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Beyond Houses

Where we are

Columbia, Tennessee

Forty minutes south of Nashville, with a square worth walking and a park most people drive straight past.

When to come

Middle Tennessee really has two windows. April and May, before the humidity turns up, when everything is green and the evenings are warm enough to stay outside. Then October, when the nights go cool and the fire pit finally earns its keep.

Our houses here

The guide

Everywhere below is somewhere we send guests. Nothing here is sponsored and nothing is filler.

Coffee

August Sage, in the old Factory building on North James M Campbell. It's a plant filled room with espresso that would hold its own in Nashville, which is not something I say lightly about a cafe forty minutes south of it. Get the matcha cream cheese french toast if you're hungry and the cereal milk latte either way.

Dinner

Rue 6, on East 6th just off the square. A small French bistro with a proper wine list and the feeling that you found something. Book it on OpenTable before you drive over, because walking in on a Friday almost never works.

One thing to do

Maury County Park is eight minutes away and most people drive straight past it. On weekends the Mid South Live Steamers run ride on miniature trains through the trees, and the playgrounds are the good kind. Kids lose their minds. Adults quietly do too.

Worth your time

  • August Sage

    The Factory at Columbia. Best breakfast in town and the coffee is the real reason to go.

  • Gold's Deli

    Inside Row and Co on Depot Street. New York sized sandwiches. The Reuben is the one.

  • The square in downtown Columbia

    Ten minutes. Boutiques, a local creamery, and a row of old storefronts worth the walk.

  • The Athenaeum

    An 1830s Gothic Revival house. Odd, ornate, and worth the half hour.

  • Arrington Vineyards

    Forty minutes toward Nashville. Hillside views, and you can bring a picnic.