Two years ago, we reported about the opening of a new park in College Grove on Anita and Walter Olgivie’s property where Peacock Hill Inn, a 4-diamond Bed and Breakfast, had operated for ten years. And then there was nothing.
Not open in the fall of 2021 as projected, the park is still listed on the Williamson County Parks and Recreation website as “in development.” When an email was sent to the department asking about the development, no answer was ever received.
Peacock Hill was donated to Williamson County Parks and Recreation in 2018 to ensure that it remained in its natural state. The 255 acres of land will feature up to eight miles of hiking trails, a visitor’s center, multiple ponds and many incredible overlook views according to visitfranklin.com.
When the family was trying to sell the property, land.com described it as having a rich history. The home that was used as the foundation of the bed and breakfast pre-dates the Civil War.
Previous to the county receiving the land, the Land Trust became involved. “The Land Trust … became the intermediary between the landowners and Williamson County, according to their website. While the county has a lot of ‘active’ parks – those with picnic areas, ball fields, and recreation centers – it does not have a lot of natural (or ‘passive’) parks, those with a focus on hiking trails and experiencing nature. After seeing the need for such space and being ultimately inspired by Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, Colo., the [Olgivies] decided to donate their family land to Williamson County to create a park.”
“The land is quite steep in some areas and has opportunities for hiking at all levels and may possibly offer fishing,” says the Land Trust website. “The landowners and the county are aligned in their vision to see the property remain as natural as possible, similar to the Warner Parks or Radnor Lake in Nashville. The family had previously completed six miles of trails, which were for guests of the bed-and-breakfast when it was in operation.”
“A lot of people may ask, ‘Why would a park need a conservation easement?’”, said Emily Parish, Land Trust’s Vice President of Conservation. “We help permanently protect parkland to ensure that future governments keep it as parkland.”
The Land Trust currently protects 30 parks and open spaces totaling over 13,000 acres with conservation easements and has assisted with adding 30,000 acres to Tennessee State Parks, Wildlife Management Areas, Natural Areas, and local park systems.
In 2021, we reported that Phase I of the park, expected to cost about $1.3 million, will include more than five miles of hiking trails, a visitor’s center and parking area, an ADA accessible trail, a covered bridge, trail areas with covered benches, picnic tables and an overlook area. The draw will be the vistas located way out in the woods that overlook a significant part of the southeast corner of the county. Eventually, a tower will be built to provide visitors with a wider view.
The Inn will not be part of the park, it was sold to the Rockvale Writer’s Colony, which serves as a retreat for writers from all over the country. However, the visitor’s center will be a renovation of another building on the property, which contains part of an old log cabin. This building once served as an addition to the bed and breakfast.
Much needed for the growing community, the park will also be accessible to visitors from other counties. It will only take about 35 minutes to arrive from downtown Franklin, and an hour from Nashville, and it is very close to Eagleville in Rutherford County. It will be located at 6900 Giles Hill Road.
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