Victorian Mansion Tourist Attraction in Tennesssee

Learn the secrets • Experience the mysteries • See the beauty

In 1896, entrepreneur Clay Faulkner told his wife Mary he'd build her "the grandest mansion in Tennessee" if she would move next to their woolen mill, 2-1/2 miles from downtown McMinnville.

Mary agreed, and Faulkner supervised construction as enthusiastically as he promoted the mill's "Gorilla Pants" (so strong even a gorilla couldn't tear them apart) and mineral water at the Faulkner Springs Hotel, the "ideal health and pleasure resort" he would eventually open on the lake across the road.

Faulkner's solid-brick, 10,000-square-foot mansion had all the "modern conveniences" when it was built -- electric lights, indoor plumbing, central heat, and more. That's one reason PBS dubbed it "Tennessee's Biltmore."

In the 1940s, Clay Faulkner's mansion was converted into a hospital and nursing home. An early ad boasted a quiet location and an ideal climate, at rates of $5.00 to 8.00 per day -- according to care required. By the mid-1950's, Dr. J.P. Dietrich had added onto the building and renamed it the Faulkner Springs Hospital. Local folks still tell fond stories about the doctor and the house where he dispensed medicine and love. The doctor closed the hospital in 1968. He stripped out much of the woodwork in an unsuccessful attempt to tear down the solid brick structure, then let it sit empty for a decade an a half.

When George McGlothin bought the old house at auction in 1989, it was a ghost of its former glory. He and his wife Charlien began four years of restoration, tackling 95 percent of the work themselves. Their efforts were rewarded with the National Trust's Great American Home Award for restoration in 1997. Today, the mansion is filled with museum quality Victorian antiques, and some say it's presided over by a friendly ghost -- perhaps the proud builder himself.

It's open seven days a week year round as a historic tourist attraction, offering guided house museum tours, group entertainment shows, delicious meals, 1890s shopping, weddings and other special events -- all of which live up to Falcon Rest's well-earned reputation as "the Victorian mansion where history is fun."

Gems from the Gent

The Victorian Gentleman is the talent behind the fun and the visionary behind the restoration at Falcon Rest Mansion. Whenever you see our "Gems from the Gent" logo, click for some of his entertaining stories about the mansion.

For a start, follow this link to find out more about The People Behind the Victorian Gent and Lady. To read more of his first-person stories, go to the "Gent's Gems" page.

On your way to anywhere in Middle Tennessee

Located in the center of Nashville, Chattanooga and
Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg triangle -- the three most popular tourist destinations in Tennessee --
and just a half hour off both I-24 and I-40.

A stop at Falcon Rest Mansion for individual or group tours is a great way to enjoy the Tennessee backroads
without going out of your way. It's a "must see in Tennessee."