Every now and then you take a chance as a photographer and take what the scene has to offer and use it to your advantage. As I approached the Historic Tipton Place which is situated almost at the very end of the Cade's Code Auto Tour last week, I saw a great many obstacles in photographing this beautiful old two story cabin while still attempting to capture the Fall foliage while still tucking everything into one frame.
As I stood along side of the road, it occurred to me that I simply must do the inevitable and photograph dead on with the brush laden fence line in the foreground and the entire back side of the cabin in the background. It was actually the best decision I could have made in my attempt to capture the essence of this beautiful old two story cabin with the woods and the trees surrounding it as though protecting it from the elements from one year to the next.
William Tipton bought this land in the early 1800's, the first land acquired in the Smoky Mounains, taking advantage of Tennessee's land grant program. In the late 1800's Colonel Hamp Tipton, a civil war veteran, built the cabin that still stands today.
The historic homestead was located in what was, at that time, very remote Cade's Cove. Several outbuildings make up the homestead and while I hadn't intended to capture images of all of them, I felt today was the day I should spend a few moments and photograph images of each one. After all, the story would not be complete without them. Before you reach this homestead, however, as you make your way around a very sharp bend in the road, your first encounter in the homestead is the old blacksmith shop which sits just to the right of the cabin.
Then just to the left of the cabin, across the gravel road, sits the double cantilever barn. What is a double cantilever barn you ask? Well, cantilever barns are reminiscent of eastern Tennessee farm structures, and oddly enough are only found in two counties in Tennessee. The barns were also built in North Carolina and Kentucky. More often this structure was built by farmers who wanted to maintain a totally self-sufficient farm where seed, corn, feed, livestock and equipment storage was needed.
Finally, having passed the old blacksmith shop sitting next to the narrow stream is the old smokehouse situated directly in front of the cabin. At this point in the journey you realize the resourceful of Colonel Tipton and what his vision was in making a home for his family in this remote area of the world surrounded by mountains. Pops of red and yellow Fall foliage definitely made the setting more poignant. One has to ask though just what these farmers did for entertainment in this remote area considering so many modern day luxuries had yet to be invented like the automobile. ENJOY!
