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BUTLER, Tenn. – Surry Roberts had a vision. The old barn didn’t look like much but a dilapidated pile of rotting wood.
But it had a strong foundation. Roberts knew that it was the start to something wonderful.
“The Sugar Hollow tract was simply cutover woodland, totally decimated, and [people] thought I was crazy, but I could see the beauty at the outset,” he said. “We started by fixing up one of the barns for camping and soon saw that all the rehabilitation of five barns and three houses would be significant.”
Today, a framed photo of the old barn hangs inside a 10-bedroom Lodge. Visitors may be surprised to find out that old barn and the upscale Lodge are the same place.
Sugar Hollow Retreat has been surprising visitors for five years now. It first opened in 2004 as a bed and breakfast with only the Lodge. Now four other guesthouses and a 1,200-squre-foot conference center complete the escape.
Tucked in the mountains of the Cherokee National Forest, Sugar Hollow is midway between Boone and Elizabethton.
