For Immediate Release: Contact s5

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Jeff Muir Blount Partnership (865) 983.2241 [email protected]

Jennifer Wiggins

AkinsCrisp Public Strategies

(865) 680.1457 [email protected]

Lily Barn Offers Escape to Peaceful Gardens

BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. – Steve and Janice Fillmore, owners of the Lily Barn, have added color and beauty to the Carrs Creek area of Townsend for residents and visitors to enjoy. Depending on the time of year, visitors to Blount County can escape to acres of beautiful lilies, ferns and colorful fall foliage. Admission is free year round.

In addition to the acres of foliage, the Lily Barn includes a 120-year-old original cantilever barn built in 1880 by W.R. Caylor, who owned the farm at that time.

“The barn is surrounded by a three-acre garden, which contains beautiful landscaping and flowers,” said Tami Vater, director of Tourism for the Smoky Mountain Tourism Development Authority. “The location is ideal for events or simply for a leisurely afternoon stroll.”

The Lily Barn property includes a 3-acre perennial garden, a pavilion for wedding receptions and reunions, cabins and garden gift shop, an evergreen maze for children of all ages, a lily pond, various walkways and Day Lilies in bloom.

“We encourage visitors to take a walk by the lily pond and into the garden, visit the greenhouse, enjoy lunch under the pavilion or stay in one of the rustic cabins, which Steve built himself,” said Janice Fillmore.

There is a greenhouse, which sells a variety of perennial plants, including toad lily, ferns, monarda, flax, and of course, lilies. And in the upstairs of the cantilever barn, there is a gift shop that sells antiques, collectibles, an assortment of garden items, including bird feeders and flowerpots, jewelry and statuary pieces.

The Fillmores own 100 additional acres of property that contain an extensive variety of plants in different settings. Rental cabins are located throughout the property.

The Lily Barn is located at 1116 Carr’s Creek Road in Townsend, a gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. For more information about the Lily Barn, please visit www.LilyBarn.com or contact (865) 448-9895.

About Blount County, Tennessee Blount County, Tennessee is located just south of Knoxville at the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. The communities that make up Blount County—Townsend, Maryville, Alcoa, Friendsville, Louisville and Rockford – provide visitors with an abundance of outdoor activities, attractions and regular celebrations of the region’s rich Appalachian heritage and culture. Blount County is also home to the nation’s most visited national park—the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

For more information about Blount County, please contact the Smoky Mountain Tourism Development Authority at (800) 525.6834 or visit www.SmokyMountains.org. Follow the Smoky Mountain Tourism Development Authority at www.Facebook.com/PeacefulSide and Twitter.com/PeacefulSmokies.

If you are in the area, please stop in to the Smoky Mountain Visitors Center at Townsend, located at 7906 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway, or the Smoky Mountain Visitors Center at Maryville, located at 201 South Washington Street, for more information. (January 2013)