Tag: Harve Oakley

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The Fairy House on the Voorheis Estate

The audio version of this article was first shared in Episode 45 : A Bookchat about The Premonition at Withers Farm with Jaime Jo Wright & a Review of Above the Fold by Rachel Scott McDaniel

Todays’ Pinch of the Past takes us to the Smoky Mountains of eastern Tennessee, to explore the history behind a little hidden gem called the House of the Fairies.

Louis Voorheis

A man sits on a set of stone stairs, hand on his chin and facing away from the camera into trees
Louis E. Voorheis at the springhouse, also known as the House of the Fairies, circa 1930 NPS

In 1928, a successful businessman from Cincinnati, Ohio, wanted to create a mountain retreat, away from the crowds. Louis Voorheis settled on a 100-acre piece of land in the Smoky Mountains, about a mile away from Gatlinburg, TN, owned by Harve Oakley. The land included several mountain springs, as well as two creeks, Mill Creek and Scratch Britches Branch. (Incidentally, he ended up changing the name of Mill Creek to Le Conte Creek.)

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