A PLACE in the COUNTRY

For the 2023 Southern Living Idea House, we followed winding roads to rural Tennessee, where we built a family farmhouse that embraces life in the slow lane

- BETSY CRIBB WATSON

THE TENNESSEE countryside is musical. The land rolls here, dipping into tree-spangled valleys then cresting into grassy knolls that stretch toward the sky. But unlike the rollicking melodies of nearby Nashville, about 30 miles northeast, the rhythms of the Leipers Fork area are a bit more relaxed, with honky-tonk tunes and neon lights taking a back seat to birdsong and starry skies. In other words, it was a pitch-perfect choice for the site of our 2023 Idea House-a reimagined farmhouse that honors its surroundings and encourages gracious hospitality.

We assembled a talented crew from across the region to bring our country-place dreams to life: interior designer Laura Hodges of Laura Hodges Studio in Catonsville, Maryland; residential designers Bill Holloway and Luke Sippel of Lake + Land Studio in Hattiesburg, Mississippi; builders Mary and Patrick Hatcliff of Hatcliff Construction in Murfreesboro, Tennessee; and landscape designer Butch Hamby of Southern Creations Landscaping, which is also based in Murfreesboro.