Off-Grid, On Purpose
Orion
An off-grid geodesic dome at the top of the ridge. No WiFi, no TV, no signal, just a loft under stargazer panels and thirty acres with nowhere you have to be.
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not a cabin. not a resort.
You Could Have Booked a Cabin Ninety Minutes South
You could have booked a cabin ninety minutes south, hot tub, carved wooden bear by the door, in a town that pulls millions of visitors through it every year. Instead you're standing at the edge of thirty acres of creek and hardwood ridge in Greene County, Tennessee, about to be driven up to a dome with no WiFi, no television, and a bed that looks straight up at the sky.
Orion sleeps two on the king bed in the loft, can sleep two more on the queen pullout. It's off-grid by design, not by accident, and it's built for exactly the kind of quiet that's hard to find on purpose anywhere else.
what's actually up there
Real Systems, Not Roughing It
Sleep. Your call: the loft under the stargazer panels, or the pull-out below if the ladder's not your thing.
Water. Rainwater runs off the dome into a catchment system that feeds the outdoor sink and a shower fed by a propane instant water heater, genuinely hot water, off-grid. The pump runs on a car battery and a timer; we ask guests to keep showers to 20 minutes or under. That's not an arbitrary rule: one stay ran the system past its limit and it cost us a pump and a full propane canister to fix, so we've kept the guideline in place since.
Heat. A propane heater handles cool nights; it just needs a window cracked about an inch to run safely. Most warm nights, you won't touch it.
Bathroom. Enclosed, with a chemical toilet, towels, and two robes.
Coffee and kitchenette. Coffee happens on the grill's side burner. There's a kettle, French press, sweetener, and creamer, plus a basic kitchenette: pots, pans, grill tools, a knife, a little oil, a few spices.
Outside. A fire table on the deck and a small coffee porch. No wood fires at Orion; the fire table is the one fire-friendly spot here. A sail shade over the dome cuts some of the heat, but taking it down is a one-way decision for the rest of your stay, worth knowing before you decide, not after.
ARRIVE BEFORE DARK.
We Drive You Up. Just Get Here While It's Light.
Check-in starts at 3pm. You'll leave your car where we point you, then ride up by UTV, about a quarter mile up a wood-chip lane and onto the ridge. The one real ask: arrive while it's still light out. The trail is real, and the orientation goes a lot smoother with the sun up than the flashlight version. We walk through everything together before we leave you alone, the shower, the water system, the heater, how the lights work, so none of it is a mystery once we've gone.
When you're ready to head down, just text us. Give us five or ten minutes to bring the UTV back up.
The 122-Step Short-Cut
A Hand-Dug Staircase Leads Straight Down to the Lane
A hand-dug staircase, 122 steps, leads off the ridge down to the wood-chip lane and the creek, where herons work the shallows most mornings and deer come down to drink at dusk. Somewhere along that water lives an otter named Olivia; patient guests sometimes catch her mid-morning.
You're welcome to roam the full 30 acres, the creek, the pasture, the wooded hills, with two exceptions: the barn, and Otter Beach Treehouse when another guest is staying there. Scattered across both ridges are forty-two benches we call the Sit Spot Network; nobody's mapped them all, finding one is part of the walk.
BEFORE YOU BOOK
A Few Things Worth Knowing Up Front
- Adults only, no pets. We love our pack of dogs and cats, but there are no exceptions at Orion; Otter Beach Treehouse is the pet-friendly unit if you're traveling with a dog.
- No WiFi, no TV, no signal, by design. That's the point, not an oversight.
- Sleeps 2 Comfortably. Traveling with friends? You could use the pullout in the dome to sleep four. But if you’d like a bit more room, you might want to book the Otter Beach Treehouse as well.
- Smoke and vape-free inside. Vaping is fine outside; please don't smoke anything that needs a lighter.
- Quiet hours run 8pm to 8am. We're deep in a holler surrounded by working farms, and the neighbors are up before the sun.
Common Questions
Does Orion have WiFi? No, by design. There's no WiFi, TV, or cell signal at Orion. Otter Beach Treehouse, our other unit, has a Starlink-fed mesh network if you need connectivity during your stay.
Is there hot water at Orion? Yes. A propane instant water heater runs on the rainwater catchment line, so the outdoor shower is genuinely hot. We ask guests to keep showers to 20 minutes or under to protect the system.
How many guests does Orion sleep? Two people will be comfortable. You can have up to four, if you use the pull-out queen bed downstairs, too. But you might want to book the Otter Creek Treehouse if you'd like more space.
Are pets allowed at Orion? No. Orion is adults-only and pet-free. Well-behaved, leashed dogs are welcome at Otter Beach Treehouse instead.
Is there electricity at Orion? A solar power bank will keep your phone charged and run the fan. A car battery powers the water pump and lighting. There's no full electrical hookup, and no WiFi or TV by design.
How do I get up to Orion? By UTV, about a quarter mile up a wood-chip lane from where you park. Arrival while it's still light out is required so the trail and orientation go smoothly.
COME AS YOU ARE
Talk. Notice. Reconnect.
No television waits in the corner, and cell service on this side of the ridge is spotty at best. What's left is a fire table on the deck, a small coffee porch, and each other. The dome holds the day's heat and the night's cold honestly, you'll feel the weather change, not just watch it through glass. Nothing dramatic has to happen. There's just finally room for the conversation that's been waiting.