Inside The Arbors: A Rare Opportunity in Leiper’s Fork
Set on 380 wooded acres just minutes from Leiper’s Fork, The Arbors is a new luxury homesite community designed around nature, privacy, and outdoor fun. You'll want to scoop up some of this dirt. Image: McEwen Group
For city dwellers nationwide, the countryside fantasy starts the same way: with a yearning for a little more land, a little more quiet, a little less hurry. Leiper’s Fork is a place where that dream can easily turn into reality. The tiny, idyllic village and its surrounding hills have long held a near-mythic appeal, thanks to the pastoral beauty, fiercely protected character, and proximity to Franklin and Nashville.
If you’ve been to Leiper’s Fork, you’ve seen the appeal — lush farmland and horse stables, an outdoor coffee truck, delicious Southern cuisine, and dreamy boutiques run by notable names like Morgan Stapleton and Brooke Giannetti. There are art galleries, antique shops, live music, a spa, and even a winery in the creek. And now, it has The Arbors.
A Unique Place to Build in Leiper’s Fork
The Arbors at Leiper’s Fork enters the conversation at an interesting moment, offering large, wooded homesites in a private gated setting just minutes from the village, while leaning hard into the natural features that make this corner of Middle Tennessee so beloved in the first place.
Just over three months after it was announced, 40 percent of The Arbors’ homesites have already sold, a quick early signal that buyers are paying attention. The development will span about 380 acres, with homesites ranging from five to 29 acres and priced from about $1 million to $3 million.
The first homes are already under construction. The gated entrance on Hargrove Road is complete, plans for the amenity areas are finished, and more than five miles of professionally designed trails have already been built. I got to explore the place, and now you can too.
Nature: The Arbors’ Prized Amenity
What makes The Arbors so special is the land itself. I felt that the moment I began to approach the just-finished gated entrance off Hargrove Road on a misty morning. Thick groves of towering trees, gentle rolling hills, and babbling creeks were here first. Then came the nature trails and foot bridges. Last will come the homes themselves: not at the expense of these things, within them. This is intentional.
The community describes itself as a place where “nature is the amenity.” That framing feels especially resonant in Leiper’s Fork, and I felt it deeply on my property tour with Dan McEwen, owner of McEwen Group. The Arbors is exclusively listed through his Columbia, TN-based real estate brokerage, which focuses on helping buyers find unique rural properties while respecting the land that surrounds them.
That ethos comes through clearly when Dan describes the project. “The Arbors comprises over 400 acres of mature hardwood forest with numerous creeks and springs,” he says. “Limited to just 30 homesites, the community is carefully designed to work with the natural landscape, which creates a setting that feels more like living in a park than in a traditional neighborhood.”
The appeal is easy to understand for anyone who’s ever driven the backroads near Leiper’s Fork and immediately started scrolling through Zillow, trying to capture that pastoral feeling all the way home.
A Rare Combination of Three Key Elements
Dan brings a perspective shaped by years of selling places where the setting is the story. Still, he points out, “It’s not often that you see properties with this combination of scale, natural beauty, and proximity.” And the savvy land seekers are noticing. “The strong sales pace and initial interest show that buyers are recognizing this is a special opportunity and unlike anything that has come to market in recent years,” Dan adds.
The Arbors is tucked away in Leiper’s Fork but still sits only about three miles from the village and roughly 1.8 miles from the Natchez Trace Parkway, with Franklin and Nashville within easy reach. In other words, it offers the emotional payoff of country living without requiring residents to disappear entirely from daily life.
Why Leiper’s Fork Still Has Such a Pull
Leiper’s Fork remains one of those places that people talk about with a kind of reverence. It is tiny, scenic, and rich in the kind of texture that newer places often spend years trying to imitate. There is history there, yes, but also a strong visual identity: rolling hills, winding roads, fences, barns, and long stretches of green that still feel open. The Natchez Trace Parkway only adds to that atmosphere, reinforcing the sense that this pocket of Williamson County is built for slowing down.
“When visitors come to Nashville, they often pass through Brentwood and Franklin, two vibrant urban communities,” Dan says. “But when they reach Leiper’s Fork, the experience changes. The small village is surrounded by some of Tennessee’s most beautiful farms, many of which are protected by the Land Trust for Tennessee. The focus on conservation and green space gives the area a character that feels increasingly rare and increasingly sought after.”
This is not simply another high-end real estate story. It reflects a deeper appetite among buyers for places that feel grounded, private, and connected to the landscape. People aren’t just looking for a house; they’re looking for a setting that changes what home means.
Communal Spaces Meant to Unite
Of course, even the most privacy-minded buyers do not necessarily want isolation. The most successful country developments tend to recognize that people still want moments of connection, just in a more relaxed, organic form than cul-de-sacs and clubhouse calendars typically provide.
Dan and his family have already been enjoying the trails, and he’s certain that the growing list of Arbors site buyers will, too. “The hiking and biking trails will be one of the most enjoyable ways to bump into neighbors. Morning walks with coffee, conversations along the trail, and a lifestyle centered around the outdoors are all part of the vision,” Dan says.
The Arbors can be as private as you’d like, but also as wonderfully communal as you’d like. I pictured neighbors sharing tomatoes from their gardens and fresh eggs from their coops. Pickleballers unwinding over beers after a few heated games.
Dan was excited about The Arbors’ communal summerhouse set to break ground this spring. “The open-air community event pavilion, Poplar House, and the sports court and fire pit will also provide great places for families and friends to gather and enjoy The Arbors,” he says.
The Real Draw? The Life, Not The Land
The Arbors doesn’t promise some fantasy version of rural life, but it seems to understand what draws people to the countryside in the first place. The beauty. The room to breathe. The quiet. The possibility of building something lasting in a place that already feels special.
In a region where growth often arrives fast and loud, McEwen Group and their trusted architects, designers, and homebuilders seem to be betting on something quieter: that luxury can look like restraint, that community can be built around the outdoors, and that one of the most meaningful amenities a place can offer is the chance to feel tucked away without feeling cut off.
For the buyer who’s been waiting for the right patch of Middle Tennessee countryside, The Arbors is waving you over.
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Zoe Yarborough
Zoe is a StyleBlueprint staff writer, Charlotte native, Washington & Lee graduate, and Nashville transplant of eleven years. She teaches Pilates, helps manage recording artists, and likes to "research" Germantown's food scene.