Story by Lee Rennick | Photos by Erin Kosko and Lee Rennick
Tucked away among the rolling hills of Beechgrove, Tennessee, in Bedford County, sits Darling Hill Retreat. The rustic, roughly 3,000 square foot cabin built by Sam Lynah in 2004 was purchased by Rick and Lisa Darling in 2022. They have turned the unique space into a warm and inviting short-term rental perfect for everything from a family holiday retreat to girls’ or guys’ weekends to bridal parties to corporate retreats.
“We had one family come in last Christmas and we helped them hire a guy to do all of their cooking,” said Lisa Darling. “They loved it!”
Property’s History
Sam Lynah purchased the piece of property from the late Dr. Joe Tom Walker, a prominent dentist and businessman in Murfreesboro. Lynah then built the home himself with no plans, making the cabin a bit eccentric, which makes it all the more charming. It has the feel of being around since the 1950s or 1960s.
“I have said that [Sam] didn’t own a measuring tape, and he didn’t own a level,” noted Lisa. “But the cool part is all of the wood.”
“It is made from hardwood,” added Rick. “Oak, western cedar. And the railings we added are pine. He left everything rough-cut. You can see that especially well in the big open sleeping area upstairs. Lynah also made many of the built-ins and most of the interior doors.”
According to a former neighbor of Lynah, the man was quite a character. He loved to fish, and he’d have fish frys at the cabin. As the Darlings cleaned and updated the property and the cabin, they found some items that made them think that although Lynah never lived in the space, he was a great entertainer and he enjoyed having many parties at the cabin beyond the occasional fish fry.
“When he got married to Carolina Jones and moved to Murfreesboro,” explained Lisa, “he sold the property to two dentists in Franklin. The Speers. A man and woman.”
Living in the area, the Darlings saw the “for sale” sign when the Speers decided to sell. They wandered up the road to see what was there. Mrs. Speers, thinking they were not interested in the property but just more “Nosey Nancies,” got a bit upset. She calmed when they told her that they were interested in buying it, but she was still determined to be with them when they toured the property.
“It was in bad shape,” noted Lisa. “I think they just tried to put a Band-Aid on it, but they didn’t live here either. They had a bed in the master and a freezer in the hallway. I think they thought that they’d stay here on the weekends when their granddaughter was at Webb and she’d come, but it had really deteriorated. After seeing it several times, we made an offer. We are the third owners.”
Making the Space Livable
Doing much of the work themselves with the help of Lisa’s very talented brother, Donnie, it took five months to restore and update the cabin. They put in a kitchen, updated the bathrooms, put in a coffee bar, added all new appliances and made repairs where needed.
“We are the ones who made it livable,” said Lisa.
“There was no kitchen,” added Rick. “There was a stove, a sink and a dishwasher.”
Everything now in the cabin is the Darling’s hard work. Lisa spent almost every waking hour before they opened cleaning, painting, patching, updating or designing the house.
“I’m a big thrifter and forager,” explained Lisa. “Buying this and 21 acres, we had a very small budget to update the place. When I owned Magnolia House in Murfreesboro, I got into interior design work and did work for Ole South. I was used to saying we’ll [buy] that and do that. This, I had to do it all. I found the kitchen cabinets on Marketplace for free. They were in Monteagle. My neighbor, Tom, and my brother helped me. Tom said he’d go and get them on his truck right then. They are perfect because they were from a 1938 home, and they had great bones.”
Lisa used her foraging abilities to find much of the furniture and decorative pieces on Facebook Marketplace, at estate sales and at Goodwill. Other items are from family, friends, her former shop and visitors to the space who enjoyed it so much they wanted to contribute to it.
“The Christmas plates are from one of my real estate clients,” Lisa explained. “We have had a lot of contributions to Darling Hill Retreat because people come here and want to be a part of it. One of Rick’s friends from Lebanon is a real cowboy, and he gave us the turkey feather décor on the wall by the door to the patio.”
Although the feel is retro, all of the appliances, lighting and plumbing are new. Lisa advertises the cabin as modern rustic, and it is just that. It has every modern convenience, but the décor has dashes of Western kitsch and splashes of memorabilia from the Nashville music industry. In several places, old records have been turned into wall art.
Outside they are still working. The current gravel parking area had been over grown when they purchased the property. They cleared the scrub trees and wild brush, and they added space to the lot by adding to the retaining wall.
They have a yurt tent down the hill, behind their storage building, which they are contemplating renting as a ‘glamping’ location. It stands on a horseshoe-shaped deck that Lynah built. Just one of their future plans for the property currently being considered by the pair.
Each Room Has a Story to Tell
The cabin sleeps 12 comfortably. There are three bedrooms downstairs and a loft upstairs that has three double beds. The main bedroom has a totally updated bathroom with a modern walk-in glass shower, the only thing saved from the previous incarnation of that room being the vanity which was built by Lynah. However, it was updated. The shared bathroom downstairs also has a vanity built by Lynah, with the original green tile countertop. All of these original details give the cabin its special look and feel. Lisa has made a point of using her design skills to enhance the Mid-Century rustic features.
“Every room has a name,” exclaimed Lisa.
“The hall [to the main bedroom] is called the ‘Wall of Fame,’” said Rick. “My dad and another gentleman were police officers in the 60s and 70s, and they helped with fundraisers for the Fraternal Order of Police. My dad’s friend had contact with promoters and talent agencies in Nashville. But we lived in New Jersey. They were able to get all these different acts to come up and do concerts in a high school auditorium that sat 3,000 people. And I was given backstage privileges to everything they had. I went on their buses. We went to pick them up at the airport. I met Lynn Anderson and Tanya Tucker, Conway Twitty and Mary Robbins. So, all of the photos on the walls are addressed to me.”
David Thornhill, who was Loretta Lynn’s lead guitarist for 30-something years, moved to Manchester. Linda sold him his new house. He gave the couple a signed license plate from one of Lynn’s five tour buses. It can be found on their Hall of Fame next to a photo of Thornhill as one of the Coal Miners.
“There’s a lot of history here,” noted Lisa.
The coffee nook is where the freezer was once located. Moving the old kitchen cabinet out of the kitchen to make way for the ones that Lisa found online, it was reused as the coffee bar in the Hall of Fame.
One of the bedrooms is called the “Cowboy Up” room. It looks like a bunkhouse and Lisa has filled it with furniture and memorabilia that belonged to her brother who worked on a ranch in Missouri. This includes the vintage cowboy hat, rope and chaps. The mirror made from a horse harness belonged to her grandfather. And the desk was in her brother’s room when they were growing up.
“Mostly we have families stay here, and they enjoy looking at all of the old things we have on display,” added Lisa.
The main living space they call “The Grand Ole Room” for the “Grand Ole Opry.” It offers a number of sitting and dining areas, as well as a stand out fireplace, one of the first things about the house that drew Lisa’s eye.
“Ricardo’s Kitchen” is named for Rick, as he is the chef in the family. Neighbor Tom built the opened shelving in the kitchen. The island in the kitchen was found on Marketplace and belonged to Donna Jobe. Lisa’s brother made the breakfast bar, which is branded with a real metal brand that he designed and welded together. It is now the logo for the property. The brand was a birthday present for Lisa. It stands for Rick and Lisa Darling.
“My brother is very creative, and he had a lot to do here,” noted Lisa.
The second bedroom in the house is called “The Garden Party Room.” It was named for Ricky Nelson’s hit song after Lisa met his son Gunnar while picking up an item he had listed on Facebook Marketplace. The wall is decorated with flowers made from old records and there is Ricky Nelson memorabilia on the wall that came from friend Gina Harrison.
“Hello Darling” is the name of the main bedroom. It features a king-sized bed and honey-colored walls with plenty of sunshine streaming in through the large windows. The view is stunning, and the sunsets seen from the windows are breathtaking.
The upstairs “attic room” is named after Bonnaroo and at the entry to the room there is a large painting of a multi colored guitar. There are three double beds in the space, as well as a sitting area with a swing that came from the front porch. From the windows in the seating area there are lovely views of the valley below. While the colors downstairs are earth tones, up here Lisa has used brighter colors, including a white Christmas tree decorated with day-glow colored balls.
Every room features a smart TV, and every convenience is available to make each guest’s stay relaxing and comfortable. This includes big fluffy pillows and elegant linens.
Set on top of a hill not far off I-24, it feels miles away from the hustle and bustle of the modern world. Yet, it is close to Shelbyville’s annual Walking Horse show, less than 15 minutes from Bonnaroo, close to Tennessee’s whiskey trail, 20 minutes from Murfreesboro and less than an hour from Nashville.