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Cottages at Timber Crest is a quiet adult community tucked into the wooded foothills of East Tennessee, in Bean Station. The plan calls for 84 lease lots for tiny homes on wheels and small cottages, laid out along two winding loops through a hardwood hillside. The operators describe it as a 45+ community built for people who are downsizing, starting fresh, or simply ready for a slower pace.
What sets it apart from a typical lot-rental park is the setting and the intent. The roads were cut into mature woods rather than an open field, and the community now offers its own move-in-ready homes alongside lots for homes you bring yourself. It’s a useful model to study if you’re weighing where to park a tiny house long-term.
A Wooded Hillside in the East Tennessee Foothills
Bean Station sits in Grainger County, roughly 45 miles northeast of Knoxville and close to the shores of Cherokee Lake, a TVA reservoir popular for fishing and boating. The community’s land is mixed hardwood and pine on rolling ground, with red clay soil showing wherever the crews have graded. For tiny-home owners, a wooded lot like this means summer shade, natural privacy screening between neighbors, and a sense of living in the trees rather than in a row.
The community’s name comes with a small symbol: a heart-shaped knot found in a piece of wood on the property. The operators say it stands for what they want the place to be about: kindness, respect, and living in connection with the land and with each other.
New Roads Cut Through the Hardwoods
Most of the early photos show the community the way it really is right now: a work in progress. Gravel and dirt roads climb and curve through the trees, following the contour of the hill instead of fighting it. That matters for tiny homes on wheels. Gentle grades and wide curves make it far easier to tow a 24- or 30-foot trailer onto a site, and roads that follow the land tend to drain better through wet Tennessee winters.
Lots Staked Out for Tiny Homes and Cottages
Individual home sites are being cleared and marked with survey stakes. The crews are leaving trees standing around the cleared pads, so each home site should keep a wooded backdrop once a house is in place. If you’re shopping for a lot here, it’s worth walking a few of them, since slope, sun exposure, and how much tree cover remains can vary a lot from one site to the next.
84 Lots on Two Winding Loops
The site plan shows lots numbered 1 through 84 arranged along two looping roads. A loop layout like this keeps through-traffic low, which suits the community’s 10 mph speed limit and quiet-living focus, and it gives most homes frontage on a road without a grid-like feel.
Meet the Woodland: A Classic White Cottage with a Loft
Timber Crest now offers three homes of its own, and the first two are on site. The Woodland is a traditional cottage with white lap siding, decorative trim in the front gable, and a covered front porch with brown railings and wooden steps. It’s set on concrete-block piers, which is how many park-model-style homes are installed on sloped wooded lots like these.
Inside the Woodland: Shiplap, a Dark Plank Ceiling, and Stairs to the Loft
Inside, the Woodland pairs white shiplap walls with a dark-stained plank ceiling and exposed trusses. The contrast makes the room feel taller, and black window trim frames the woods outside. The kitchen runs along one wall with white cabinets, dark counters, a full-size stainless range, and a full-size refrigerator. A real staircase leads up to the loft instead of a ladder, a big deal for anyone planning to live here for years.
The bathroom keeps the same white shiplap and adds a glass corner shower. A corner unit uses less floor space than a standard tub and is easier to step into, which suits a 45+ community.
Meet the Cherokee: Forest Green Siding and a Screened Porch
The Cherokee takes a more rustic, cabin-like direction. Its dark green siding and bronze metal roof blend into the trees, and the design has two front gables: one for the main living space and one for a large screened porch. A dormer along the side brings light into the upper level.
The screened porch is the star of the exterior. With a ceiling fan overhead and screens on every side, it works as an extra room for three seasons of the year, and in East Tennessee’s humid summers a bug-free porch can see more use than the living room.
Inside the Cherokee: Knotty Pine Under a Vaulted Ceiling
Inside, the Cherokee is all warm knotty pine. The living room has a vaulted ceiling with clerestory windows in the gable, so light comes in high and the space feels bigger than its footprint. French doors open straight onto the screened porch, connecting the two rooms into one indoor-outdoor living area.
The kitchen continues the rustic theme with wood cabinets and butcher-block counters, a black farmhouse sink, and a stainless range. A ductless mini-split on the wall handles heating and cooling, an efficient choice for a small home in a climate with real summers and winters.
Small details carry the cabin style into the bathroom, including a hammered copper vessel sink set on a wood vanity.
Leases, Financing, and Appointment-Only Tours
Timber Crest leases lots month-to-month, with a limited number of longer leases. The community has been offering 3-, 5-, and 7-year terms; once those spots fill, it plans to continue month-to-month only. If long-term stability matters to you, ask early. Lease rates aren’t published, so you’ll need to contact the community for current pricing.
For the community’s own homes, Timber Crest says financing can be arranged with approved credit. The third home design is listed on its site but wasn’t pictured yet when we checked. For everyone’s safety, the community is shown by appointment only, so call or email before driving out.
Know the Community Rules Before You Move In
Timber Crest publishes its full rules online, and they’re worth reading before you sign anything. A few that stand out for tiny-home owners:
- Homes must be underpinned. Approved skirting has to fully enclose the space under the home within 30 days of placement, and siding and paint colors need the owner’s approval. If you’re bringing a tiny house on wheels, plan for skirting in your budget.
- Pets: up to two indoor dogs or cats, each 40 lbs or less, with registration. No outdoor pets and no visiting pets.
- Vehicles: two per home, no street or lawn parking, and a 10 mph speed limit.
- Fire safety: no fire pits or open flames, and grills must stay off decks and at least 15 feet from the home.
- Yard and storage: one approved shed per lot on a 4-inch concrete pad, and no clotheslines or items stored outside.
- Guests can stay two days without approval. Quiet hours run 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
- Resale and subletting require the community’s consent, and the community holds a right of first refusal.
- Services: roads are maintained year-round, trash service is arranged through a local provider, and a preferred high-speed internet provider is available. There are no storm shelters on site.
Rules like these are common in well-run land-lease communities. They keep the place looking tidy and quiet, but they also limit what you can do with your lot, so make sure they fit how you want to live.
Design Details
- Location: Bean Station, Grainger County, Tennessee (East Tennessee foothills)
- Community type: adult community, listed as 45+
- Size: 84 lease lots on two looping roads
- Homes welcome: tiny homes on wheels, small cottages, and container homes
- Leasing: month-to-month, plus limited 3-, 5-, and 7-year leases
- Community homes: Woodland, Cherokee, and a third design, with financing available with approved credit
- Setting: wooded hardwood-and-pine hillside with graded gravel roads
- Pets: up to two indoor dogs or cats, 40 lbs max each
- Tours: by appointment only
What Makes This Community Special
- The woods were kept. Roads and pads were cut into an existing forest, not a cleared field, so homes get shade and privacy from day one.
- Two ways in. You can bring your own tiny home or cottage, or buy one of the community’s homes and skip the transport and setup headaches.
- Long leases, while they last. Multi-year terms are rare in tiny-home parks and give residents real stability.
- Written rules up front. Publishing the full rules before you apply lets you check that the community fits your life before you commit.
- A place to study. If you’re planning a home for a wooded lot, the Woodland’s staircase loft and the Cherokee’s screened porch are both smart answers to how to live well in a small footprint among the trees.
Video Tour
Take a drone flight over the roads and cleared lots at Cottages at Timber Crest:
The community’s YouTube channel has more videos, including a drive-in from the main road and early walking tours.
Learn More
Cottages at Timber Crest, Bean Station, Tennessee
Website: cottagesattimbercrest.com · About · Homes (Build with Us) · Community Rules · Contact
YouTube: @CottagesAtTimberCrest
Phone: 865-318-8436 (ask for Brent) · Email: timbercrest12@gmail.com
Address: 1659 Newman Hollow Road, Bean Station, TN 37708
Shopping for a place to park? Our guide to the best tiny house communities in the US rounds up more places where you can live tiny right now.
Highlights
- A quiet 45+ adult community in the wooded East Tennessee foothills
- 84 lease lots for tiny homes on wheels, small cottages, and container homes
- Month-to-month leasing plus limited 3-, 5-, and 7-year leases
- Two community homes on site: the white Woodland cottage with a staircase loft, and the rustic Cherokee with a screened porch
- Financing available on community homes with approved credit
- Published community rules covering skirting, pets, vehicles, and fire safety
- Tours by appointment only
Explore More
- Tiny Homes Village: A Pet-Friendly Tiny House Community in the Tennessee Hills
- Honey Creek: Boone’s First Tiny-Home Community Is Taking Lot Reservations
- Avery 127: A Park Model with a Main-Floor Bedroom, Loft, and Covered Porch
- Woodfield: A 55+ Park Model Community in the Pines of Show Low, Arizona
- The Oaks on 37: An Adult-Only Tiny-Home Neighborhood Behind the RV Resort
- Communities · Lots · Tiny Cottages · THOWs
What do you think?
Would you bring your own tiny house to a wooded lot like this, or move into the Woodland or the Cherokee? Tell us in the comments.
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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase through one of our links, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
Alex
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