A Tennessee Amish “Prepper’s Paradise” Home (15 Photos)
Into “prepping”? This Tennessee home might be just your thing. It’s being described as a “prepper’s paradise” in the listing. And it make sense to pitch Amish homes, especially the plainer ones (read: no bathrooms), as having prepper appeal.
The home has a Lawrenceburg address, though that city is in the general vicinity of the Ethridge Swartzentruber Amish community. There is a second, much smaller Amish settlement in the area of Lawrenceburg as well.
The home, a shop house, has the very plain look inside and out of a Swartzentruber place. You can see in the photo below the buggy is only marked with reflective taping (no SMV triangle) and I believe I can see a sign of PVC pipe in the rear wheel, an alternative visibility approach taken by Amish in the Ethridge community.
The description via Zillow:
Approximately 79 acres with 960 sq ft house, 2 bedrooms, plus attached garage (does not have electricity or plumbing). 150′ well (produces 100 gal/min). Water pumped manually to holding tank for gravity fed water in the kitchen. House & barns are approximately 3 yrs old.
Pasture is fenced and cross fenced w/several gates, 1 pond (back pasture), large pole barn 48′ x 112′, and large barn 40′ x 70′ with 6 stalls, tack room and loft. Linville Rd is a deeded easement from where the gravel starts.
Prepper’s paradise. Cell phone service is great & mobile hot spot works perfect. Personal property, equipment and hay do not convey. Wood cook stove in house does convey. Call listing agent to view.
Here’s that gravity-fed water tank around back. Feels quite prepper-y, doesn’t it. And here’s an indoor example of a similar setup in a Michigan home.
Inside the home
So they’ve only provided three photos of the interior in this listing. All three are great photos though, in my opinion. Keep in mind it’s just a 960-square-foot home. So there’s not exactly a lot of interior to share. Here we see a main room with stove and kitchen-type area.
Very vibrant shade of blue in this home. Amish especially in plainer communities tend to paint their doors, molding and window frames in blues (a sky or light blue is more common) or grays.
In photo #2 we see the same room from a different angle.
A wringer washer is tucked behind the stove. This family most likely uses kerosene for their cooking.
And photo #3 is, the same room again! This one large room makes up the core of the home. Large open areas suit Amish homes and culture well when it comes to space for large gatherings and to maximize lighting.
And that’s it for the interior photos. We don’t get a look at either of the two bedrooms, or the (non-existent) bathroom.
Most of the remaining photos show outbuildings and shots of the land. It comes with 79 acres, which I would assume makes up a significant portion of the property’s value. Views like this surely give a bit of that remote-from-society feel, in keeping with the prepper theme.
There is also this photo of what we could call an engine house.
I might guess that this is what’s used to pump the water to the holding tank in the photo we saw at top, but the description says it is pumped manually. It may be used to drive equipment like we saw in Enos Gingerich’s furniture shop, though I’m not seeing it in the photos provided. So, not exactly sure what it’s being used for here.
Here’s the aerial view of the property.
So there you have it. And how much are they asking for this Amish “prepper’s paradise”?
This property is available at just one Benjamin short of a half-million-dollars ($499,900). Represented by Glenda Stutts and Trudi Craig of Flora Mid-South Realty.
Amish house
You mention that the hay will not conven are you talking this years cuttings or all future cuttings of hay. What they do in the winter time for water is I know it is not cold in Tennessee in the winter time but they do get cold snaps and the water in the hose going to the house out of the tank could freeze.
Definition, please
What is a “Prepper”?
Prepper definition
Hi Jim,
The common definition of a prepper is someone who actively prepares (preps) for worst-case scenarios, such as the end of the world, by practicing survivalist techniques, including hoarding food or living mostly or entirely off the public utility grid (e.g., firewood/coal instead of municipal gas/electric, well or other property water instead of public water & sewer lines, etc).
For example, a prepper gathers and stockpiles supplies like food, ammunition, and equipment to be ready for any potential crisis, such as worldwide economic collapse, or war.
My vocabulary has now increased
Thanks, Leslie! I was totally unaware of such a term.
The house
It looks interesting but not my cup of tea. I think a half million for this one is asking too much. I do like the use of blue for cabinets, curtains and doors–I wonder why many Amish people like to use blue for these things. Just curious, if there is no bathroom, where is the outhouse and where does one wash hands or do a quick washing up in the house? How are dishes done at the end of a meal? Amish families tend to be large, this house doesn’t offer much space.
I’m not sure on this one but some of these plainest places will have a cold water source even though the home doesn’t have proper plumbing. The outhouse is usually a separate structure, I’m not sure if it’s visible in the pics I shared. Amish families do tend to be large but always start off small! 🙂
The term prepper means to ‘prepare.’
It’s for people who prepare for natural disasters like tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, and so on. When social order is disrupted you will still have food and water to survive on.
For example, when it snows 6 ft in Buffalo, New York, and the power is out, you will still survive as you ‘prepared’ for it by stock piling food, water, fuel for generators, warm clothes, etc. This happened in Nov. 2022.
When a hurricane strikes Florida and over 2 million people are without power, ‘preppers’ will still have food and clean water to survive until power comes back on. This happened in Sept. 2022.
Here in PA, there was a chemical spill that resulted in local people being told NOT to drink the water for days. People had trouble finding water to drink as the water in the stores quickly sold out. ‘Preppers’ were just fine as they already had plenty of stored water.
Some take it seriously in anticipation of, say, the power grid going down for a long time. Sadly, that is a possibility. So I understand the idea of planning/prepping for it.
Personally, I think preppers like the lifestyle that gives them the feeling of independence and self-sufficiency.
As for the price, you’re getting 79 acres. Not bad.
Cell phone???
I am confused by the listing saying cell phone service is great and it’s a mobile hot spot. There’s no electricity; how are you charging a cell phone? Where is the router plugged in?
I believe they are talking about the coverage of mobile networks in that general area.