Travel

Get within a country mile of Buck’s Gardens & Grotto Overnight Lodging in Pall Mall, and Jim Buck is liable to tell you a story.

He might tell you how his 92-year-old father, Ernest, has an accurate record of every penny he has spent since the first penny he earned.

Maybe he’ll describe how his relatives grew up so poor that they’d have starved to death if it weren’t for cornbread and molasses, or perhaps how he acquired his collection of ancient arrowheads.

The truth is, he’ll probably tell you all those stories, and then some. But that’s because family is important to Jim Buck – so important that it was worth preserving.

In honor of their ancestors, Jim and his wife, Sheryl, transformed their family farm into a country retreat in 2004. Evidence of the family’s rich heritage can be found in every nook and cranny of the property, which is decorated with antiques, heirlooms and vintage personal photos.

“A lot of folks just aren’t making money using the traditional farming methods anymore, so we thought we’d try turning the farm into overnight lodging,” Jim Buck explains.

One year into the experiment, the Bucks say it seems to be working. Visitors from more than 15 states and all over Tennessee have stayed at Buck’s Lodging.

“We’ve had them near and far,” Sheryl says. “Sgt. Alvin York’s home is just three miles away, and we’re also close to Dale Hollow Lake and Big South Fork National Park.”

Guests have the option of staying in either the Minnie Greer Farmhouse, built in 1900 by Buck’s great aunt and uncle, or the Dave Greer Cabin, built in 1830 by the same folks who built the Mark Twain Family Cabin, which is on display at the Museum of Appalachia in northeast Tennessee.

“Marion and Minnie Greer lived in that pink farmhouse their whole lives,” Jim says. “They raised cattle and chickens, and they kept boarders who paid for their housing by working on the farm.”

Today, the renovated farmhouse accommodates six guests, and the cabin accommodates five. Both are equipped with bathrooms, fireplaces and furnished kitchens, and the Bucks are perfect hosts, offering hiking and biking trails, cool spring water, and a variety of treats from their own kitchen.

Because both Jim and Sheryl work full-time – he’s an insurance agent and she’s a schoolteacher – they don’t offer breakfast, but it’s a good bet Jim will bring over some of his famous homemade cheesecake or Sheryl’s blackberry lemonade, both garnished with berries from one of their many gardens.

Running Buck’s Lodging isn’t quite as difficult as running a bed and breakfast – and definitely not as involved as a hotel or inn – but there’s still always work to be done. With 300 acres to tend and elaborate gardens, the Bucks say they have plenty to keep them busy.

“We’ve got swings all over the place, and one day we’re going to sit down in them,” Jim jokes.

“For now, we’re kind of workaholics.”

In addition to honoring his family’s heritage, Jim says the best thing about their business is getting to meet so many different people.

“We love people, and we love to travel,” he says. “This way, the people come to us.”

The Bucks aren’t the only farm family turning to the past to help finance the future. When Bruce and Diane Magoon and their six children bought their Centerville farm in 1993, they discovered that they weren’t the only ones fond of an old log cabin on their property.

“Several people in our community have told us they lived in the cabin at one point or another,” Diane Magoon says.

Built in 1829 by George Wright, the cabin was first home to Wright’s son, Andrew Jackson Wright, who went on to fight in the Civil War. In later years, ownership of the cabin passed from one Hickman County family to the next, but it eventually fell into disrepair.

“The cabin was very run down for about 30 years,” Magoon says. “We had it stripped down to its original logs and renovated so that it was livable again.”

After renovating the cabin, the Magoons decided to rent it as a bed and breakfast – and Magoon Farms was born.

“People always stop by and ask to see the cabin – to see how we fixed it up,” Magoon says.

The rustic cabin sleeps eight people and is equipped with plumbing and electricity. A covered wrap-around porch encircles it, and guests can cook on outdoor grills.

“Mostly we rent to hunters in the spring and fall, but we also had a family stay in the cabin the week between Christmas and New Year’s last year,” Magoon says, noting that “hunting is supreme” in Hickman County.

Guests who opt to have breakfast at the cabin are in for a treat.

“We serve farm-fresh eggs from our chickens, sugar-cured bacon from our hogs and fresh muffins,” Magoon says. “Of course, if people don’t want to be disturbed, that’s fine too.”

There are numerous other advantages to staying at Magoon Farms – in summer months, the family offers fresh produce, including strawberries, watermelons and cantaloupes.

A similar enterprise is in the works in Cornersville, where Jim Blackburn operates Lairdland Farms Log Cabin Bed and Breakfast. He started the B&B in 1995, using cabins already onsite at his family’s 500-acre Century Farm.

“I was looking for a way to generate income on the farm,” Blackburn says. “I enjoy meeting people, and the [bed and breakfast] business is certainly out there.”

Two cabins are available to guests on the farm, and both have been renovated to include modern conveniences such as central heat and air, telephones and satellite TV. Both also have wood-burning fireplaces, fully equipped kitchenettes and outdoor grills.

“The cabins are very private,” Blackburn says. “For breakfast, we stock the kitchen with country ham, biscuits and pastries, so the guests aren’t bothered and they can eat any time they want.”

Lairdland Farms is a great destination for equestrians, because there are horse
stalls and 15 miles of trails.

Hiking and bicycling are also popular activities.

“But honestly, most people just want to sit and rock or swing on the cabin’s front porch and do nothing,” Blackburn says with a chuckle.

Because the farm has been in Blackburn’s family since the 1850s, guests often ask about its history.

“Robert Henderson Laird was the original owner of the farm, and my great-grandfather, Capt. James K. Blackburn, fell in love with Laird’s daughter, Mackie, while recovering from war wounds in Lewisburg,” Blackburn explains. “They were married on the front porch of the farmhouse in 1867.”

The farm’s Civil War history doesn’t end there.

“I found a little leather-bound diary of another Civil War soldier in an upstairs room of the farmhouse,” Blackburn says.

“The soldier, who was a quartermaster and kept up with his unit’s horses, recuperated from his wounds at our farmhouse.”

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