In the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains near Walland, Tennessee, Blackberry Farm occupies 4,200 acres of wilderness where exceptional hospitality, serious food, and genuine Southern warmth converge. This isn't your typical resort where you're shuffled through generic experiences. Here, you'll find 68 accommodations ranging from cozy historic rooms to sprawling cottages, three restaurants that actually deserve the hype, and enough activities to fill a week without repeating yourself. It's a Relais & Châteaux property that manages to feel both refined and genuinely welcoming, a balance many luxury hotels attempt but few achieve.
A Family Legacy
The story begins in the 1930s when Florida and Dave Lasier, traveling from Chicago to the Georgia coast, stumbled upon this corner of Tennessee and decided it was perfect for their dream home. Florida famously snagged her silk stockings on blackberry bushes in 1939 while scouting locations, giving the property its name. Fast forward to 1976, when Kreis and Sandy Beall, along with three other local families, purchased the land with preservation in mind. Kreis transformed it into a six-room country inn, making it the family home while sharing it with guests.
The property truly came into its own under their son Sam Beall, a trained chef who'd worked at the French Laundry. Sam expanded the wine program, developed the farmstead, opened The Barn restaurant, and launched the hiking and biking trail network. He also started the resort's breeding program for Lagotto Romagnolo truffle dogs, a quirky touch that's become one of Blackberry's signature features. After Sam's unexpected death in 2016, his widow Mary Celeste Beall took over as proprietor, continuing to refine the property alongside the leadership team.
The Barn
Housed in a turn-of-the-century bank-style barn that the Bealls moved piece by piece from Pennsylvania Dutch country, this James Beard Award-winning restaurant sits at the heart of the Farmstead.
Executive Chef Cassidee Dabney, who joined in 2010 and worked her way up to executive chef by 2015, creates multi-course menus rooted in Appalachian ingredients. The style is what they call Foothills Cuisine – refined and delicate, drawing from Southern traditions without being strictly "Southern food."
Beneath the dining room lies the second-largest wine cellar in America, holding more than 160,000 bottles across 9,000 different selections. The cellar has earned both James Beard and Wine Spectator awards, and the sommeliers know how to use it – expect thoughtful, sometimes surprising pairings that elevate each course. The bar program is equally impressive, featuring over 300 whiskies and brandies, many impossible to find elsewhere. Dinner here is the kind of experience where you'll want to dress up; jackets are strongly preferred.
The food itself lives up to the setting. Dishes like marinated watermelon with lime, spiced pistachios, foie gras, and honey demonstrate the kitchen's ability to balance innovation with comfort. The ingredients come from the farm's gardens, just a short walk from the Barn's front door, along with products from the surrounding region.
Accommodations
Historic Room - Trout Lily
With 68 guest accommodations spread across six different styles, Blackberry offers options for everyone from solo travelers to large families. Each room features Frette linen sheets, custom Nature Spa mattresses and toppers, and complimentary snacks and non-alcoholic beverages. The design strikes a careful balance between country elegance and modern comfort, with antiques and art throughout but never veering into overwrought rustic territory.
Historic Rooms
These are where the Blackberry story began – the original rooms in the Main House. Small and intimate, each is individually decorated with unique antiques that capture the essence of country-house style. The rooms vary in layout and size, but all deliver that "coming home" feeling. You'll have either a king or queen bed, plush robes, and the convenience of being steps from the Main House dining rooms and shops. Queen rooms work particularly well for solo travelers.
Singing Brook Cottage Suites
Perched on a wooded hillside at the Farmstead, these suites offer serious seclusion. Each combines a living room and bedroom with a king-sized bed, a quiet porch, and a large bathroom with double vanities, walk-in shower, and separate tub. There's a sitting area with fireplace and your own golf cart for getting around the property. Some cottages can be connected through an internal door, creating two-bedroom spaces ideal for families or friends traveling together.
The Holly Glade Cottage Suites
A short walk from the Main House, the Holly Glades deliver privacy without isolation. These classic American-style suites feature luxurious textiles, plush furnishings, and a mix of refreshed Blackberry antiques with colorful florals and striking modern art. The spacious bathrooms include both a glass shower and jacuzzi tub with double vanity sinks. You'll have a private living room, covered porch with rocking chairs, fireplace, and your own golf cart. The location offers easy access to dining and the Oak and Gallery gift shops while maintaining that secluded feel.
Farmstead Cottage
The largest two-person accommodation at Blackberry, the Farmstead Cottage sits among the Singing Brook Cottages on that same wooded hillside. This is the ultimate hideaway, with an expansive bathroom featuring double vanities and whirlpool tub, a separate dressing suite, and multiple lounging spaces. The glass-enclosed living porch has a wooden swing and fireplace, plus there's a screened side porch and stone back patio. It's where you go when you want complete seclusion without sacrificing any luxury.
The Wellhouse features an outdoor adults-only swimming pool where you can order everything from tonics and juices to full cocktails from the cafe. It's a civilized spot to spend an afternoon under the Tennessee sky, whether you're recovering from a spa treatment or preparing for one.
Yallarhammer Pavilion
This open-air venue accommodates up to 140 guests and sits beside a babbling brook. With its outdoor fireplace and natural surroundings, it's designed for private events and weddings, offering both shelter and that under-the-stars atmosphere.
Old Walland Pond
The pond and its boathouse provide one of Blackberry's most picturesque settings, particularly in the morning when fog rolls through the Smoky Mountain foothills. You can take out boats or simply settle in for the view – those Tennessee mountains reflected in still water make for a compelling reason to wake early.
In front of the Main House, you'll find rocking chairs lined up on the porch, the kind of spot where doing absolutely nothing feels like exactly the right activity. One guest, as the story goes, spent an entire week sitting in one of these chairs while his grandson scheduled daily two-hour massages. When asked if he wouldn't rather be doing something else, the old man replied: "You don't come here to do things, you come for the food." After a meal at Blackberry, that logic becomes hard to argue with.
Activities
With 4,200 acres of private property and close to a million acres of national park and forest land surrounding it, Blackberry delivers on outdoor experiences. The staff includes professional guides ready to help you explore, whether you're a complete beginner or looking to refine existing skills.
Farmstead Tour
A comprehensive tour of the working farm areas gives you an up-close look at the heirloom gardens, heritage livestock pastures, Dairy Barn, and Larder. You'll learn about the production methods that put the "farm" in Blackberry Farm, visit the kennel where they breed and train those famous Lagotto Romagnolo dogs, and end with a sampling of farmstead cheeses, meats, preserves, and a seasonal beverage. The animals here – from the sheep producing milk for award-winning cheeses to heritage pigs – are an integral part of the operation, and meeting them helps you understand how the farm functions as a complete system.
East Tennessee offers year-round fishing, and Blackberry's program takes full advantage of it. Professional guides can introduce beginners to the basics or help experienced anglers with local knowledge that's hard to beat. You might fish for trophy-sized trout on Hesse Creek, explore 800 miles of wild trout streams in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, or float down well-known tailwaters. The guides know their favorite spots and tactics, and they're generous about sharing both. It's all catch-and-release now, but the fish are abundant and catching something impressive is more likely than not.
The equestrian facility sits on an adjoining 200-acre property, just a mile from the main entrance. Trail rides wind through the Smoky Mountain foothills, designed to be safe and pleasurable whether you're an experienced rider or sitting on a horse for the first time. All rides are private and require reservations, with guides who know the terrain and can adjust the pace to match your comfort level.
1471 W Millers Cove Rd, Walland, TN 37886, United States
