Fontanel Mansion in Whites Creek reopens after years of closure, shifting from tours to events

A long-idled Nashville landmark returns to public use

Fontanel Mansion, the 30,000-square-foot log home built in 1988 for country star Barbara Mandrell, has reopened in Whites Creek for the first time since operations halted in 2019. The property, long known for tours, concerts and destination-style amenities, is now relaunching with a business model centered on private events—particularly weddings—rather than regular sightseeing access.

The reopening follows years of uncertainty after the property changed hands in 2019 and then largely sat dormant during the early pandemic period. In recent years, preservation advocates have also raised concerns about the site’s long-term future as development pressure increases in northern Davidson County.

What Fontanel is today, and what has changed

At its peak as a public attraction, the Fontanel complex included multiple visitor-facing components spread across roughly 221 acres, including an inn, hospitality buildings, and entertainment space. In the years after the 2019 shutdown, activity on the wider site thinned substantially; AdventureWorks Ziplines continued operating while other uses remained limited.

Now, the Fontanel brand is being presented as an event venue set on an estate described as approximately 118 acres, with the mansion positioned as the centerpiece. The venue is marketing indoor and outdoor event spaces, including the mansion itself and lawn areas, and it is accepting tour requests by appointment as part of the booking process.

• Mansion size: about 30,000 square feet
• Location: Whites Creek area, north of downtown Nashville
• Current public posture: tours by appointment, tied to event planning rather than daily admissions

A property with layered ownership and a complicated real-estate timeline

Fontanel’s transition from private home to public destination began after Mandrell sold the residence in the early 2000s. The site later evolved into a multi-use tourism and entertainment campus before being purchased by Chicago-based BlueRoad Ventures in early 2019.

In 2022, the property was publicly marketed for sale in multiple parcels through an auction process that detailed six separate tracts, including the mansion parcel and additional parcels with an inn, former restaurant and winery-related buildings, and undeveloped acreage. More recently, local reporting has indicated that multiple parcels—including the mansion and inn—changed hands through an auction sale, though specific future plans for the broader campus have not been publicly finalized.

The reopening restores activity to a site that has been largely quiet since 2019, but it does so with a narrower focus: private events rather than the earlier era of frequent public-facing attractions.

What to watch next

Key questions for neighbors, preservation groups, and visitors are likely to center on how the reopened mansion fits into any broader redevelopment of the larger Fontanel acreage, and whether additional components—such as hospitality, dining, or performance uses—return over time. For now, the clearest verified change is operational: Fontanel Mansion is open again, but primarily as an event-driven venue with access managed through scheduled appointments.