Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason & Angela Cottrell.
Hi Jason & Angela, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Anson Arbor Farm was born from our deep belief that couples need intentional time to reconnect—away from the chaos of everyday life. As a blended family navigating the busy rhythm of work, school, and raising kids, we learned early on the value of protecting time together. From quick date nights to weekend escapes, we made space to dream, laugh, and just be us.
Over the years, those quiet moments shaped not only our marriage but our vision for what a retreat could be. We imagined a place where couples could slow down, create new memories, and fall in love all over again. With a shared passion for real estate, design, and hospitality, we built Anson Arbor Farm—twelve thoughtfully designed cottages and a gathering barn set on 20 peaceful acres near the Great Smoky Mountains.
Whether our guests come to celebrate an anniversary, sneak away for the weekend, or host a retreat or intimate wedding, we’ve created this space with intention—so they can love each other well.
More from our blog…
What on earth would ever prompt us to build 12 cottages uniquely designed as the perfect couples getaway??
For us, the answer is simple – it was to create a place where couples could retreat, to slow things down, connect or reconnect, create memories, but ultimately grow as a couple.
But why does that matter to us??
Y’all, life can be hard. Busy. Demanding. Work, kids, school, sports, activities, dinner, pack lunches…lather, rinse, repeat…everyday. Jase and I realized early in our marriage the importance of intentionally setting aside time for ourselves. One of my greatest fears was arriving on the other side of raising kids, when life starts to slow down, and realize we had lost each other along the way. So, together, we committed to investing time in our relationship, wherever and whenever we could.
The investment didn’t always look the same. As with anything, there is a season. Some seasons allowed us to pre-plan date night with dinner reservations. Other times it was “oh, the kids all have last minute plans with friends, so let’s go do something”. And sometimes, we scheduled a trip. A weekend getaway somewhere within driving distance (usually Charleston) that would allow us to explore, have fun, and oftentimes, dream about our future.
About 3-4 years into our marriage, we attended a local marriage retreat, through Marriage Life Ministries, that my boss invited us to. To be honest, I didn’t think we NEEDED to go to a marriage retreat. We were doing just fine but we went anyway. It turned out to be an amazing weekend but one of our biggest takeaways was date night rules. When you are on a date, no talking about kids, work or finances. It was hard at first but over the years we’ve just naturally stuck to the rules and, to my surprise, it created space for us to talk about the future. Our dreams. Our goals. Our desires.
Y’all, we take our time together very seriously. On the notes app, we share a note titled “Charleston Restaurants”. The note started when we realized there were more restaurants we wanted to try than we had time for in a single visit, so we started a list. The next trip, we just checked the list and booked reservations. It made things simple! It worked so well that we started doing it for Knoxville restaurants. New places would pop up and we’d say, “we’ll have to try that sometime”, we added it to the list. It made it so easy when we had a last minute chance to grab dinner or go on a date.
You know what else?? I didn’t realize it then, but over the years, I have learned there’s so much value in your kids watching you love spending time together. I know it’s not easy or alway feasible to get a babysitter or run them Grandma and Papaw’s….seasons come and go, for sure. We always found a way to get creative with our time so we never lost sight of each other. It wasn’t (still isn’t) uncommon for us to put together a cheese & charcuterie board and snack while we watch a movie or a show. Do whatever makes sense for you and the season you’re in!
We are very fortunate in that we have lots of family around us. – we’re also a blended family – so when the “big kids” went to their Mom’s, we would sometimes schedule for our youngest to spend the night or weekend at Grandma and Papaw’s or with my sister. Selfishly, we were being intentional about our own time together, but what I’ve also realized is what we were giving Liv was time (and memories) with her grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins and our closest friends.
All that to say, be intentional. Take time for each other. Love each other well. Let your kids see you love each other well. For us, we continued to learn about each other, it taught us to hold tight to each other when life was hard, and we just fun to have that time to always look forward to. It’s always fun for us to take a timeout on life to just be us.
So,
Run that errand together.
Go for a walk around the block together.
Find a hobby together.
Schedule a date night together.
Book the trip. Just the two of you.
Spending intentional time together and sticking to our date night rules pushed us to use our time differently. To plan out what we wanted our lives to look like going forward and how we wanted to use our love for real estate, DIY and design to serve others. And from that came Anson Arbor Farm. If we’re fortunate enough to be the place you escape to, we promise we’ll take great care of you at the farm. Time, intentionality, peace and quiet…space to love each other well is the most important thing to us.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Creating, designing, and developing Anson Arbor Farm has been a roller coaster of a journey. From very high highs to some challenging lows, we’ve experienced it all. When we purchased the junkyard, the previous owner cleared the 250 salvage cars from the property and we were left with 3 existing buildings, 20 acres, and overgrown creeks and fence lines. We purchased the proper equipment and got started right away clearing overgrown brush, cleaning up the fence line, finding the creek through the weeds.
Our first challenge: We had planned to renovate the existing buildings into rentable units, but immediately hit a roadblock with fire suppression systems and the cost involved to go that route. So we pivoted and landed on new construction.
Our second challenge: Finding financing for new construction, short term rental properties. We didn’t know it then, but finding a bank to lend money on new construction that doesn’t have any revenue yet was a huge challenge. We spent almost 18 months looking for financing and spoke with 22 banks before one would agree to work with us.
Our third challenge: Meeting construction timelines and hitting budget goals. As with any major construction project, it was challenging keeping the project on track and on budget.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Early in their careers, Jason & Angela met when working together in hospitality at Blackberry Farm.
Later, they each spent their careers in a corporate environment. Jason is a degree Horticulturist that worked at the University of Tennessee for 20 years and most recently held the position of Director of Landscape Services & Facilities Operations. He has been an avid outdoorsman / hiker his whole life and enjoys any activity in nature. As we developed Anson Arbor Farm, Jason was determined to save all the trees on property and worked with the landscape design team to carefully craft the landscaping in a way that makes it feel seamless to the rest of the 20 acres.
Angela spent her career in Human Resources and in her most recent 12 years, was the Director of Human Resources at a Knoxville based manufacturing company. She has a strong skill set in problem solving and later became a Director of Sales Operations focusing on project management and creating efficiencies within the company. On the side, she’s always been passionate about interior design and creating spaces that are beautiful and functional.
Jason & Angela have been married for 18 years with 4 kids, 2 son-in-laws and their first grandson. Together, they have renovated three homes and built a cabin in Gatlinburg called The Mountain House. With a shared passion for real estate, design, and hospitality, we built Anson Arbor Farm—twelve thoughtfully designed cottages and a gathering barn set on 20 peaceful acres near the Great Smoky Mountains.
What matters most to you? Why?
Intentionality. We’ve always strived to be intentional with our time in our relationship. That’s why we created Anson Arbor Farm, to create a space for couples to be intentional with their time in their relationship.
Pricing:
- Cottages nightly rates range from $199-$299 per night depending on the season
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ansonarborfarm.com
- Instagram: @ansonarborfarm
- Facebook: @ansonarborfarm
- Other: TikTok: @ansonarborfarm
