fontanel mansion

We visited before the woods on the 137 acre property were leafed out so I imagine going in Spring, Summer and Fall the scenery would be beautiful. There are only 3 tours on a daily basis so it is advisable to purchase tickets on line. This mansion is purported to be the largest log home in the world at 27,000 sq. ft. It was built in 1987/1988 by country singer Barbara Mandrel and her husband who was a log home builder. Two other log homes are on the property closer to the road. One served as the husband's log home business and one was Barbara's sister Erline's home. The tour bus will take you a mile into the property to reach the house. A video will play on the ride so you can get an idea of the house background. Although the house is that large, the family's private quarters are very reasonably sized. The great room, pool area, dining room area were used for public and entertaining functions. We were so surprised that you are permitted to sit on the furniture, pick up and even play, the many guitars, and piano which are in the great room. Since this mansion was later sold to 2 country singer managers, the walls and bookcases are filled with photos, awards, etc. (Barbara's included). If you are a Kenny Chesney fan, a singer one of the managers represent, then you can take a picture wearing Kenny's jacket. Here's what blew my mind, you could even take a picture sitting or laying on Barbara's bed! There is a nice 2 mile walk you can take through the woods and after that, take a wine tasting tour, a distillery tour, visit the gift shop, enjoy a zip ride. In season, there are scheduled concerts in an outdoor 5,000 audience area. There's a restaurant and bistro on the property as well, so all in all, if you want to make a full day of it, you can accomplish everything.

Our tour guide Mohawk Steve. Was awesome. He knew about the entire building and answered all of our questions! I will Deffinelty be back.

This is definitely a must see while in Nashville. Beautiful mansion hidden in the woods that is simply amazing and you get to hold celebrity guitars and get a glimpse into their lifestyle. Our guide Brook did a great job!

Not only do you get to see a beautiful log home, the host plays the piano and sings,and you get to touch and handle everything.

Since this was rated the #1 Thing to Do in Nashville, we included it on our list. We trekked up to Fontanel and were a little confused at first because all we saw were some small buildings on the road. The Fontanel Mansion is actually about a mile off the road and is only accessible via their shuttle service. We had lunch at the restaurant there onsite - it was an Italian restaurant which we thought was a little different for the setting. Once on the shuttle for the tour, the driver was very nice and informative as he shared some of the background information on the Fontanel Mansion. The shuttle drops you off at the front door and your tour guide is there to meet you. The whole tour lasts about an hour. The Fontanel Mansion is Barbara Mandrell's former home where she and her husband raised their family. It's not really a "mansion" but a BIG beautiful home filled with lots of exciting memories. It's worth the trip.

We really enjoyed ourselves on this tour. Complimentary tickets came with our accommodations. The tour was very personal - our tour guide Steven was wonderful. We were in a smaller group so that made it nice. You truly get to see every aspect of the mansion. You can sit on the furniture and hold guitars used/donated by various artists........it isnt a roped off tour where you barely peak in the rooms.

We had a delightful tour of Barbara Mandrell's home in Nashvile that was truly exceptional! Our tour guide was Vance Nichols...he was knowledgeable about the home and all things Nashville. We were the only ones on our tour and it was an intimate, totally enjoyable tour--even though we didn't know much about Barbara Mandrell and chose the tour because it was so highly rated. The home is beautiful and everything can be touched--Vance even offered us the opportunity to take a guitar off the wall and play (we didn't). The highlight was that while we looked around the great room, Vance sat down and played the piano that had belonged to Jerry Lee Lewis. He told us that all the tour guides are musicians! Vance played beautifully and shared so many interesting facts about the home and the Mandrell family!!! Don't miss this!!

I am not a "big" country music fan and my family and I come to Nashville every year for a gymnastics meet my daughter is in. This year we decided to tour the Fontanel mansion and it did not disappoint! We had Steven Whitson as our guy. Not only is he VERY knowledgeable but he is a REALLLLLLLY talented singer/songwriter. I would highly recommend taking this walk through music history!

My sister, daughter & myself decided to book the tour of the Fontanel Mansion last week. We we lucky enough to have Vance as our tour guide and could not have been happier or more impressed with his knowledge and wonderful personality! He really made us feel welcome and you could feel the love that was evident in every room in this beautiful home! We were allowed to take our time and never felt rushed (even though a winter storm was heading right towards Nashville). We all truly enjoyed the experience and feel grateful that we were able to see such a gorgeous mansion! I have another sister coming to visit Nashville in a couple of weeks and we will be doing the tour again…we enjoyed it that much!! Thank you, Vance, for making our day!MaryBeth Baynai

We arrived at Fontanel Mansion 45 minutes early so we took in the distillery tour and tasting that is on site. Very enjoyable and worth your visit as well. We so enjoyed the tour of this beautiful property. Everyone made us feel so welcomed and we had a wonderful tour guide - Steven Whitson, who entertained us the entire time. He is an up and coming artist and gave us the privilege of playing two of his songs. Very enjoyable visit. The winery had just opened and we were one of the first to have wine tastings too!

We visited on a Saturday in March and took the last tour of the day (2pm). We were in a group of about 15 people. From the parking lot they bus you up the mountain to the mansion. There is a short video to watch on the way and the bus driver was friendly and knowledgable. The grounds to this place are immense. They have hiking trails that are free to use and are pet friendly. Once we got to the mansion our guide was great and made us all feel right at home. The hime is the largest log home in the world, and it's a great example of how entertainers of that era lived. The home is gorgeous. Still decorated in the manner that Barbara Mandrell left it when she sold the property. The memorabilia in the home is museum-quality and they allow you to touch, sit on the furniture, and take all the pictures you want. It was $24 per person but I heard you can find buy one get one coupons online. It was a last minute decision for us, and we are glad we did it.

It was so cozy and warm for the unbelievable sq footage. The family life was evident everywhere. I loved seeing family pictures on the wall. Our tour guide informed us right away we could touch things, sit on the couches and relax, and even take the guitars off the wall to hold for our pictures. Meanwhile he played the piano for us. Now where do you ever get treated so nicely touring a mansion tour?!

I'm not a country music fan, but I do love to visit interesting homes, and this one qualifies! The biggest log cabin I've ever seen, on 136 acres of Tennessee land... if you liked Barbara Mandrell and her music, a must see while in Nashville. Even if you're not a fan, you'll enjoy touring this fabulous home.

This tour is fantastic. Our tour guide Jennifer was first rate and made us feel like we were insiders to Barbara's life. Many, many interesting facts presented. We were shown every inch of the property, could sit on the furniture, even eat crackers in Barbara's bed. I would highly recommend this tour.

It was our last day in Nashville and it was a great choice to visit " Fontanel Mansion "! Wonderful place , positive energy . Steven Whitson is very good guide , I usually don't like boring museum tours but I am impressed ! Btw Steven has magical voice I got chills !! #1 place to visit in Nashville !