09/03/2026
📜 Throwback Thursday • Chapter Ten
The Story Continues...📖
For the past ten weeks, we've traveled through nearly two centuries of history.
We've followed an old trail that became the Unicoi Turnpike. We discovered Oak Hill, the original estate built high on the ridge. We watched a fire change the course of the property and the Alley Hotel rise from its foundation.
We met Charlotte Templeton, the remarkable woman who saw something worth saving during the Great Depression. We welcomed the Alley family home again, discovered handwritten letters and treasured memories, and remembered the years when this historic house became a beloved country restaurant.
Eventually, the Sautee Inn became a Bed & Breakfast.
And then, in March 2022, another chapter began.
Rebecca and Mike Hollis, together with business partner Ron Geraneo, purchased The Sautee Inn from Tony and Alberta, who were ready to begin their next chapter in Florida. Rebecca and Mike later purchased Ron's interest in 2025, and today they continue caring for this extraordinary piece of North Georgia history.
They've made improvements, a new roof, windows and generator, and opened the Inn year-round. But perhaps more importantly, they've been careful not to erase the past. Many of the antiques remain, joined by family pieces that make the Inn feel less like a museum and more like what it has always been...
a home.
And maybe that's the most beautiful part of this entire story.
For almost two centuries, people have passed through this property. They've traveled here, lived here, gathered around tables, shared meals, celebrated, rested, laughed and made memories within these walls.
Rebecca and Mike aren't writing over that history.
They're adding their chapter to it.
And every guest who walks through the doors becomes a small part of the story, too.
So while this may be Chapter Ten of our Throwback Thursday series...
it certainly isn't the final chapter of The Sautee Inn.
In fact, something very special is just around the corner. 💙
