Historic Samuel Frazier home, known locally as the Old Stone House.
Near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
 Samuel Frazier House in western Blount County.
It's near Friendsville and only 2 1/2 miles from Sam Houston home site.

Listed as the Samuel Frazier Home on the National Registry of Historic Places, the Frazier Home is known locally as the "old stone house".

Built between 1750 and 1772 in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains, it's origins are officially documented only with the first deed records when Tennessee became a state in 1796, and it was described as "old" at that time.

Homesteaded in Indian territory (Territory South of the Ohio), the house has stood in 3 different states while never moving: first North Carolina, then Franklin, and for the last 204 years, Tennessee.

Made of solid marble blocks up to 3x4', it's likely to stand hundreds more years. There's a barn of timber frame construction nearby, and it's older than the house.  A hundred yards up the hill is the family cemetery. With views of the nearby Smoky Mountains National Park, this is a beautiful and peaceful spot, and a good place to recall frontier history and imagine the Civil War battles that occurred right here. One spot on the front of the house was repaired with bricks after a cannon ball damaged the original rock during a Civil War skirmish.


Beautiful in its
stature and clean lines, the
Old Stone House
is shown here
with a view from
the southwest

Beautiful in any season, this old house has stood a sometimes lonely vigil on a hill overlooking the Tennessee River valley foothills. Ask what the old stone house has seen and you might get this reply:
1700's. First built. Indian territory, very few neighbors and they were in log cabins long since gone. Quiet and peaceful most of the time, this was a frontier. This area first became a state - North Carolina. Later it was changed to the state of Franklin. Finally, in 1796, the state of Tennessee.
1800's. Times of trouble. Tensions brewed as the conflicts over slavery escalated. And the Civil War raged, with battles not far away, and skirmishes right here. In fact, there are still scars on the house where cannon balls hit the stone walls.
1900's. More neighbors. Folks began to move here in numbers. The mighty Tennessee river was dammed at nearby Fort Loudon, the Little Tennessee and Tellico rivers too. Logging continued big time in the Appalachian mountains here, until the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was created in the 1930's.
2000's. Even more neighbors. Knoxville (30 miles upstream on the Tennessee river) continues to be the hub city for east Tennessee. Tourists flock to the Great Smokies, to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Retirees build their dream homes on the lakes and on all the old small farms. But the Old Stone House sits relatively unchanged, with just enough modernization to keep it functional and in good repair.

Upstairs is just one large room, with a beautiful fireplace. Five big windows give views of the graveyard out back, and the mountains to the front.

Fireplace heat was it for over 200 years. This is one of four fireplaces in the house. Uniquely designed to share only two chimneys, they're amazingly well made.

There are two bedrooms on the ground floor, each with its own fireplace and window. This is the main bedroom, with original heart pine floors and a window to the south.

This is the north bedroom. It's a little smaller than the main bedroom but has its own fireplace and a window that looks out over the creek bottom behind the house.


.... the home of Dr. Anne and Frank Landers
Visit us at the Old Stone House Farm in East Tennessee
 If you have questions or suggestions or wish to schedule a tour of the Old Stone House Farm, let us know.

This photo was taken from downhill toward the big spring that was the water source for the Old Stone House and other neighbors.

I wish to thank Dr. Anne and Frank Landers for offering their
historic home for publication in theBlountWeb.

MANIDIRECTORY