Knoxville Knockout

Mary Celeste Beall, Owner Of The Famed Tennessee Resort Blackberry Farm, Brings Style And An Adventurous Color Palette To The Renovation Of Her Family’s Midcentury Home In Town.

- Vanessa Gregory

FOR MARY CELESTE BEALL AND HER FIVE children, Blackberry Farm will always be home. Her late husband, Sam Beall, who died three years ago in a skiing accident, transformed his parents’ little inn at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains into a sublime destination. Guests—including stars such as Kelly Clarkson and model Lily Aldridge— might spend the morning fly-fishing or learning to make cheese before heading to an intimate Emmylou Harris concert or a meal by guest chefs like Grant Achatz and Alain Ducasse. This year, the agro-elegant resort expands with the 5,200-acre Blackberry Mountain, which combines private residences, land conservation, and a luxe 36-room lodge.

Mary Celeste and Sam built a traditional farmhouse residence on-site in 2008, but it’s another project, a midcentury Knoxville estate completed just months before Sam’s tragic death, that showcases Beall’s eye for contemporary art and color—and her unshakable joie de vivre.