brush arbor appalachian pioneer homestead

Small but nice. Doesn't take long to tour the village and read the signs. If you are in the area, maybe touring the shops at Renfro Valley, then do stop by.

We stopped in for a cup of coffee and came out with a custom made quilt for our motorhome. My wife found the perfect material for a bedspread for our new motorhome. While discussing how we could have it made into a bedspread the folks at Brush Arbor said they could do that. Their price was reasonable and they even made it overnight so we could take it with us rather than have it shipped. It looks great. Besides the pioneer crafts the Homestead itself has a bunch of pioneer log structures that were moved their from various places. They are quite interesting and we were given a short tour which proved very informative. The coffee and pastries were also excellent. We are sure their future plans for a special events venue will work out well for them as they put a lot of care into their current operation.

We were at RENFRO VALLEY , on Oct. 18, 2013, and we drove back to see the Brush Arbor Apalachian Village---there was a huge , 5-foot tall iron fence and gate, complete with padlock, across the entire front of the village. We were told by one of the men working in RENFRO , that it had been sold at auction and was now privately owned. This saddened us greatly,because there seemed to be some new bldgs. added , and we had hoped to go thru it!! IF ANYONE OUT THERE HAS ANY INFO ON THE NEW OWNERS, PLEASE SHARE!

We stopped here after dinner at the Refro Valley Lodge Restaurant. We were on our way to the Smokey Mountains and this was our entertainment for the night before heading the rest of the way. The village was full of old resorted buildings from the time period. They had lots of information and it was easily navigated.

Our visit was before 2002. We stayed 2 nights in the Pennington cabin, and attended Easter service in the tiny log church, at which a 90+ year old former coal miner turned minister delivered an amazing message. It is my understanding it is not open to the general public now, and to me that is a shame because of the historical significance of some of the buildings.It was a wonderful experience.

Very authenic display of pioneer way of life. Good variety of items shown. Easy to navigate through buildings