Neighborhood guide · Estate & gated
Franklin's gated & estate communities.
Nine neighborhoods where the questions are different. Laurelbrooke, Legends Ridge, Temple Hills and its Reserve, Hidden River, Lynnwood Downs, Treemont, Montpier Farms, and Timberline in the Sneed Road and Old Hillsboro hills of 37069, and Avalon inside the city on the Cool Springs side. Not what the schools are, because they are the same three almost everywhere; but what the gate buys, what the club costs, why most of it pays no city tax, and why half the listings never sell.
B-roll · coming soon
Neighborhood video. Ninety seconds of B-roll: the Laurelbrooke gatehouse at the morning shift change, the Legends Ridge lake from the pavilion, the Temple Hills first tee, Sneed Road under the trees, a horse trailer turning into Hidden River Lane, and the view down from the Tors of Avalon at dusk. No narration.
01 · The place
Two hills, one gatehouse, and a city line that most of it sits outside.
Franklin's gated stock is not a neighborhood. It is a category, and it lives in two places that have almost nothing to do with each other. The first is the wooded ridge country north and west of the Mack Hatcher loop, along Sneed Road and Old Hillsboro Road, where Temple Hills wrapped a 27-hole golf course in the 1970s, Montpier Farms and Timberline put houses on acre lots in the 1970s and 1980s, Legends Ridge started its keypad gate and lake in 1997, and Southern Land opened Laurelbrooke's two staffed gatehouses on 578 acres in 1999. Every one of those has a Franklin address and a 37069 zip and none of them is in the city. The second place is Avalon: 645 acres between Cool Springs Boulevard and McEwen Drive, inside the city limits, five minutes from the interstate, with 300 of its acres left as woods and 55 hilltop lots at the top of the Tors that produced the highest recorded sale in Franklin, $11.8 million on five acres.
What the two places share is the product. Behind the gate, the lot is the thing: a median 0.66 acres at Laurelbrooke, 0.96 at Legends Ridge, 1.5 to 3 at Montpier Farms, five to seven at Lynnwood Downs, up to twelve at Hidden River on the Harpeth. The houses are custom, 4,300 to 14,500 square feet at Laurelbrooke, no two alike at Legends Ridge, and priced by the foot at $371 to $441 on the northwest side and $505 in Avalon's estate sections. And the schools, which decide most Franklin guides, decide almost nothing here: Grassland Elementary, Grassland Middle, and Franklin High on every closing north of the loop, with Walnut Grove standing in for Grassland Elementary at Legends Ridge; Clovercroft, Woodland, and Ravenwood at Avalon.
What separates them is everything else. Only Laurelbrooke has a person in the gatehouse. Only Temple Hills has a club, and only its Reserve section has a gate. Only Avalon pays city tax. And the market behaves like no other in this series: 116 gated closings citywide last year at a $1.5 million median and 53 days to contract, alongside a failure rate that no other Franklin neighborhood would tolerate.
Who moves here
People for whom the gate is the point: executives, athletes, artists, and the retired who want a guest list between the road and the front door, and who will pay $5,500 a year for the staff at Laurelbrooke. Golfers, at Temple Hills and its Reserve, where the club costs more than the dues. Horse people, at Hidden River and Lynnwood Downs, where the association owns the barn. Franklin High families who could afford Brentwood and chose Grassland Middle instead. And a quieter group: buyers who worked out that a $3 million house in unincorporated 37069 pays about $2,200 a year less in property tax than the same house across the city line.
What it is not
Walkable, close, or liquid. Nothing here is within a mile of a coffee shop. Laurelbrooke and Temple Hills are fifteen to twenty-five minutes from Main Street on two-lane roads, and closer to Bellevue's Highway 100 than to Cool Springs. And it is not a market where a house sells because it is listed: Legends Ridge saw as many listings expire as close last year, and the Tors took a median 210 days to find a buyer.
02 · The gates
Nine communities, three kinds of gate, and one that has a person in it.
North to south along Sneed Road and Old Hillsboro, then across town to Avalon. The gate column is the one to read twice: staffed, keypad, or none changes what you are buying more than the price does.
| Community | Where, and when | What you find | Last 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laurelbrooke1999–2020 · staffed gate · county | Sneed Road at the county line | Southern Land's 578 acres, 311 lots, 200 acres left wooded, in five sections (Woodlands, Estates, Reserve, Lakes, Boulevard). French chateau and Tudor customs of 4,300 to 14,500 sq ft on half an acre to three. Two 24-hour gatehouses, a 4,000-square-foot clubhouse, pool, tennis, pickleball, fitness, two ponds. $4,168–$5,736 a year. Grassland, Grassland, Franklin High on all 14. | 14 sales · $2.99M · 38 days |
| Temple Hills1978–2022 · open, Reserve gated · county | Sneed Road, wrapped around the club | Fourteen original sections of 1970s and 1980s houses on the fairways of a 27-hole private course, plus the Links and Country Club Estates. Only the Reserve at Temple Hills (2009–2022, 4,300–11,300 sq ft, keypad gate, about $167 a month) is gated. Dues $110 a quarter; the club is separate. Grassland, Grassland, Franklin High on all 21. | 18 sales · $969K · 52 days; Reserve 7 · $2.08M |
| Timberline1987–1994 · no gate · county | Off Sneed Road, bordering the club | All-brick traditionals and Georgians of 3,550–3,900 sq ft on 0.9 to 1.3 acres, about $250 a year, no pool. The way to live next to Temple Hills without the club or the gate. | 5 sales · $1.18M |
| Hidden River2000–2021 · gated lane · county | Old Hillsboro Road on the Harpeth | Eight to ten estates of 6,800 to 22,700 sq ft on 4.4 to 12 acres along a gated private lane, with barns, paddocks, and community horse trails on the river. $450 a month for the gate, the road, and the trails. Two active at $9.3M and $12.9M. | 1 sale · $4.9M · $721 / sq ft |
| Montpier Farms1974–1981 · no gate, no HOA · county | Old Hillsboro Road between Hillsboro and 96 | About 55 houses of 2,400–4,600 sq ft on 1.5 to 3.1 wooded acres with long driveways and creek frontage on some; most renovated, some replaced. No dues, no review board, chickens and horses allowed under county code. The fastest market in this guide. | 9 sales · $1.30M · 18 days |
| Legends Ridge1997–2025 · keypad gate · county | Sneed Road at Hillsboro Road | About 200 customs across 14 sections, 4,500–9,800 sq ft, on a median 0.96 acres, brick and stone, no two alike. Pool, clubhouse, two lighted tennis courts, pavilion, 3.5-acre stocked lake, 35 acres of common ground. $1,780–$3,228 a year, managed by Ghertner. Walnut Grove, Grassland Middle, Franklin High on all 13. Not on the Legends Club course, despite the name. | 13 sales · $2.37M · 68 days |
| Lynnwood Downs1991–2002 · keypad gate | Between Franklin Road and Hillsboro Road, north | About 40 estates on five to seven acres with a 40-acre community pasture, a barn with two stalls per owner, indoor and outdoor arenas, pool, tennis, and twice-weekly trash in $500 a month. Two horses per lot. Walnut Grove, Grassland Middle, Franklin High. | 2 sales · $2.22M |
| Treemont2000s–2017 · keypad gate | Off Lynnwood Way | Ten to twelve customs on three-plus wooded acres at the Brentwood line; the one sale was 10,313 sq ft on 3.08 acres. $250 a month for the gate and the road; no pool or clubhouse. Walnut Grove, Grassland Middle, Franklin High. | 1 sale · $4.68M |
| Avalon2006–2025 · keypad gate · city | Mack Hatcher between Cool Springs Blvd and McEwen | The Principals Group's 645 acres in five neighborhoods: the Meade's townhomes and 2,600–3,900 sq ft houses on small lots ($1,800–$1,920 a year for houses, $6,420–$7,020 for townhomes with exterior care), the Villages and Hamlet in between, and the Vale and Tors on the hills, with 55 Tors lots of five to fifteen acres ($3,150–$8,000). Pool and clubhouse in the Meade; Smith Park next door. Clovercroft, Woodland, Ravenwood on all 21. | Meade 11 · $950K · 39 days; estates 9 · $4.85M · 210 days |
Sources: MLS closed sales by subdivision, trailing 12 months to spring and summer 2026 (nashvillehome.guru); Southern Land on Laurelbrooke; Invited on Temple Hills Country Club; the Tors of Avalon association. Carlisle, the gated pocket on Highway 96 West, and the Reserve at Spencer Creek inside Fieldstone Farms are in their own guides. Stockett Creek, half-acre-plus and hilly, recorded no sales. Bands are for choosing a gate, not pricing a house.
03 · Homes & market
What a house costs, and what you get for it.
Franklin closed 116 gated sales last year across 16 communities, from a $365,000 townhome to the $11.8 million hilltop, at a $1,517,500 median and $355 a foot. The medians below are honest about each gate; the days-to-contract and the expired-listing counts are the numbers that tell you what it is like to sell.
Sources: MLS closed sales by subdivision, trailing 12 months to spring and summer 2026, as compiled by nashvillehome.guru (Laurelbrooke 14, Legends Ridge 13, Temple Hills 18, Reserve at Temple Hills 7, Avalon 20 to 21 depending on the cut, Montpier Farms 9 through May 2026, Timberline 5, Lynnwood Downs 2, Hidden River 1, Treemont 1). Sale-to-list ran 87 to 107 percent at Legends Ridge and 88 to 106 at Laurelbrooke.
| Tier | What you get | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Townhome behind a gateAvalon's Meade | 2,570–2,870 sq ft, two stories, alley garage, 2006–2012, with the exterior in the dues. The gate at its cheapest, and the dues at their highest. | $690K–$755K |
| Golf-course originalTemple Hills sections 1–14 | 2,000–3,500 sq ft, 1978 to the 1990s, half an acre on or near a fairway, no gate, $37 a month. Seven fairway houses sold from $588,500 to $1 million. | $590K–$1.0M |
| Acre lot, no gateTimberline, Montpier Farms, Avalon's Meade houses | Timberline's all-brick 1990 Georgians on an acre; Montpier's renovated 1970s houses on 1.5 to 3 acres; the Meade's 2,700–3,900 sq ft houses on a quarter acre inside the Avalon gate. | $915K–$1.35M |
| Custom on an acreLegends Ridge, Reserve at Temple Hills, Lynnwood Downs | 4,500–9,800 sq ft, brick and stone, 1997 to 2025, on 0.9 to 1.7 acres (five to seven at Lynnwood Downs), behind a keypad gate with a pool or a barn in the dues. | $1.6M–$3.0M |
| Staffed gateLaurelbrooke | 4,300–9,000 sq ft on the Boulevard and in the Woodlands and Lakes, French chateau and Tudor, 2000 to 2020, with the only manned gatehouse in Franklin. | $1.75M–$4.5M |
| Hilltop and riverThe Tors, Laurelbrooke's Estates, Hidden River, Treemont | 9,000 to 22,700 sq ft on three to twelve acres: the Tors' 55 hilltop lots, the $11.71 million Pace Haven sale at Laurelbrooke, Hidden River's barns on the Harpeth. Sold one or two at a time, in 60 to 210 days. | $4.5M–$12M+ |
- The 1970s fairway houseTemple Hills' original sections and Montpier Farms: one or two stories, brick, a screened porch facing the course or the creek, mostly renovated by now and priced for the land.
- The acre GeorgianTimberline and Lynnwood Downs' first houses, 1987 to 2002: all-brick, symmetrical, a circular drive, three bays of garage, mature trees.
- French chateauLaurelbrooke's Boulevard, by Southern Land's pattern book: stone, steep slate, arched windows, and a motor court. The look the sales brochures mean by European.
- Brick-and-stone customLegends Ridge and the Reserve at Temple Hills, 1997 to 2025: 5,000 to 10,000 sq ft, five bedrooms on eleven of thirteen Legends Ridge sales, a main-floor primary, a walk-out basement on the slope.
- The English-village houseAvalon's Meade and Villages: brick and stone fronts, covered porches, alley garages, and street names from Camelot. The pattern book is Southern Land's Westhaven, a size larger.
- The compoundThe Tors, Hidden River, Treemont, and the Pace Haven end of Laurelbrooke: 10,000 to 22,700 sq ft with an elevator, a theater, a wine cellar, guest quarters, a barn or a bowling alley, and a gate of its own inside the gate.
| Line item | Notes | 2026 rate or cost |
|---|---|---|
| Williamson County property tax | Assessed at 25% of appraisal. $1.30 in unincorporated county, which is every community here but Avalon; $1.27 inside the city | $1.30 or $1.27 per $100 |
| City of Franklin property tax | Avalon only. Laurelbrooke, Legends Ridge, Temple Hills, Timberline, Montpier Farms, and Hidden River are unincorporated county with a Franklin address | $0.296 per $100, or $0 |
| Franklin Special School District | Nowhere in this guide; every address is Williamson County Schools | $0 |
| Staffed-gate dues | Laurelbrooke: two 24-hour gatehouses, clubhouse, pool, tennis, pickleball, fitness, ponds, trails, and the private roads | $4,168–$5,736 / yr |
| Keypad-gate dues | Legends Ridge $1,780–$3,228; Reserve at Temple Hills about $2,000; Avalon houses $1,800–$1,920 and estates $3,150–$8,000; Treemont $3,000; Hidden River $5,400; Lynnwood Downs $6,000 with the barn | $1,780–$8,000 / yr |
| Townhome dues | Avalon's Meade, with the exterior and grounds | $6,420–$7,020 / yr |
| No-gate dues | Temple Hills $110 a quarter (Deercrest $82.50); Timberline about $250 a year; Montpier Farms none | $0–$444 / yr |
| Temple Hills Country Club | Optional; not tied to the deed. Estimates by privateIQ and Country Club Magazine; the club quotes on inquiry | ~$10K–$25K to join · ~$5K–$10K / yr |
| The county-side budget | Private roads and gates the HOA maintains, septic or a utility-district sewer, a well or a utility-district meter, and a Williamson County Fire/Rescue station rather than Franklin Fire. Ask the insurer | Varies |
Worked example on Laurelbrooke's $2,987,500 median: assessed $746,875. County $9,709 + city $0 = about $9,710 a year in property tax, plus about $5,500 in dues. The same house inside the city would pay about $1,990 more. Avalon's Meade at $950,000: assessed $237,500; county $3,016 + city $703 = about $3,720, plus $1,860 in dues for a house or $6,700 for a townhome. Sources: Williamson County 2026 rates and combined totals ($1.30 unincorporated, $1.566 in Franklin outside the FSSD); City of Franklin FY26 rate; MLS HOA data by subdivision.
04 · The gate, and the club
What the gate does all day, and what the club is not included in.
The logistics that never make the listing: who lets the plumber in, who plows the road, whose fire truck comes, and whether the fairway out the back window is yours to play. As of September 2026:
| Question | Laurelbrooke | Legends Ridge, Reserve, Avalon | Temple Hills, Timberline, Montpier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who opens the gateGuests, deliveries, trades | An attendant, 24 hours, at both entrances. Every visitor is checked against the resident's guest list; regular services are pre-cleared. Nothing gets in on a wave. | A keypad or a transponder. Residents hand out codes and change them; couriers and rideshares get the code from you or wait. No log, no attendant. | No gate. The Reserve's keypad gate is the exception inside Temple Hills. |
| Who owns the roadPaving, plowing, lighting | The association. The dues carry the private streets, the lighting, and the 200 acres of preserved woods. | The association at Legends Ridge and Avalon; the county maintains the public roads outside. | Public county roads; the county paves and plows. |
| Whose fire truckAnd whose permit office | Williamson County Fire/Rescue, from Station 22 at Grassland; county building codes for the addition. Unincorporated. | The same for Legends Ridge and the Reserve. Avalon is Franklin Fire and Franklin Building & Neighborhood Services. | Williamson County Fire/Rescue; county codes. |
| Water and sewerThe county-side surprise | A utility district, not the city; some lots on septic. | Berry's Chapel Utility at Legends Ridge; city water and sewer at Avalon. | Utility district or septic; ask by lot. |
| The golfFrontage is not membership | None inside; Nashville Golf & Athletic Club's fairways border the south edge, on its own membership. | Legends Ridge is three miles from the Vanderbilt Legends Club it is named for; no frontage. The Reserve fronts Temple Hills' fairways, but the club is a separate contract. | Temple Hills Country Club: 27 holes by Leon Howard (Deercrest, Quail Run, Dogwood), pool, tennis, pickleball, dining; Invited-run; optional; about $10K–$25K in, $5K–$10K a year. |
| HorsesAnd chickens | No. | Hidden River and Lynnwood Downs, yes: barns, paddocks, trails, and two horses per lot at Lynnwood. Not at Legends Ridge or Avalon. | Montpier Farms, under county code: horses, goats, chickens. Not at Temple Hills. |
| Renting it outLong and short term | Covenants and the architectural committee govern; ask for the leasing clause. | Covenants by section. Avalon is also inside Franklin's short-term rental ordinance: owner-occupied only, one per lot. | County rules outside the city; the Temple Hills association has no gate to enforce anything. |
In one line
Laurelbrooke sells a person in a booth; everyone else sells a code. The club is a second contract with its own initiation, and the county line is why the tax bill is smaller than the neighbor's inside the loop.
05 · Schools
Two paths, both A-rated, and no line to read.
Everything north of the loop goes to Grassland Middle and Franklin High, with Grassland Elementary or Walnut Grove first. Avalon goes Clovercroft, Woodland, Ravenwood. No community here splits by section, none is in the Franklin Special School District, and none pays its tax. The private schools are the real second question, because half the buyers at this price ask it.
| School | Grades | Communities | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grassland ElementaryManley Lane · WCS | K–5 | Laurelbrooke, Temple Hills and the Reserve, Timberline, Montpier Farms, Hidden River | About 430 students; 85% math, 79% reading; Niche A. Every closing in those five recorded it. |
| Walnut Grove ElementaryStable Road · WCS | K–5 | Legends Ridge, Lynnwood Downs, Treemont | About 560 students; 83% math, 77% reading. All 13 Legends Ridge sales. |
| Grassland MiddleHillsboro Road · WCS | 6–8 | Every community north of the loop | About 830 students, 14:1; Niche A, 14th in Tennessee. |
| Franklin HighHillsboro Road · WCS | 9–12 | Every community north of the loop | About 1,740 students, 16:1, Niche A, top 15 in the state; 99% of 37069's sales zone here. Ten minutes from Legends Ridge, twenty from Laurelbrooke. |
| Clovercroft ElementaryClovercroft Road · WCS | K–5 | Avalon, all sections | About 700 students; top 1% of Tennessee elementaries by test score. A mile from the Tors. |
| Woodland MiddleBrentwood · WCS | 6–8 | Avalon | About 960 students; Niche A; the state's top-ranked middle school in 2024–25. |
| Ravenwood HighWilson Pike, Brentwood · WCS | 9–12 | Avalon | About 1,975 students, 20:1, Niche A+, 3rd public high school in Tennessee. A mile from Avalon's east gate. |
Sources: WCS zoning as recorded on 2025–26 MLS closings by subdivision (Laurelbrooke 14 of 14, Legends Ridge 13 of 13, Temple Hills 21 of 21, Montpier Farms 9 of 9, Avalon 21 of 21); NCES, Niche, U.S. News, Public School Review, and SchoolDigger enrollment and ratings. Confirm any address with the WCS zone finder; the district redraws lines when it opens a school.
- Battle Ground AcademyPK–12 since 1889; the upper campus is on Hillsboro Road inside the loop, the closest of the big independents to Legends Ridge.
- EnsworthK–12 on Highway 100, the natural pick from the Sneed Road end: Laurelbrooke and Temple Hills are closer to it than to Cool Springs.
- Montgomery Bell Academy & Harpeth HallThe boys' and girls' schools on the west side of Nashville, up Hillsboro Pike or Highway 100.
- Brentwood Academy & Franklin Road AcademyGranny White Pike and Franklin Road: the Avalon and Lynnwood Downs side's independents.
- Christ Presbyterian Academy & Currey IngramCPA on Old Hickory Boulevard for a Christian K–12; Currey Ingram in Brentwood for students who learn differently.
- Grassland's church preschoolsThe congregations on Hillsboro Road run the weekday programs closest to Legends Ridge and Laurelbrooke; the Bellevue churches on Highway 100 are as close for Temple Hills.
- Cool Springs and McEwenThe corporate-corridor centers along Mack Hatcher and Carothers, five minutes from Avalon's gate.
- In-home careAt this price point most of it is a nanny, and the gate is part of the reason. Laurelbrooke's guest list handles the arrival.
06 · Getting around
The drive, honestly timed.
Times are from the Legends Ridge gate at Sneed Road and Hillsboro Road on a weekday morning between 7 and 8:30. Laurelbrooke adds seven minutes to anything in Franklin and subtracts them from Green Hills; Temple Hills adds fifteen. Avalon is the outlier: three minutes to the interstate and six to the Galleria.
Mobility scores
Inside the gate, to the pool, the lake, or the barn. Outside it, nothing. Avalon's Meade walks to Smith Park and is the one exception.
The private streets are good riding and Sneed Road is a favorite of the Saturday road groups, but it is a two-lane road with no shoulder. The Natchez Trace is twenty minutes.
None. Franklin Transit's on-demand zone stops at the city line, and no bus runs Sneed Road or Old Hillsboro.
Hillsboro Road at Grassland Middle and Franklin High, 7:15 to 8, and the Mack Hatcher two-lane section until it is widened. Avalon's pain is the McEwen light and the Cool Springs Boulevard ramp.
07 · Daily life
Where the week actually happens.
- The clubTemple Hills' dining room and patio, for members; the one place in this guide you can eat without leaving the neighborhood.
- Grassland's stripThe Daily Dish and the Hillsboro Road storefronts at Sneed Road, the closest table to Legends Ridge and Laurelbrooke.
- Main StreetEverything downtown, ten minutes from Legends Ridge and a real drive from Temple Hills.
- McEwen Northside & Cool SpringsAvalon's dining room: the McEwen restaurants and the Galleria corridor, six minutes out the gate.
- Leiper's ForkPuckett's and the Country Boy, down Old Hillsboro from Montpier Farms and Hidden River.
- Live musicThe downtown rooms, the Factory, and Leiper's Fork's porches. Tracked nightly.
- The Good CupGrassland's living room since 2003, on Hillsboro Road. The Legends Ridge and Laurelbrooke morning.
- DowntownFrothy Monkey and the Coffee House at Second & Bridge, ten minutes from Legends Ridge.
- McEwenThe chains and the local rooms along McEwen Drive, for Avalon.
- The Coffee AtlasTwenty Franklin shops, ranked by the community.
- Kroger at Independence SquareHillsboro Road at Mack Hatcher, the northwest side's grocery run.
- Publix at FieldstoneFieldstone Parkway off Hillsboro Road, for Legends Ridge and Montpier Farms.
- Highway 100, BellevueThe Nashville-side stores, as close to Laurelbrooke and Temple Hills as anything in Franklin.
- Whole Foods, Costco & the GalleriaMcEwen and Cool Springs, six minutes from Avalon and twenty from Sneed Road.
- City Hall, or notAvalon's permits go downtown to Franklin; everyone else's go to the county in the Administrative Complex on West Main. We cover both.
- Storefronts we've profiledLocal businesses, one at a time.
- Temple Hills Country ClubTwenty-seven holes in three nines, Deercrest, Quail Run, and Dogwood, plus the pool and courts. Members only.
- Vanderbilt Legends ClubThirty-six holes by Bob Cupp and Tom Kite at Hillsboro Road and Mack Hatcher, home of the Vanderbilt teams. Private; ten minutes from Legends Ridge.
- The lakes and the riverLegends Ridge's stocked 3.5-acre lake, Laurelbrooke's two ponds, Lynnwood Downs' ponds, and the Harpeth itself at Hidden River, all in the dues.
- Harlinsdale FarmThe 200-acre city park on Franklin Road: soft trails, the dog park, the festival grounds. Ten minutes from Legends Ridge.
- Percy Warner & the Natchez TraceThe Warner Parks' 3,000 acres up Highway 100, and Timberland Park on the Trace off Highway 96 West. The northwest side's big outdoors is Nashville's.
- Smith ParkBrentwood's 400-acre park next door to Avalon: trails, the Ravenswood mansion, and the only park in this guide you can walk to.
- Williamson Medical CenterThe county hospital and 24-hour ER at Carothers and Mack Hatcher, ten minutes from Avalon and twenty-five from Temple Hills.
- Vanderbilt and Saint ThomasThe Cool Springs clinics for Avalon; the Highway 100 and Green Hills clinics are as close for the Sneed Road side.
- FitnessLaurelbrooke's fitness center and Legends Ridge's fitness room in the dues; the club's for Temple Hills members; the Cool Springs gyms for Avalon.
- Lap swimmingLaurelbrooke's aquatic center and the Legends Ridge and Avalon pools in season; the county rec center on Hillsboro Road year round.
- Working from homeMost of this guide does. Check the fiber map by street on the county side; the hollows off Old Hillsboro are the last to be wired.
- LibraryWilliamson County Public Library's main branch on Columbia Avenue, or the Bellevue branch for the Sneed Road end.
08 · The year
What the neighborhood does together.
Behind a gate the calendar is mostly the association's and the club's: the pool opening, the member-guest, the Fourth at the clubhouse. The public days that shape a year here:
- AprilMain Street FestivalThe last full weekend of April on the square. Ten minutes from Legends Ridge; park at Harlinsdale and walk in.
- MayPool openingMemorial Day weekend at Laurelbrooke, Legends Ridge, Avalon, and Lynnwood Downs; the Temple Hills pool opens for members. The clubs' member-guest tournaments run through the summer.
- JulyFranklin on the FourthDowntown from ten, the park from five, fireworks about nine. Most of this guide watches the county's fireworks from a hilltop instead.
- AugustWilliamson County FairAugust 7 to 15, 2026, at the Ag Expo Park on Long Lane. The horse people in this guide are already there with the trailer.
- SeptemberPilgrimageThe festival at Harlinsdale the last weekend of the month. Hillsboro Road and Franklin Road carry the traffic; the Legends Ridge gate feels it.
- OctoberPumpkinfestMain Street, the last Saturday of October. Trick-or-treating inside the gate is by golf cart at Legends Ridge and Avalon.
- NovemberBattle of Franklin commemorationNovember 30 at the Carter House and Carnton.
- DecemberTree lighting & Dickens of a ChristmasFriday, December 4, 2026, on the square, then Dickens the weekend after. The associations do their own: Laurelbrooke's clubhouse party is the one with the valet.
09 · Trade-offs
The case for, and the case against.
What you gain
- Privacy that is enforced. A guest list at Laurelbrooke, a code everywhere else, and no through traffic on any of it.
- Land. An acre at Legends Ridge, three at Montpier and Treemont, five to seven at Lynnwood Downs, twelve on the river at Hidden River, inside a Franklin address.
- No city tax on most of it. About $2,200 a year saved on a $3 million house, every year, for being on the county side of a line you cannot see.
- Franklin High or Ravenwood, no line to read. Every closing in every community zoned the same way. The school question is answered before you look.
- The golf, the barn, the lake. Amenities no other Franklin guide has: 27 private holes, an indoor arena, a stocked lake, a staffed clubhouse with valet.
What you give up
- Liquidity. As many listings expired as sold at Legends Ridge; 26 of 47 never sold at Temple Hills; the Tors took 210 days. Price wrong and you will still own it next year.
- Town. Fifteen to twenty-five minutes to Main Street from Sneed Road, on two-lane roads, with no transit and nothing to walk to.
- Dues that never stop. $5,500 a year for the booth at Laurelbrooke, $6,000 for the barn at Lynnwood Downs, $7,000 for the cheapest townhome in Avalon, plus the club on top at Temple Hills.
- County services. A volunteer-and-career fire service, a utility district or a septic tank, a private road the association has to repave, and a county permit office for the addition.
- The 1970s at Temple Hills and Montpier. The cheap end of this guide is fifty-year-old houses on expensive land, and the renovation is yours.
The verdict
Buy the gate that matches the reason. Laurelbrooke if the reason is privacy and a person in the booth is worth $5,500 a year. Temple Hills if it is golf, and its Reserve if it is golf and a gate. Hidden River or Lynnwood Downs if it is horses. Legends Ridge if it is an acre, a lake, Franklin High, and no city tax at the closest point to town. Avalon if it is a gate five minutes from the interstate, with Ravenwood. And Montpier Farms if the honest reason is land with nobody's rules on it. Whatever the reason, price to the comps and plan to hold: this is the one part of Franklin where the house does not sell itself.
10 · Map
Where it sits.
The Sneed Road and Old Hillsboro hills north and west of the Mack Hatcher loop, from Legends Ridge at Hillsboro Road up to Laurelbrooke and Temple Hills at the Davidson County line, with Montpier Farms and Hidden River on Old Hillsboro to the west and Lynnwood Downs and Treemont toward Franklin Road. Avalon is six miles east, between Cool Springs Boulevard and McEwen Drive at Mack Hatcher.
11 · Questions
What people ask before they move here.
Which of these communities has a staffed gate?
Only Laurelbrooke. Its two entrances off Sneed Road are staffed around the clock, and every visitor has to be on a resident's guest list before the arm goes up; regular service providers are pre-cleared. Legends Ridge, the Reserve at Temple Hills, Avalon, Hidden River, Lynnwood Downs, and Treemont use keypad or transponder gates with no attendant, which means a code you hand out and change. The original Temple Hills sections, Timberline, and Montpier Farms have no gate at all, whatever the listing says.
Do these neighborhoods pay Franklin city tax?
Most do not. Laurelbrooke, Legends Ridge, Temple Hills, Timberline, Montpier Farms, and Hidden River are unincorporated Williamson County with a Franklin mailing address and a 37069 zip, so the bill is the county's $1.30 per $100 of assessed value and nothing else: about $9,710 a year on Laurelbrooke's $2,987,500 median. Avalon is inside the city on the Cool Springs side and pays $1.566, the county's in-city $1.27 plus Franklin's $0.296: about $3,720 on the Meade's $950,000 median. None of the nine is in the Franklin Special School District. The trade for the lower bill is county services: Williamson County Fire/Rescue instead of Franklin Fire, county building codes, and a utility district or septic instead of city water and sewer.
What do the gate and the club cost?
Laurelbrooke's dues run $4,168 to $5,736 a year, a median $5,508, and cover the two staffed gatehouses, the 4,000-square-foot clubhouse, the pool, tennis, pickleball, fitness, the ponds, the trails, and the private roads. Legends Ridge is $1,780 to $3,228 for a keypad gate, a pool, two lighted tennis courts, the pavilion, and the lake. Avalon's houses pay $1,800 to $1,920, its townhomes $6,420 to $7,020 with the exterior, and its estate sections $3,150 to $8,000. Lynnwood Downs' $6,000 includes the barn and the arenas; Hidden River's $5,400 the gate, the road, and the horse trails. Temple Hills is $110 a quarter, and the golf is a separate club: Temple Hills Country Club membership is estimated at $10,000 to $25,000 to join and $5,000 to $10,000 a year, and the club quotes on inquiry.
Why do so many listings here never sell?
Because above $2 million the buyer pool is thin, national, and slow, and because no two houses are alike, so there is no comp to anchor a price. Over the last twelve months Legends Ridge closed 13 sales and saw 13 more listings expire or cancel; Avalon closed 21 against 14 that failed; Temple Hills sold 21 of 47 listings. Sale prices ran from 87 to 107 percent of asking. Laurelbrooke, at 38 days and four sales at or over asking, is the exception, and its record $11.71 million sale still took 168 days and closed at 96 percent of the ask. Price to the comps, not to the neighbor's listing, and expect 40 to 210 days in the estate sections.
Is Legends Ridge on the Legends Club golf course?
No. The neighborhood is at Sneed Road and Hillsboro Road; the Vanderbilt Legends Club is three miles south at Hillsboro Road and Mack Hatcher, a ten-minute drive, on its own membership. Legends Ridge's water is its own 3.5-acre stocked lake. The only golf frontage in this guide is at Temple Hills, on the club's 27 holes, and only the Reserve section of Temple Hills is gated.
Can I keep horses?
At Hidden River and Lynnwood Downs, yes, and the community is built for it: Lynnwood Downs' dues cover a 40-acre pasture, a barn with two stalls per owner, an indoor and an outdoor arena, and allow two horses per lot; Hidden River's estates have their own barns and paddocks and share trails along the Harpeth. At Montpier Farms, yes, under county code and with no association to say otherwise. Not at Laurelbrooke, Legends Ridge, Temple Hills, or Avalon.
Can I rent it out?
Long-term leasing is governed by each association's covenants, section by section; ask for the leasing clause before you write the offer, because some of these limit the number of rentals at a time. Short-term rentals at Avalon fall under Franklin's Ordinance 2025-25, in force since January 2026: owner-occupied only, one per lot. The county-side communities are outside that ordinance, and the gate and the covenants are the practical limit.
How does this compare to Brentwood's gates, or to Westhaven?
Brentwood's estate communities, Governors Club, Annandale, and Witherspoon, are the same product with the same developer in one case (Southern Land built Annandale and Windstone before Laurelbrooke), on the Brentwood side of the line: Brentwood schools, Brentwood's $0.19 city rate, and ten minutes closer to Nashville. Westhaven has golf frontage and a pool without a gate, at a third the lot and half the price per house, inside the city. This guide is the middle: a Franklin address, an acre or more, Franklin High, no city tax on most of it, and a gate, at the cost of the drive and the resale.
12 · Compare
If you like the gate, also look at.
Brentwood's estate & club communities.
Governors Club, Annandale, Witherspoon: the same product on the Brentwood side of the line, with Brentwood schools and a shorter drive to Nashville.
Closer to NashvilleGrassland.
The same Hillsboro Road, the same schools, and the same county-only tax, without the gate: acre lots and 1970s ranches from the $700s.
Same schools, no gateSullivan Farms, Founders Pointe & Hillsboro Road.
Carlisle is the gate in town: $1.31 million behind a keypad on Highway 96 West, five minutes from Main Street.
The cheaper gateSources & method
- Sales, medians, ranges, price per square foot, days to contract, sale-to-list ratios, expired-listing counts, home and lot sizes, build years, HOA figures, and school zoning counts by subdivision: MLS closed sales, trailing 12 months to spring and summer 2026, as compiled by nashvillehome.guru for Laurelbrooke (14), Legends Ridge (13), Temple Hills (18, with the section split and 21 zoning records), the Reserve at Temple Hills (7), Avalon (11 in the Meade and 9 in the estate sections; 20 in the community-wide cut), Montpier Farms (9, through May 2026), Timberline (5), Lynnwood Downs (2), Hidden River (1), Treemont (1), and its Franklin gated-communities roundup (116 closings across 16 communities).
- Community facts: Southern Land Company and the Hetherington and Hartzog neighborhood guides on Laurelbrooke (578 acres, 311 lots, five sections, two staffed gates, 1999); Livability, Hetherington, and Nextdoor on Legends Ridge (1997, about 200 homes, Ghertner management, the 3.5-acre lake); the Temple Hills Homeowners Association on 2026 dues; Invited on Temple Hills Country Club (27 holes by Leon Howard: Deercrest, Quail Run, Dogwood); privateIQ and Country Club Magazine on estimated membership costs; ActiveRain, Williamson Source, and the Tors of Avalon association on Avalon (The Principals Group, 645 acres, five neighborhoods, 300 preserved acres, 55 Tors lots); Vanderbilt Athletics on the Legends Club (1992, Cupp and Kite).
- Jurisdiction: OpenStreetMap's City of Franklin boundary, checked by reverse-geocoding each subdivision's streets (Laurelbrooke, Legends Ridge, Temple Hills, Timberline, Montpier Farms, and Hidden River outside; Avalon inside); Hetherington on Legends Ridge's county permits and Berry's Chapel Utility; Williamson County Fire/Rescue on Station 22, Grassland. Lynnwood Downs and Treemont straddle the Franklin and Brentwood lines on the map; confirm by parcel.
- Tax rates: Williamson County 2026 property tax rates page (county $1.30 unincorporated and $1.27 inside Franklin; Franklin $0.2960; combined $1.566 in the city; Brentwood $0.19; FSSD $0.7673, not applicable here).
- Schools: NCES, Niche, U.S. News, Public School Review, SchoolDigger, and the Tennessee report card on Grassland Elementary, Walnut Grove, Grassland Middle, Franklin High, Clovercroft, Woodland, and Ravenwood; Private School Review and the schools on tuition (BGA, MBA, Brentwood Academy, Franklin Road Academy).
- Commute: OpenStreetMap routing (OSRM) free-flow times from the Legends Ridge gate at Sneed and Hillsboro, Laurelbrooke, Temple Hills, and Avalon, with a weekday 7 to 8:30 a.m. allowance from Google Maps typical traffic.
- Daily life: Kroger and Publix store locators; The Good Cup; Invited on the club's dining; Brentwood Parks on Smith Park; Metro Parks on the Warner Parks.
- Events: Williamson County Fair Association (August 7–15, 2026); City of Franklin on Franklin on the Fourth and the December 4, 2026 tree lighting; Visit Franklin on Main Street Festival, Pilgrimage, Pumpkinfest, and Dickens of a Christmas; the Battle of Franklin Trust on the November 30 commemoration.
- Short-term rentals: City of Franklin Ordinance 2025-25, effective January 13, 2026.