-material sculpture outside the Dogfish Head brewery in Milton, Delaware. Sean Orlando and the Five Ton Crane Arts Group built it in 2007, and it debuted at Burning Man; the brewery gives it as 40 feet tall.

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Steampunk Treehouse (Dogfish Head)

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Site-level location · 38.7706° N, 75.3104° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

A treehouse that began at Burning Man in Nevada now stands outside a brewery in Milton, Delaware. Sean Orlando and the Five Ton Crane Arts Group of Oakland, California, made the Steampunk Treehouse in 2007, and Dogfish Head says it debuted at Burning Man in Black Rock City in late August that year. It later appeared at Coachella and other festivals, the Cape Gazette reported in 2010.

Dogfish Head says it found the sculpture online and began talking to the artists, who were looking for a permanent home. Orlando and the crew installed it at the Milton brewery in June 2010, and on 25 June the brewery smashed a bottle of its Life & Limb beer against the door to make it official.

The brewery gives the dimensions as 40 feet tall and 40 feet wide, weighing 8 tons, with a 20-foot trunk and a 15-foot hexagonal house, 12 feet tall, set 20 feet off the ground. It says the piece was made partly from recycled and reclaimed materials. The Cape Gazette gave a different picture in 2010: a 25,000-pound sculpture, and a creators' description of a 30-foot-tall structure built of recycled wood, clockwork components and steel in the style of Victorian architecture, H.G. Wells and Jules Verne.

The Cape Gazette quoted a Dogfish Head representative in 2010 saying the idea was a place where employees could go for creative inspiration, and an older brewery page described the interior as a staff space for sharing ideas, though the current tours page lists a visit inside. Islands.com reported in December 2024 that the interior holds Victorian sconces, stained-glass windows, a telescope and a hand-crank telephone.

The sculpture can be seen from the brewery grounds, and the brewery's tours page lists a 60-minute tour that finishes with a trip inside; that tour is for ages 21 and over.

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PRACTICAL

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WHAT TO EXPECT

The treehouse stands outside the Dogfish Head brewery's tasting room in Milton and can be seen on a brewery visit. The brewery's tours page lists a 60-minute tour that ends with a trip inside. The 60-minute tour is for ages 21 and over. The brewery strongly encourages booking tours online, and walk-up places are very limited.

ACCESS

Dogfish Head Milton Brewery, 6 Cannery Village Center, Milton, Delaware; the sculpture is on brewery grounds, which are business property. Entry to the interior is through the brewery's guided 60-minute tour, which is for ages 21 and over; the brewery strongly encourages booking ahead.

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