By Sienna Escobar
The road to Hidden Hills Farm and Saddle Club leads past a weathered old barn and up to a small creek. Despite any initial misgivings, even small vehicles have no trouble sloshing across the wet gravel to the other side. From there, the drive is bumpy but serene, with horses grazing in their pastures on either side. Eventually, the horse barn and riding arena come into sight, where the sounds of riders chattering and taking care of their horses cuts into the stillness of the surrounding fields.
Two years ago, the drive to Hidden Hills would have led to an entirely different property. However, in August of 2023, the farm relocated to a site only 5.5 miles from Southern’s campus, amid plans for a controversial housing development at their original location.
The farm, now settled at 1106 Pine Hill Road, is a horse riding and boarding facility operated by local Tara Hills and her family. Despite a difficult move and ongoing construction, the farm continues to offer a horsemanship course for Southern students and welcome other visitors from the community through various programs.
Compared to the previous location, the Pine Hill Road farm is less wooded and more open to the sky. In fact, part of the property was cleared by a tornado in 2011, leaving a tangle of shrubs and small trees. After initially purchasing the land in 2020, the Hills had to finish clearing the area and build a riding arena, a hay barn and miles of fences, among other things, before the farm was functional.
“It was hard,” said Hills. “Moving a business is not cool. …We have just been building, building, building since 2020.”
Hills, an adjunct professor at Southern, teaches their horsemanship course during winter and fall semesters, as well as private lessons alongside five other instructors.Besides horse riding, the farm offers play days and nature schools for the community and is home to dairy cows and small animals such as chickens and goats.
According to Hills, the concept for the farm came from her childhood dream of owning a horse farm. When she was a young teenager, her family moved to a property of 408.1 acres at 1590 Edgmon Road, and a little while later, she got her first horse.
‘Fighting Against the Odds’
In 2003, Hills came back to her family’s land as an adult to launch Hidden Hills and make her old dream a reality. Soon after, in 2005, she started teaching Southern students through horsemanship classes.
Hill said, close to ten years later, between 2013 and 2014, she found out that family members had decided to sell the Edgmon Road property to a developer. The sale involved a rezoning of the property and approval of a Planned Unit Development (PUD) by the Collegedale City Commission. The plans sparked fierce opposition from some neighbors and others in the community who wanted the property to remain a farm and saddle club.
In 2022, as the City Commission went through the process of approving the development, various petitions and complaints were raised to oppose the changes. According to a previous Accent article, concerns expressed by community members during commission meetings cited potential problems with increased traffic, overcrowding and changes to the area’s natural environment.
Austin Miller, a resident of Cleveland, Tenn., organized a petition to halt development of the property. According to the Accent article, Miller collected 3,302 signatures by Oct. 4, 2022; however, members of the planning commission objected because not all of the signatures were from residents of Collegedale.
Before the final vote, Miller wrote on the petition’s website, asking community members to attend the City Commission meeting and “take a stand” against the approval of the development.
“We are fighting against the odds,” stated Miller. “Anyone willing to attend and speak on behalf of the community, I implore you to do so.”
On Oct. 17, 2022, the City Commission voted unanimously to approve the project, with the exception of Commissioner White, who abstained. At the time, then-Vice Mayor Tim Johnson responded in an email to the Accent by saying that he believed the current developers were the “best fit” for the project and committed to preserving the natural environment.
Despite the community’s pushback, the current property owners, EA Homes LP, have continued with their plans for the development, according to Jason Allin, Collegedale Staff Planner. The property, labeled Chastain Trails West and East, will be subdivided into 512 residential lots for single-family homes.
According to Allin, the developers plan to “go vertical” with homes within the next few months. The entire project may take one to three years to complete. As part of the approval ordinance, the developers are required to designate 20% of the land as open space. According to Allin, the city is also encouraging the developers to leave as many trees as possible through tree credits, which allow the developers to substitute original trees for some of the landscaping requirements. In addition, Allin said, the development plans to use the open space for a trail system and is considering adding amenities such as a pool and a community center.
“In their case, [the developers] are going kind of above and beyond what the ordinance called for,” said Allin, emphasizing the developers' plans to spend $1 million on landscaping alone.
A New Beginning
In August of 2023, the Hills and all their animals finished moving to their new home on Pine Hill Road. As part of the transition, Hill relocated over 35 horses.
Along with the logistical and financial challenges of moving, Hills said she dealt with the emotional turmoil of leaving her childhood home and seeing the changes brought on by the development.
“We went through the entire stages of grief, so it was just like losing a loved one, really,” she said.
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Amayah Crisp, a senior psychology student at Southern, is enrolled in the horsemanship course at Hidden Hills Farm this semester. She said she signed up for the horsemanship class as a way to build a solid foundation of knowledge around horses. The class meets once a week and is capped at around eight students. During the course, students learn not only the basics of riding but also how to care for and tack up their horses, behave safely and independently around horses and understand different styles of advanced riding.
“I love the escape, like, I look forward to Tuesday and driving out [to the farm], even though it's not that far,” said Crisp. “Being outside for a class is definitely a lot better than just sitting inside.”
According to Linda Dickson, a junior biology major in the same class, her favorite part of the class is building a relationship with the horses.
“The human-animal connection is so important in understanding how God has created nature for us,” said Dickson. “It’s a direct way of experiencing nature…and just another outlet to get closer to God.”
As the farm continues growing, Hill hopes to bring back more programs from the old farm, such as offering birthday parties and possibly running an Airbnb. When asked what she would say to the people who have stood with the farm through all the upheaval, Hills said she would just have to say, “Thank you.”
“We've always felt very supported by our community, and we're grateful for the people around us,” Hills said. “So yeah, what do I want to say to them? ‘We’re still here!’”
