A direct and simple way to build a tree from an Object : Work fine like that but a shorter way would be better a.k.a ~ $("#mytree").kendoTreeView({'ObjectSource':myObject) try this html to have a better idea of what i suggest. Thanks <body> <ul id="mytree"/> <script> $(document).ready(function() { var myObject = { "who" : [ "french", "man", "old geek", { "age": "49", "status" : "with a wonderful wife" } ], "living" : { "Europe" : { "France" : { "cities" : ["Paris","Bretagne"]}}}, "loving" : [{ "langages": ["KendoUI", "Node.js"]}, { "other" : "chocolate" }] }; var ObjToHtmlUlLi = function (obj) { var result = ""; if (obj instanceof Array) for (i in obj) result += "<li>" + ObjToHtmlUlLi(obj[i]) + "</li>"; else if (obj instanceof Object) for(i in obj) result += "<li>" + i + "<ul>"+ObjToHtmlUlLi(obj[i])+"</ul></li>"; else result += "<li>"+ obj + "</li>"; return result; }; $("#mytree").html(ObjToHtmlUlLi(myObject)); $("#mytree").kendoTreeView(); //=> somethins like $("#mytree").kendoTreeView({'jsonSource':myJsonObject) would be great }); </script> </body>