Tipton House at Cades Cove in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

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See the Cades Cove Region web page for an interactive location map.

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Colonel “Hamp” Tifton built this house in the early 1870s for his daughters, though he actually lived in Tuckaleechee Cove, which is north of Cades Cove near Townsend. The house was also rented by the James McCaullly family. Of the many houses remaining in the Cades Cove region of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, this is one of the nicer ones.

Back of the Tipton House at Cades Cove in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Interior of the Tipton House at Cades Cove in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

There are a number of buildings on the property, including a shelter for bee gums (hollow logs used to keep bees), a smokehouse, and a woodshed. Across the street is an interesting cantilever barn and an unusual double-pen corn crib. All are open to the public, though there is nothing inside.

Cantilever barn at the Tipton Homestead in Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Double-pen corn crib at the Tipton Homestead in Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Smokehouse at the Tipton Homestead in Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Shelter for bee gums at the Tipton Homestead in Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Shed at the Tipton Homestead in Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

As with many historical buildings in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the insides are covered in graffiti. You would think that National Parks bring out a higher class of visitor, but I guess not. The National Park Service even had to cement the wheels of an old wagon into the ground to keep some idiot from trying to ride it down the hill, or from stealing it altogether.

Old wagon in the barn at the Tipton Homestead in Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

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