Kim and Ben Saari, owners of the historic Marble Hall home in Mooresburg, recently opened a lakefront retreat and “glampsite” on the surrounding property.
Each tent is outfitted with a mattress, bed linens, electricity, charging stations, coffee makers and solar lanterns.
Guests can enjoy a fresh cup of coffee right inside their glamping tent
As opposed to traditional tent camping, the four bell-style tents, or “glampsites” are each set atop an elevated wooden platform and outfitted with a mattress, bed linens, electricity, charging stations, coffee makers and solar lanterns.
Each glampsite also offers its own fire pit with a grill station and surrounding seating.
The Saaris put a lot of personal time and labor into constructing the site.
Quarry Cove offers many amenities personalized to each guest. For example, recent guests brought their children on a glamping vacation, so Kim Saari brought them a basket of S’mores ingredients.
Each glampsite is within walking distance both to parking and lake access
Ben Saari sports a Quarry Cove t-shirt
Both Ben and Kim told the Review that they fell in love with the community all over again during the process of constructing the retreat, as several new local friends offered labor and support.
Each guest is offered a picnic table and a lake mat. Upgrade packages also include kayak or stand-up-paddleboard rentals or a full boat excursion.
The camper site offers this lakefront view along with electricity and water hookups.
The Saaris constructed an entire bath house within walking distance to both the glampsites and the camper site. It was designed after the style of bathroom one might see by the beach, which Kim said reminded her of her childhood visiting the Outer Banks.
Kim and Ben Saari, owners of the historic Marble Hall home in Mooresburg, recently opened a lakefront retreat and “glampsite” on the surrounding property.
Each tent is outfitted with a mattress, bed linens, electricity, charging stations, coffee makers and solar lanterns.
Guests can enjoy a fresh cup of coffee right inside their glamping tent
As opposed to traditional tent camping, the four bell-style tents, or “glampsites” are each set atop an elevated wooden platform and outfitted with a mattress, bed linens, electricity, charging stations, coffee makers and solar lanterns.
Each glampsite also offers its own fire pit with a grill station and surrounding seating.
The Saaris put a lot of personal time and labor into constructing the site.
Quarry Cove offers many amenities personalized to each guest. For example, recent guests brought their children on a glamping vacation, so Kim Saari brought them a basket of S’mores ingredients.
Each glampsite is within walking distance both to parking and lake access
Ben Saari sports a Quarry Cove t-shirt
Both Ben and Kim told the Review that they fell in love with the community all over again during the process of constructing the retreat, as several new local friends offered labor and support.
Each guest is offered a picnic table and a lake mat. Upgrade packages also include kayak or stand-up-paddleboard rentals or a full boat excursion.
The camper site offers this lakefront view along with electricity and water hookups.
The Saaris constructed an entire bath house within walking distance to both the glampsites and the camper site. It was designed after the style of bathroom one might see by the beach, which Kim said reminded her of her childhood visiting the Outer Banks.
Are you looking to enjoy a summer weekend by the lake but you don’t want to ‘rough it’ in a tent?
Kim and Ben Saari of Quarry Cove Retreat have got you covered.
The Saaris, who moved from the ski resort community of Steamboat Springs, Co. recently opened Quarry Cove Retreat on the lakefront property surrounding the famous Marble Hall in Mooresburg.
The couple officially moved into Marble Hall in September of 2020 after falling in love with the region, and they have been hard at work ever since.
They first began by renovating the turn-of-the century home, which has a magnificent view of the surrounding lake. But the Saaris told the Review that they wanted to find a way to share the area they came to love.
The result was Quarry Cove Retreat, which the Saaris call “East Tennessee’s newest lakefront glamping resort.” It offers four fully outfitted bell tent “glamping” sites, one camper site and many lakefront activities.
As opposed to traditional tent camping, the four bell-style tents, or “glampsites” are each set atop an elevated wooden platform and outfitted with a mattress, bed linens, electricity, charging stations, coffee makers and solar lanterns.
Each glampsite also offers its own fire pit with a grill station and surrounding seating.
The Saaris constructed an entire bath house within walking distance to both the glampsites and the camper site. It was designed after the style of bathroom one might see by the beach, which Kim said reminded her of her childhood visiting the Outer Banks. The bath house offers two sinks, showers and toilets, and linens are provided.
Each rental package offers some form of lake activity including swimming, kayak or stand-up-paddleboards (SUPs) rentals, or the full boat excursion. The Saaris can also offer private wakesurfing lessons.
The retreat is open from May through September, but the Saaris said they will stay open later into the fall if the weather permits.
The couple put a lot of personal time and labor into constructing the site.
“We started out just riding our side-by-side out here when we first moved into the house,” Kim said. “That’s how the trails started forming. We would survey it every time we drove through and discuss where we would place everything.”
Once they had the spot chosen, they had to clear out the trees to create a parking lot as well as a spot for each of the glampsites.
“We didn’t want to disturb too much when we cleared out the glampsite spots,” Ben said. “We wanted to capture the natural essence but still be convenient to parking and just steps from the water.”
The couple then hand built each of the wooden platforms for the bell tents along with some help from friends.
“You really get an essence of the way these glampsites capture being in nature when you haul all this lumbar back here by hand and start to construct things,” Ben said with a laugh.
Each of the platforms took roughly a week and a half to build, but the entire process from clearing the land to the finished product took around four months.
Once the tents were set up, they received an impromptu “stress-test” of sorts during the tornado-like storm Hawkins County experienced in early July.
The Saaris told the Review they were pleased with the durability of the tents, as they surprisingly didn’t even budge during the heavy wind and rain.
The Saaris are rather adventurous people and have camped in various spots all across the nation–both rugged and luxurious.
“There were times we came across places like this that just blew us away,” Ben said. “We always said ‘someday it would be really cool to try and pull this off ourselves.’ With Quarry Cove, we tried to bring together a little bit of everything we really liked about the places we visited.”
They wanted to be able to offer that kind of unique experience somewhere closer and with more of a local feel than other tourist destinations, and they seem to have found an untapped market for this kind of thing in Hawkins County.
“There is really nothing around here like it,” Ben said. “The retreat caters to people who might want to get on the lake but don’t own any lakefront property or someone who wants to camp but prefers nicer accommodations.”
The Saaris also previously owned a camper van, so they wanted to make sure and create a space in Quarry Cove for fellow “van life” enthusiasts. The camper site fits vehicles up to 20 feet and has a water hookup as well as a 30 amp plug for electricity.
Ben added, “Now, all you have to do is show up with a cooler full of food and cold beverages of your choice and have an experience like no other.”
“We want to really customize each person’s experience,” Kim told the Review.
She said some of the guests who have stayed so far wanted a private getaway experience, whereas others have wanted to take part in the boat excursion with the Saaris that is offered in one of the retreat packages.
“We do live on the property, but you won’t see us if you don’t want to see us,” she said. “Everybody will be catered to in a different way depending on what they want.”
These personalized amenities seem to be a big hit. For example, recent guests brought their children on a glamping vacation, so Kim brought them a basket of S’mores ingredients.
The couple is also friends with a local butcher, so guests can request fresh meat for a barbecue.
“One of the beauties we have found about being located in Mooresburg is that, either way you come in, we are also quite accessible to restaurants, gas or quick snacks,” Kim added.
Though the retreat only officially opened in early June of this year, it is already starting to gain traction through online vacation rental platforms. In fact, a large group from Wisconsin (who the Saaris had never previously met) has already booked several tents for later this summer.
The Saaris encourage all guests to offer feedback and suggestions to help continuously improve the experience.
They also have their own plans for potentially expanding the retreat’s offerings in the future. They are still in the process of establishing a community marina complete, but this work has been slow going, as the couple is in the final stages of securing a permit from TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) for the marina.
Both Ben and Kim told the Review that they fell in love with the community all over again during the process of constructing the retreat, as several new local friends offered labor and support.
“Just as we felt when we found our house, we can’t be more thankful for the area we are in,” Ben said.
Kim added, “We just love it here, and we think our guests will love it as much as we do.”
To book a stay or find out more, visit the retreat’s website at www.quarrycoveretreat.com or search for “Quarry Cove Retreat” on any vacation rental platform.
Mooresburg’s historic Marble Hall has been given a new chance at life, thanks to Colorado couple Ben and Kim Saari.
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