All Forum Posts by: Matt Mertz

For disclosure: my house is under construction in Gatlinburg and it's our first STR. We have zero STR experience.

Long ago I heard that you should build a log style cabin in the Smokies because that's what visitors expect. We've been vacationing in the Smokies for 11 years. We spent about a year looking at cookie cutter log cabins to purchase.

Eventually we decided to purchase a lot and custom build a mountain home. We decided to build a style we liked: a modern, farmhouse style home. All ceilings, stairways and the game room bar accent wall are tongue and groove pine. All trim is pine. We have some wooden beams. Everything else is sheetrock.

One of the nice things about sheetrock is that you can paint it beautiful colors for accent. We did this throughout the house.

Ultimately I think there's an audience for houses that are not log cabins, and it's a segment under represented in the area.

I believe execution and design are the key. I'd rather have something that sticks out from the competition than blends into the background. And I believe the Smokies are drawing enough visitors that you can find guests looking for something besides log cabins. 

Just anecdotal.... my Gatlinburg builder (C&C Construction) said he's booked through October 2022. We're also back ordered on several appliances that we made months ago.  So ask around before you commit to a new build.

We're doing this right now.

We took a hybrid approach: we ordered furniture at the STR location and locally at our home.

We went to a furniture store local to our STR (it's 2 weeks from final inspection) and ordered from them. They will hold the furniture in their warehouse when it arrives and will deliver and set up the furniture in our house once we're ready. We plan on making a trip to meet them to setup and decorate.

Over this Labor Day weekend, we rented a small Penske truck and delivered an assortment of supplies we've been accumulating for the house (decorations, smaller pieces of furniture, dining chairs we bought locally, a dining table we built, etc).  Most of those items are stored in the house in our owner's storage room. Some of the other stuff (like the dining table and king foam mattresses in boxes) are sitting in the living room. Having those items stored in the house won't interfere with the punch list work or city inspection.

We were very pleased Jonathan Miller Architecture and Design in Knoxville.

C&C Construction was great for us. Check them out.

I'm close to @Kyle Smith.  My lot was pretty expensive and jacked up comps in the area late 2018.  :)  We're almost done and will list on the OTAs late October 2021.

C&C Construction in Gatlinburg.

@Valerie Rogers For your direct booking site, did you use an OwnerRez template or a custom wordpress site?  I've heard google likes wordpress when it comes to SEO.

@Valerie Rogers how much do you charge? Is it like $50 to cover about $1000 damage for every 20 stays?  Is that the strategy?

We installed LVP in our own home over stained concrete.  We're building a cabin in the Smokies and we're installing LVP everywhere, even in some of the bathrooms.

Be careful though.  Like anything else you get what you pay for.  You can compare LVP against each other and see differences in thickness.  We bought some samples and actually tested the surface by scratching them.  Some are tougher than others.  You can also check the edges where they snap together.  Even on the edges there's a difference in build quality.