I must admit: I did not keep up with the sourdough making (or, truthfully, any of the baking), the flower tending, or the HIIT workouts, but I have stuck with one particular special interest from my pandemic life—cottagecore tiny homes.
The dreamy, TikTok-accelerated phenomenon caught me at a crucial pivot: I was moving to New York for school, which meant I was shopping around for my own sense of taste in decor, but my proving grounds were little more than the size of a walk-in closet. Ever an acolyte to the aesthetic, I’ve always approached the challenge of square footage in the city with the thought that sometimes the smallest spaces can be the most joyous.
So when I saw an Airbnb listing for a pastoral-set tiny home in Nashville, I knew I had found the perfect base for resting up after a reporting trip to SoBro’s honky tonk scene. We took off in search of the the property right in the heat of CMA Fest, and the live percussion from roughly a dozen or so different country songs within earshot syncopated with the rhythm of Nashville’s infamously jammed traffic. I felt like I could finally let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding as we left the surround sound of chaos.
Located in Rosedale, a cozy residential neighborhood in South Nashville, the Airbnb is tucked behind the owner’s main house. A Pinterest-worthy chalkboard sign denotes the path to the tiny home. Walking under that first trellis to the garden was like stepping into a portal to the Hundred Acre Wood. The moments after were all ivy-covered pathways, elegant outdoor cats, and even a burbling brook. By the time we reached the gingerbread house façade of the place itself, I was swooning like the big city ingenue of a Hallmark Christmas movie, and we hadn’t even stepped in.
After pulling up our personalized code for the door, the air conditioning revived us from Nashville’s muggy summer heat. A high-arched ceiling with a well appointed skylight beamed rays of sunlight into the space and fed the bounty of houseplants peppered throughout the house. All amenities felt like they were from a different time in the absolute best sense of the phrase. From the retro Frigidaire and copper-plated French press in the kitchen to the clawfoot tub in the bathroom, the curation of home goods evoked a sense of made-to-last craftsmanship that feels rarer by the day. We were delighted by the decision to show restraint in the tech used in the space, as well.
We used the record player to soundtrack our stay, and if you’ve ever wished you were at Woodstock or the Monterey Pop Festival, this modest record collection has you covered. Whether you choose to spin Dylan’s greatest hits or a little Simon & Garfunkel, it’s a nice change in pace from country and your Spotify Daylist. A narrow daybed can be extended into a queen, and a dangling handle from the roof of the kitchen area pulls out into a projector screen, both classic examples of a tiny home’s doubled usage of space. On the first day of our break, we sat parked in our little home theater to catch up on the ever-enthralling lives of those Mormon Wives.
Despite the compacted space, there was never anything to grow bored of during our three-day stay. I spent every morning soaking up the sun from the skylight, snuggling a little more into the soft-as-a-cloud loft bed. The desk overlooking the deck served nicely as a casual workstation to jot down my drafts by hand. I’d advise any future visitors to also pack their swimsuits, as the deck comes equipped with a hot tub framed with tea lights, ideal for an evening of unwinding serenaded by an unrehearsed concert of birdsong and flickering lightning bugs.
It’s important to note that this property definitely doesn’t have the centrality of a downtown Nashville stay, and a car will be necessary for getting around. But we found that calling an Uber and ordering delivery was as simple and speedy a process as it is in the city, so if you’re looking to hop back into the action, it exists only a 15-minute car ride away.
Should you find yourself traveling to Tennessee’s capital, go revel in the Nashville of the tourism brochures. Marvel at the shining neon lights, feel awestruck by Athena’s imposing presence at The Parthenon, break out your best two-step on the dance floor. But know that there’s a softer side to the city worth exploring too.
