Franklin, Tennessee
Bought to preserve the watershed of Big East Fork Valley and to give the best view of the surrounding hills. Spacious house with five bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. Huge bonus room. Four car garage. Half-basketball court. Two large outdoor porches and large indoor screened porch. Walk down steep hill to 8 acre natural lake or drive one minute. Two night minimum. No Pets. No long-term rentals of entire house. There is a 300 gallon stock-tank for refreshing bathing for two adults at a time.
We are honored to be Stewards of the beautiful Big East Fork Valley and expect our guests to help protect it. We therefore require that you DON'T DUMP ON US. As there is no trash collection in the valley, you need to be responsible for the volume and quality of that which you leave behind. If you take all of your trash with you, we will return all of the Trash Deposit Fee. Or you can save money by reducing the volume of trash that needs to be carted to the landfill by contracting with a local vendor to remove your trash. Please read the house rules that apply to trash on the website (It is made available to you after you book).
Your request must include the purpose of your stay and how many total persons (including children) that will be using the lodging.
TRASH. Please don’t dump on us! There is no trash collection in Big East Fork Valley. Someone has to remove the trash and take it to the dump or to town. If you do this yourself, your entire $100 Community Fee Trash Deposit will be returned to you. If you leave any un-bagged trash in the house or trash cans, you will forfeit your Community Trash Deposit Fee. If you leave bagged trash in the outside trash receptacles, you will be charged $5 per bag for its proper disposal. This can really add up! You may contract to have your bagged trash removed by a private party (A list of trash removers is on our web-site, www.theforkinn.com/3rdparties).
One of the best ways to reduce the volume of your trash is to separate organic materials that we may compost to make soil for our gardens. If you are checking out on noon Sunday, come bring your usable food, drink, and spirit to the Center for Sustainable Stewardship’s Community Brunch, held every Sunday noon at the CSS Farm, 5400 Big East Fork Rd. Meet, greet, and express gratitude to the people who have worked hard to make your stay memorable. It takes a village to prepare and maintain our valley and its houses. Meet the Chief Steward and members of CSS who maintain the trails, take care of watercraft, groom the hiking trails, and care for the farm animals. And meet the Fork Inn team that landscape the houses, clean the rooms, prepare the laundry, and service our guests to give them the unique experiences found in the Big East Fork Valley.
So only place properly bagged garbage in garbage bins. Do not place garbage directly in large garbage receptacles unless it has been bagged.
NO UNBAGGED TRASH in our large waste containers or grounds. There will be a $100 extra charge if we have to bag any trash. Don’t place trash outside of bins making it accessible to hungry critters.
THE BASE PRICE IS FOR FOUR (4) PERSONS. There is a $40/person/night additional charge for the number of persons over four. DAY GUESTS must purchase a day pass and parking pass $40. PARKING PASS is free for overnight guests and must be displayed on vehicle at all times while on premises.
If you we are a good match for each other, we look forward to your stay with us!
1
Great house for a medium-to-large group in a peaceful rural setting that's only a 10-15 minute drive from shopping and services. Pros: The house itself is spacious and in good shape. the screened in and outside porches were the perfect place to watch the sunset and greet the morning. Wade is a delightful, personable, and responsive property manager. He not only took care of our requests, but was nice to talk to. We enjoyed hiking the private trails and feeding our compost to the farm animals. The young adult kids morphed into children at the chance to feed and interact with the farm animals. Cons: Mice. Yes, it's in a rural area and it's natural for them to head inside when it turns cold outside. I'm not sure how long the space was empty before we showed up, but there was evidence of a mouse presence on the kitchen counters, table, and floor as well as in the master suite. We gave the kitchen a thorough cleaning, washed sheets, and Wade brought us traps right away. (On the plus side, it forced us to clean the dishes and kitchen each night.) Again, the house is in a rural area, so we rolled with it, but a thorough kitchen cleaning, including the tablecloth and kitchen rugs might have helped. Also, the kitchen could use a good set of mixing bowls and large serving bowls. The basics are all there, but if you plan to do a lot of your own cooking, ask ahead of time about specific pans and baking needs. Neutral: plates, glasses, and utensils are a mismatched bunch. It didn't bother us. The furniture in the rec room is tired and the couch, shabby, but it's a fine place for letting loose a bunch of kids or just watching TV.
The property was beautiful and the house was perfectly sized for a wedding party. The gentlemen Wade who checked us in was very friendly and made excellent recommendations on local attractions. We would definitely stay here again!
We had 4 seperate families for a father son get away and had plenty of beds and baths for everyone. Great sunset!
The location/setting was spectacular. The house easily accommodates six adults with plenty of inside and outside areas for separation. We awoke one day to find there was no water(showers, toilets, coffee.....). This obviously created problems but we kept our outing plans for the day. The issue was resolved when we returned that evening. The entire house needs a professional cleaning. The entertainment room outside door lock was broken. The garbage disposal did not work. Basic kitchen inventory was lacking and disorganized.. Mice had gotten into the pantry and we had to throw away snacks, crackers, etc. The property manager was welcoming, knowledgeable of the area, gracious, and responsive. For an upscale property at this price point, the facility should be immaculate, and it was far from being so. The water issue was the most serious, impacting basic morning needs. Compensation for this disruption to our stay should be consideted.
Everything is absolutely phenomenal about this house. The owner was extremely helpful and super nice!
Castle and its surrounds are magnificent. The home is warm, spacious, comfortable and well appointed; ideally suited for family gatherings. Plenty of beds, a well outfitted kitchen and large entertainment level. As for outdoor activities, a basketball court awaits in the back yard and hiking trails and a beautiful lake are close at hand. All of that said, the view from it’s two back decks is beyond description. Atop the ridge, looking west and over the valley the sunsets are simply breathtaking. Suffice it to say we enjoyed our stay immensely!
Our family absolutely loved this spacious home! The views of the sunset from three large porches was the highlight of each evening. The kids enjoyed the ping pong table and the basketball court. The adults loved the huge lounge and comfortable rooms. We walked down to the lake and hiked several trails. We will be back!
Our trip was interesting to say the least. We arrived during a time of the millepede invasion, hence the lower cleanliness rating. Not a fault of the property owner but I would have preferred a prior heads up. Our hosts were always available to us and knew everything about the area. The house is beautiful, I only wish we had chosen a different time of year for our visit.