Nancy MacLean Bio

In the Fall of 1991, my family and I were on our way from Brooksville, FL to a Family Re-Union being held in the Mountains of Extreme Northern New Jersey (where we were born & raised) when we decided to try the new Highway 575 corridor leading up to the Smokey Mountain National Park. While stopping for lunch in Blue Ridge, GA....to our surprise, we discovered a small Real Estate Company that had sent us a brochure many months prior. We answered an ad for information on Mountain Property in our local newspaper because we were yearning to go back to the mountains and experience the change of season like we had growing up but we never planned this trip to Blue Ridge and never expected to discover the Real Estate Company that sent us the information.

There was one particular property that caught our eye in the information package and we decided since we were here (completely by accident) to just take one look and continue on our trip. Before leaving Blue Ridge that afternoon we had made an offer! What are the chances of something like this happening? Were we crazy or what?

By 1993, after visiting the area several times in the interim ,we had decided that our “impulse buy“ was probably one of the best decisions we have ever made so... we tried to get financing for a vacation rental home with the intentions of possibly moving here full time in the distance future.... when and if we could sell our home in Hernando County, FL. We had rented cabins on several visits to the area and saw the potential income and equity growth in vacation rentals. Brooksville, FL was experiencing a building boom and we knew that our 20 year old Stilt home on the Southern Most Hardwood Hammock would take some time to sell with all the competition of new construction in the area .....it took 3 days!!

My daughters were 5, 8, and 11 years old at the time. Blue Ridge seemed like the perfect place to raise a Family and we moved here full time July 4, 1994 (Independence Day) My family is very proud of our involvement in the Fannin County recreational programs. My husband started the first "all girl" soccer team in Fannin County and my daughters all currently play on soccer Club Teams in Gwinnet Co. My husband's teams have won the Canterbury Cup in Marietta and the Sugar and Spice Tournament in Douglasville. ....this was quite an accomplishment for such a newly formed team especially from the Mountains of Fannin County where Soccer is still a relatively "New Sport". My eldest daughter plays soccer for Piedmont College and had the privilege of competing in the National Championships this year in Orlando. So....I guess this makes me "politically correct" as a "Soccer Mom" in every sense of the word. (We are also involved in the Fannin Recreation Basketball Program as well... coaching a Varsity Girls Team...also taking the local championship last year). We are truly blessed with the beauty of Nature and the Peace of Mind we have discovered here. I hope you will let me share with you...just how very special this area is.