Mahoney Knows Homes: Kingston Springs is a Creative Community Rooted in Nature
“Mahoney Knows Homes” is the Gazette’s newest real estate column. Author Jack Mahoney is a realtor in Kingston Springs who is driven by a mission to deliver top-tier service, trusted market insight and meaningful value to the community he calls home.
This week in “Mahoney Knows Homes,” I took a break from market stats to do something different: sip coffee at Turnbull Provisions and chat with neighbors about what makes Kingston Springs so special.The answers I received during my interviews were not at all surprising, but a heartwarming reminder of the uniqueness of our community, and the commonality within the uniqueness that we all share.
Whether we grew up here and decided to stay, or came from elsewhere, there were common themes of the answers I was given during all of my interviews: nature, artistry, inspiration, and community.
During my first interview, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Eddie Vincent. Although it was my first time meeting Eddie, I can only assume he is a local legend due to the smiles that instantly lit up the room of Turnbull Provisions upon his entry. Here’s what Eddie had to say about Kingston Springs:
Jack: So Eddie, what's the thing that you love most about living in Kingston Springs?
Eddie: Being away from Nashville. I like it to be quiet where I live, and so there's not really any neighbors around me, so I like that part, that feel of it, and the other part is just that Nashville has changed so dramatically since I've lived here. It used to be a big, small town. Now it's Chicago.
Jack: So what makes Kingston Springs feel like home to you?
Eddie: I know so many people here. People are so friendly here and show you, it's not hard to talk to anybody, any unknown person in here. Like you!
Jack: That's true! That's how all this started.
Eddie: Exactly.
Jack: If you could bottle up the spirit of Kingston Springs, what would be inside?
Eddie: One thing I do remember was in 2010 flood, how everybody in this town got together and helped everybody. It was just a community that I did not know existed until that happened, really. That made a big difference.
Before Eddie left, I snapped a photo with him for the Gazette. If you see him around town, tell him you saw his debut!
Shortly after Eddie left, I met Anthony Agrios, a musician from Nashville who discovered Kingston Springs just a few years ago. Anthony was in town today for a very exciting reason. He has recently purchased a property here and is in the process of remodeling to turn it into a songwriters retreat and recording studio! (More info to come at a later date). Naturally, I was curious to learn more about Anthony, his plans for the studio and how he landed on Kingston Springs!
Anthony: This September, I will have lived in Nashville for four years. About two years ago, I dated a girl who lived out here. I knew nothing about this area, and I came to visit her once. She showed me around the town, and I thought, "This is great! There's basketball courts. It's very low key. It just felt like an escape from Nashville, and then I started looking at the houses and I was surprised to find out you could actually get a lot for not a massive amount of money. And you can actually get land and not be stuck in one of those little, “tall and skinny’s.”
Everyone's building all over Nashville. So I started just house hunting around the area, probably for like a year, a year and a half. And eventually found a space and it just seemed like the right thing. The problem with going to the Smokies to write with friends or whatever or to get away, it's like, four hours. [Kingston Springs] is only 30 minutes away, even with traffic.
Jack: So you identified Kingston Springs as a place similar to the Smokies, where you could escape from the city and draw inspiration.
Anthony: Draw inspiration, get away, I think this whole community felt very creative. I feel like Kingston Springs has a lot of creative energy that might attract more artists. You can see that, too, creative energy and proximity to Nashville. It's super close, and all of the people here are really nice and super chill.
Anthony saw a need for artists to have a creative space to escape to within close proximity to Nashville. He plans to open his remodeled home studio and songwriters' retreat to the public in 2026!
Last, but certainly not least, I had the opportunity to sit down with Sawyer Estok, a well known local musician and personality in Kingston Springs. Originally from Maryland, he has a unique perspective about the community as he is engaged to a Kingston Springs local, Savannah Conley.
Jack: What is the thing you love most about living in Kingston Springs?
Sawyer: The community. I tell her (Savannah) it’s like the Shire from "Lord of the Rings." Just a bunch of hobbits, and you’ve got all your characters, and there’s all these little storylines going on. It’s fun to experience.
Jack: Who's one of the most notable characters in the Shire?
Sawyer: Buster.
[At this point in the interview, Sawyer continued to tell me about Buster, who seems like a great guy, but may not appreciate being mentioned in the article. Buster, if you are reading this, Sawyer is a big fan of yours.]
Jack: Is there anything about the area that sticks out to you that you really enjoy, as opposed to other places you've lived or visited?
Sawyer: Probably the nature. We live in the woods, and I haven’t experienced that before — getting to know all the animals. They are neighbors. We have relationships with spiders. Like, there’s this one spider — it hasn’t been out this year — but it used to be on our front door at night. It would set up its web and catch all its food, then take the web down because it knew we were going to come out the front door during the day. So it cleaned up after itself.
Jack: Would you have any advice or thoughts to share for people who are considering making a move out to Kingston?
Sawyer: Definitely go to Skyking, and the Fillin’ Station and Turnbull. The whole first year I lived here, I didn’t realize the river was here like it was — so accessible. So I would say: get on the river. Go to the Narrows. Take advantage of the nature trails. It’s beautiful. It’s unbelievable that it’s here. A lot of people don’t know about it and the bluffs are amazing.
Admittedly, before starting the interviews I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was met with all smiles and a willingness to share, and am grateful for Eddie, Anthony and Sawyer for taking the time to share their thoughts with me. If you ever find yourself wondering what makes Kingston Springs so special, just grab a coffee at Turnbull and start a conversation. You’ll find out pretty quickly, it’s the people, the stories and the sense of belonging that make this town feel like home.
