Easing along a one-lane road deep into Smith County's Hackett Valley between Gordonsville and Lancaster, one of the last things a traveler would expect to find perched part way up a steep, verdant knoll would be a marvelous little Italian inn. Yet, with a 20-year vision come to fruition, that's just what retired Florida schoolteachers Tamara Hassel and Esther Zaccone have concocted at Tennessee Inn Tuscany, which is about a 40-minute drive from Lebanon.

Taking an old hog barn, no kidding, the pair has converted the structure into their two-bedroom home with a spacious, modern kitchen with a dining room where they serve magnificent Italian dinners, pretty much made from scratch. Beside their barn-turned-country nook sits the piazza (house) with a Piccolo (small room) that sleeps two and a Grande (larger room) that can accommodate up to seven.