Property Intelligence Report
Property Snapshot
Spencer, Tennessee Lake Farm with Poultry-House Infrastructure
32.33± acres · Van Buren County, Tennessee · near Spencer
🟡 Conditional Candidate
A practical lake-and-infrastructure homestead candidate with strong resilience ingredients, provided the unrestricted-use, water, septic, lake/dam, and communications questions check out.
Core Facts
- Price: $399,000
- Land: 32.33± acres with listed pasture, timber, open land, and a 2.5-acre lake.
- Property type: Farms, recreational land, hunting land.
- Best fit: Rural homestead, retreat base, small-scale farm/storage property, or resilient buildout with water and infrastructure already present.
Resilience Read
- Water: Listing claims a 2.5-acre lake; potable water, well status, dam/liability, and flood context remain unverified.
- Infrastructure: Electricity onsite and a large poultry house are useful starting assets; septic and building-condition details are unknown.
- Access: County road frontage with blacktop/asphalt and gravel surfaces; legal access and survey still need confirmation.
- Use potential: Pasture, timber, open land, lake, partial fencing, and a large storage/agricultural structure support practical self-reliance use.
Source: Whitetail Properties listing
Reviewed: 2026-05-19 · Coordinates: 35.759, -85.493
Property Media
Selected from Whitetail listing media using browser-rendered extraction and contact-sheet QA. Images are source-hosted listing photos.
Source media: Whitetail Properties listing. Listing claims and measurements are not independently verified.
Executive Summary
This 32.33± acre Van Buren County property stands out because it combines manageable acreage, a meaningful water feature, existing power, and a large poultry-house structure in a private rural setting. The listing positions it as unrestricted Tennessee farmland at the end of a dead-end road, with a 2.5-acre lake, elevated homesite options, pasture, timber, and open ground.
For Resilience Atlas, the core appeal is practical rather than ornamental. A buyer is not starting with bare land: there is already claimed electricity onsite, a substantial 40-by-250 poultry house for dry storage or future agricultural use, partial fencing, and a lake that could support recreation and possibly broader land-use planning if verified.
The concerns are equally important. Potable water and septic are not confirmed in the listing, the unrestricted-use claim needs county verification, and any lake property raises questions about dam condition, liability, drainage, floodplain exposure, and maintenance. The listed cell-tower lease may be a useful income and communications clue, but it does not automatically prove reliable residential broadband or mobile service.
Initial Verdict:
🟡 Conditional Candidate. This is a strong resilience-property candidate if the legal, water, septic, and lake due-diligence checks come back clean.
Key Strengths
- 2.5-acre lake claimed by the listing, giving the property a rare water-centered identity.
- Existing electricity onsite, reducing one of the largest friction points for rural buildout.
- Large 40-by-250 poultry house that may serve as dry storage, equipment space, or future farm infrastructure after inspection.
- Pasture, timber, open land, and gently rolling topography create a flexible homestead canvas.
- Private dead-end-road setting while still about 4.8 km / 3 miles from Spencer.
Key Concerns
- Potable water source is not confirmed; well, public water, or spring details need direct verification.
- Septic/perc status is unknown and could materially affect buildability.
- The listing’s unrestricted claim must be confirmed with Van Buren County and title documents.
- Lake/dam condition, floodplain exposure, water quality, and liability are unverified.
- The poultry-house condition, reuse options, utility capacity, and any environmental concerns need onsite inspection.
Location Analysis
Regional Context
The property is listed at 214 Edmonds Road near Spencer in Van Buren County, Tennessee. This places it in a rural Middle Tennessee setting with access to small-town services in Spencer and broader amenities in Sparta and Chattanooga.
Listing distances put Spencer about 4.8 km / 3 miles away, Sparta about 24.1 km / 15 miles away, and Chattanooga about 112.7 km / 70 miles away. Those distances suggest the property is rural without being deeply remote, which is often a better fit for long-term resilient living than an isolated tract with difficult emergency access.
Access and Roads
The listing identifies county road frontage with blacktop/asphalt and gravel road surfaces. It also describes the property as being at the end of a dead-end road, which is favorable for privacy and traffic control. Legal access, road maintenance obligations, driveway condition, and survey boundaries still need verification.
Distance to Services
Spencer is the nearest town at approximately 4.8 km / 3 miles. Sparta is approximately 24.1 km / 15 miles away and should be treated as the more substantial nearby service center for many errands, employment, supplies, and medical-adjacent needs. Chattanooga is approximately 112.7 km / 70 miles away for larger regional services, healthcare systems, transportation, and specialized shopping.
Before purchase, verify actual drive times to grocery, urgent care or hospital access, hardware/building supplies, feed and farm supply, fuel, fire response, law enforcement, and schools if relevant.
Land and Terrain
Acreage Usefulness
At 32.33± acres, the property is large enough for a meaningful homestead layout without becoming an unmanageable large-acreage project. The listing describes pasture, timber, open ground, a lake, and level to gently rolling topography, which is a useful mix for building, food production, livestock planning, privacy, and firewood or habitat management.
Soil and Growing Potential
The pasture and open land are positive signals for gardens, orchard rows, chickens, and small livestock, but soil capability has not been verified. USDA Web Soil Survey review and onsite soil testing should be used before assuming septic suitability, garden productivity, erosion risk, or pond/lake edge stability.
Water Features
The listing’s most important resilience feature is the claimed 2.5-acre lake. That could support recreation, wildlife, potential irrigation planning, and a strong property identity. It should not be treated as potable water without testing and legal review. Confirm water rights, lake depth, dam condition, spillway/drainage, maintenance obligations, floodplain status, water quality, and liability exposure.
Utilities and Infrastructure
Power
The listing claims electricity is available onsite. That is a major advantage over raw rural land, but the buyer should confirm meter status, service capacity, location, transformer condition, easements, monthly base charges, and upgrade costs for a residence, workshop, solar intertie, or backup-power system.
Water
Potable water is unknown from the listing. The lake is an asset, but domestic water requires separate verification: existing well, public/rural water availability, well-drilling feasibility, water quality, filtration requirements, and drought reliability.
Septic and Waste
No septic or perc test status was confirmed in the listing. This is one of the largest due-diligence items. Verify soil suitability, health-department requirements, approved septic locations, setbacks from the lake, and whether the poultry-house footprint or proposed homesites create constraints.
Internet and Communications
The listing says an existing cell tower lease provides monthly income. That is promising, but it does not automatically prove usable home internet or mobile reliability. Check the FCC Broadband Map, local providers, Starlink sky view, mobile carriers at the exact homesite, and emergency radio options.
Off-Grid and Resilience Potential
Solar Suitability
Open ground and farm infrastructure may support ground-mounted solar or roof-mounted systems, but tree lines, utility interconnection, battery location, and structural suitability of the poultry house need field review. The property’s manageable acreage makes a hybrid grid-plus-backup system realistic if permitted.
Heating and Cooling
Any future residence should be designed for humid summers, storm resilience, and efficient winter heating. Wood heat may be possible if timber management is sustainable, but modern heat pumps, propane backup, and passive shading should be evaluated together.
Food Production Potential
The property has good food-production ingredients: pasture, open land, partial fencing, lake presence, and a large agricultural structure. Practical uses could include gardens, orchard rows, chickens, equipment storage, greenhouse space, and small livestock. Water access for irrigation and septic setbacks near food areas require verification.
Security and Privacy
The dead-end-road setting, rural context, and internal acreage are favorable for privacy. The property is not so remote that routine access appears impractical, which improves livability. Security should be framed practically: gates, lighting, cameras, neighbor awareness, and emergency access rather than fear-based positioning.
Legal, Zoning, and Buildability
Zoning
The listing describes the property as unrestricted. Treat that as a lead, not a verified fact. Confirm county zoning, deed restrictions, subdivision restrictions, septic approvals, RV/camping limits, tiny-home/mobile-home rules, multiple-dwelling limits, agricultural-use permissions, and short-term-rental rules if relevant.
Permits and Restrictions
Before moving forward, verify survey, easements, mineral/timber rights, road maintenance agreements, utility easements, lake/dam responsibilities, wetlands, floodplain, conservation restrictions, and whether the poultry-house structure has any permits, environmental history, or reuse limitations.
Risk Assessment
Environmental Risks
Middle Tennessee properties can face heavy rainfall, severe thunderstorms, tornado risk, summer heat, erosion, and drainage issues. The lake increases both appeal and due-diligence complexity: confirm dam/spillway condition, floodplain mapping, downstream liability, and water quality before relying on it as a resilience asset.
Financial / Practical Cost Risks
The property may require significant capital for residential buildout if water, septic, road/driveway improvements, building repairs, or utility upgrades are needed. The poultry house could be a major asset or a liability depending on condition, roof, electrical, structural components, cleanup requirements, and permitted reuse.
Practical Risks
The biggest practical risks are unresolved water and septic, unverified legal freedom, the lake’s maintenance burden, and uncertainty around communications. None of these are automatic deal-breakers, but each could materially change the property’s suitability.
Estimated Development Path
Phase 1: Due Diligence
Confirm survey, legal access, zoning/restrictions, septic/perc, potable water options, electric service capacity, lake/dam/floodplain status, insurance availability, annual taxes, utility easements, and cell/internet performance at the likely homesite.
Phase 2: Basic Use
Initial improvements could include access cleanup, gate/signage, secure dry storage in the poultry house if inspected safe, water testing, septic evaluation, brush management, garden test plots, a communications test, and a preliminary solar/backup-power layout.
Phase 3: Resilient Buildout
A long-term buildout could include a modest home or cabin, solar plus battery backup, backup generator, rainwater catchment for non-potable uses where legal, gardens, orchard, chickens or small livestock, greenhouse, workshop/storage, and practical emergency communications.
Property Scorecard
The 2.5-acre lake is a major resilience asset, but potable water, well status, dam condition, and flood exposure still need verification.
End-of-dead-end-road positioning and rural acreage support a private setting while remaining near Spencer.
Pasture, open ground, timber, and existing farm infrastructure support gardens, poultry, and small-livestock possibilities after soil and water checks.
Onsite electricity and a large poultry house create a useful starting point, but water, septic, and structure condition are unresolved.
Open land, storage space, water presence, and rural setting are favorable for backup power and low-dependency systems; legal and utility details remain open.
The listed cell-tower lease is promising context, but actual residential broadband and mobile performance are unverified.
Level to gently rolling terrain, lake edges, and controlled road approach are useful practical features without being extreme or isolated.
Middle Tennessee offers a workable growing climate, though severe storms, heavy rain, heat, and drainage/flood questions need review.
Water, open land, timber, farm structure, and privacy make this a strong self-sufficiency canvas once potable water and septic are solved.
A lake-centered small farm with poultry-house infrastructure and a cell-tower income note gives the property a strong Resilience Atlas narrative.
The lake, privacy, and manageable acreage are compelling, though the industrial poultry-house element will appeal more to practical buyers than purely scenic-lifestyle readers.
Road access and building sites are favorable, but the unrestricted claim, septic suitability, survey/access details, and permits need confirmation.
🟡 Conditional Candidate — strong raw ingredients, but key due-diligence items need resolution before treating it as a low-friction buy.
Final Recommendation
🟡 Conditional Candidate
This property deserves deeper due diligence because it has the rare combination of water, manageable acreage, onsite electricity, open ground, timber, and a substantial agricultural structure. It is especially interesting for a buyer who wants a practical Tennessee homestead or retreat base with room for storage, food production, and backup systems.
The recommendation stays conditional because several core questions are unanswered: potable water, septic, legal restrictions, lake condition, poultry-house condition, and communications. If those checks come back clean, this could become a strong Resilience Atlas feature property and a credible long-term self-reliance base.
Rating context: Candidate levels reflect how well the property fits Resilience Atlas criteria after weighing infrastructure, water, access, buildability, communications, risk, and unresolved due diligence.
Questions to Ask Before Moving Forward
- Is the unrestricted-use claim confirmed by county records, deed, and title work?
- Is legal access fully confirmed by survey and recorded road frontage?
- Is there an existing well, public/rural water tap, or reliable domestic water option?
- Has a perc test been completed, and where can septic legally be placed?
- What is the lake depth, water quality, dam/spillway condition, and maintenance obligation?
- Is any portion of the property mapped in FEMA floodplain or wetlands?
- What is the condition of the poultry house, roof, electrical system, slab/floor, and structural frame?
- Can the poultry house be reused for storage, agriculture, workshop, or other intended non-residential uses?
- What is the exact cell-tower lease income, term, renewal structure, easement, and buyer obligation?
- What fixed broadband, Starlink, and mobile service actually work at the planned homesite?
- Are there utility easements, mineral rights, timber rights, or conservation restrictions?
- What insurance coverage is available for the lake, outbuilding, and future residence?
Source and Verification Starting Points
- Primary listing: Whitetail Properties source listing.
- County/GIS/tax: Van Buren County parcel, ownership, boundary, tax, and improvement records should be checked against the listing acreage and address.
- Flood/wetlands: FEMA Flood Map Service Center and county drainage/floodplain resources should be checked at coordinates 35.759, -85.493.
- Soils: USDA Web Soil Survey should be used for septic, pasture, garden, erosion, and building-site limitations.
- Broadband/cell: FCC Broadband Map, mobile carrier maps, Starlink availability, and an onsite signal test should be used before relying on connectivity.
- Local permits: Van Buren County planning/building and health-department contacts should verify residential build rights, septic requirements, outbuilding reuse, and any camping/RV/tiny-home limitations.
Due diligence note: Listing claims, acreage, access, utilities, restrictions, and measurements are not independently verified here. Treat this report as a structured starting point for investigation, not a substitute for legal, survey, engineering, environmental, or onsite professional review.
