Welcome to Hermitage
East Nashville's best-kept secret — where history, lake life, and genuine community meet a price point that still makes sense.
There's a version of Nashville most people know — the honky-tonks, the high-rises, the bidding wars in 12 South and Brentwood. And then there's Hermitage. About 12 miles east of downtown, sitting along the shores of Percy Priest Lake with a historic presidential estate in its backyard, Hermitage has quietly built the kind of community that residents don't tend to leave. When they do move, they usually find their way back.
This is a neighborhood that rewards people who look past the obvious. It's not the flashiest zip code in Davidson County, and it has never tried to be. What it offers instead is real: space, breathing room, serious outdoor access, and the kind of deep-rooted identity that takes decades to build — not a developer's marketing budget.
What to Love About Hermitage
- Percy Priest Lake — 14,200 acres with public boat ramps, marinas, and shoreline access minutes from home
- WeGo Star commuter rail with direct service to downtown Nashville
- Andrew Jackson's Hermitage, a 1,120-acre National Historic Landmark in the heart of the neighborhood
- BNA is 15 minutes away, one of the best airport proximities in Davidson County
- Long Hunter State Park with 2,600+ acres and 20+ miles of trails
- Nashville Shores lakeside resort and water park on the Hermitage side of the lake
- Brick ranches and split-levels on generous lots with mature trees
- Davidson County value with real room to grow
What is Hermitage, Nashville, TN like as a neighborhood?
Hermitage is an established community in eastern Davidson County — technically still within Nashville's city limits — that spans a broad stretch of land between I-40 to the north, Percy Priest Lake to the south, and the Cumberland River wrapping around its western edge. It's not a single subdivision or a master-planned development. It's a real neighborhood, or more accurately, a collection of them — with its own schools, parks, commercial corridors, and rhythm.
The name comes from Andrew Jackson's famous plantation home, the Hermitage estate, which sits on 1,120 acres right in the middle of it all. That history is present everywhere — not in a kitschy tourism sense, but in the way the land itself feels. Wide open. Mature. Unhurried.
What you'll find on the market here reflects that same variety. Mid-century brick ranches on quiet streets with lots that feel generous by Nashville standards. Newer builds coming up along Stewarts Ferry Pike for buyers who want modern finishes without heading to Williamson County. Brick split-levels from the '70s sitting next to fully renovated bungalows. And lakefront property on Percy Priest — rare, competitive, and worth the search.
How far is Hermitage, Nashville from downtown and what is the commute like?
This is usually the first question — and for good reason. The honest answer is: better than most people expect, especially compared to fighting traffic out of the west side.
By car: Hermitage sits just off I-40, which puts downtown Nashville roughly 20–25 minutes away on a normal day. Lebanon Pike and Andrew Jackson Parkway are your main surface roads through the area. Rush hour adds time, as it does everywhere in Nashville, but the east corridor moves more reliably than the interstates feeding Brentwood and Williamson County.
By rail: This is the part a lot of buyers miss. The WeGo Star commuter rail has a stop in Hermitage with direct service to downtown Nashville's Riverfront Station. For anyone going into an office regularly, that changes the math entirely — park the car, skip the interstate, and actually have a commute worth having.
By air: BNA is practically in the neighborhood. For buyers who travel frequently — and for the athletes and entertainment professionals CHORD works with regularly — that alone is often the deciding factor.
What outdoor activities and recreation are available near Hermitage, Nashville?
If you haven't spent time at J. Percy Priest Lake, the scale of it tends to catch people off guard. This is 14,200 acres of water across three counties — not a pond with a walking path, but a proper lake where people keep boats, launch kayaks before sunrise, and spend their summer weekends the old-fashioned way. For Hermitage residents, it's not a day trip. It's the backyard.
Nashville Shores sits right on the Hermitage side of the lake — a lakeside water park and resort with direct lake access, boat rentals, and the kind of warm-weather crowds that families with kids build their summers around.
Long Hunter State Park wraps around the southeastern end of the lake with 2,600+ acres of preserved land and more than 20 miles of trails for hiking, mountain biking, and wildlife watching. It's quiet in a way that feels increasingly rare in a city growing as fast as Nashville.
Cooks Recreation Area, managed by the Army Corps of Engineers, offers public boat ramps, picnic shelters, and waterfront access at no cost — something Hermitage residents tend to mention with a certain quiet pride.
Two Rivers Park adds another dimension: Wave Country (the city's outdoor water park), the Two Rivers Golf Course, a skate park, athletic fields, and picnic facilities all in one complex. On summer weekends, it functions as the neighborhood's de facto town square.
The Stones River Greenway connects residents to Shelby Bottoms and beyond for walking, running, and cycling — miles of paved trail that make the car optional on weekends.
For buyers who've moved from coastal or mountain markets and haven't been able to find outdoor access in Nashville: this is the part of the city where that changes.
What is Andrew Jackson's Hermitage and what does it mean for the neighborhood?
The estate that gave the neighborhood its name is a 1,120-acre National Historic Landmark — the preserved home, gardens, and grounds of the seventh President of the United States, who lived here from 1804 until his death in 1845. Today it's one of the most visited presidential homes in the country, with more than 30 historic structures, a Greek Revival mansion, seasonal wagon tours, and grounds that hold up in any season.
For people who live here, it's the kind of place you bring visitors and find yourself rediscovering every few years. The gardens are accessible year-round. In the spring, they're as beautiful as anything in Middle Tennessee.
More than the site itself, though, the Hermitage estate is a reminder of what makes this part of Nashville distinct. This community didn't materialize to chase a development cycle. It grew around something that was already here. The land carries weight, and the neighborhood knows it.
What are home prices like in Hermitage, Nashville, TN and what types of homes are available?
Hermitage offers something that's getting harder to find in Davidson County: real value without giving up quality of life. Prices have moved with the broader Nashville market, but this neighborhood still represents a meaningful opportunity relative to the city's western and southern options.
The range of what's actually for sale here works in buyers' favor:
- Original brick ranches and split-levels — the backbone of the neighborhood, many updated or fully renovated. Lot sizes are often larger than what you'd find in comparable price ranges closer to downtown. Right for buyers who want established streets with mature trees and actual neighbors.
- Newer builds — coming up primarily along Stewarts Ferry Pike and toward the lake, where developers have been active. A good fit for buyers who want current finishes and layouts without leaving Davidson County.
- Lakefront and lake-access homes — the most sought-after category in Hermitage, and the most competitive. True waterfront property on Percy Priest doesn't come up often and doesn't last when it does. Homes with deeded lake access offer a more attainable entry point.
- Townhomes and smaller single-family homes — available throughout the area for buyers prioritizing lower maintenance or a more compact footprint.
What CHORD watches here: Hermitage has absorbed a meaningful wave of buyers priced out of Donelson as that neighborhood has appreciated. The new restaurant and retail development now pushing along the Donelson-Hermitage corridor through 2025 and into 2026 is accelerating that momentum — the east side is having a real moment, and Hermitage is part of it.
If you've been priced out of East Nashville proper or want a way into Davidson County with room to breathe, this is where that conversation starts.
What restaurants, shopping, and community amenities are in Hermitage, Nashville?
Lebanon Pike and Andrew Jackson Parkway handle the day-to-day — grocery stores, pharmacies, barbecue spots, and local staples that have been feeding families here for decades. It's not destination dining, and nobody pretends otherwise.
The more interesting story is what's coming. New restaurant and retail projects along Stewarts Ferry Pike and the broader Donelson-Hermitage corridor have picked up pace through 2025, bringing options that simply didn't exist a few years ago. The east side of Nashville has spent years in the shadow of the city's more-hyped neighborhoods, and that's starting to shift.
For a broader night out or a specific dining destination, residents make the short drive into Donelson — a more developed food-and-drink scene just minutes away — or go downtown.
The Hermitage Community Center is worth knowing about: fitness facilities, a gymnasium, classes, and programming for all ages. It's the kind of resource that feels optional when you move in and essential a year later.
What schools serve Hermitage, Nashville, TN?
Hermitage falls within Metro Nashville Public Schools, primarily the McGavock Cluster. McGavock High School is the cluster's flagship — a large, diverse campus with a broad range of academic programs and extracurriculars.
As with any metro school system, CHORD always recommends that families research individual campuses based on their kids' ages and needs, and visit before making decisions. Metro Nashville's school assignment process has evolved in recent years, and current zoning should be confirmed at the time of purchase rather than assumed.
For families considering private options, a number of well-regarded campuses are accessible along the I-40 corridor within a reasonable drive.
Who is buying homes in Hermitage, Nashville right now?
The buyer profile here is more varied than the neighborhood typically gets credit for. CHORD sees:
Families priced out of Belle Meade, Brentwood, or Green Hills who want to stay in Davidson County. More square footage. A real yard. Lake access. The trade-off on zip code prestige is easy to make when the daily quality of life is there.
Relocation buyers who fly into BNA and realize the airport's neighborhood is significantly more livable than airports usually are. Professionals transferring into Nashville from other markets often find the east corridor more practical — and more interesting — than expected.
Outdoor buyers who are building their Nashville life around Percy Priest Lake and the Stones River Greenway rather than around a bar scene. This group tends to be deeply loyal to the area once they're here.
First-time buyers looking for a realistic path into Davidson County homeownership without a 45-minute commute or a starter home in a far-flung suburb.
Investors who are tracking the same east-corridor momentum playing out in Donelson and buying into Hermitage ahead of the curve.
Is Hermitage, Nashville a good place to live?
It depends on what you're looking for — and CHORD will always tell you that straight.
If walkability, nightlife, and the high-density energy of 12 South or the Nations are what you need, Hermitage isn't the answer. This is a suburban neighborhood in the truest sense: quiet streets, real yards, neighbors you actually know, a school down the road.
But if you want Davidson County value, a lake in your backyard, a commuter rail into downtown, and the kind of place where people put down roots and mean it — Hermitage has made that case for decades. It just hasn't needed to make a lot of noise about it.
We know this neighborhood well. We've watched what happens to communities like this when Nashville catches up to them. If you want to know what's available — on the market or off — reach out. We'll show you exactly what we see here.
Nearby Neighborhoods
Hermitage connects naturally to several other east and southeast Nashville communities worth exploring.
- Old Hickory — Just north along the Cumberland River, with Old Hickory Lake and one of the most distinctive communities in Davidson County built around a DuPont company town history.
- Donelson — Immediately west, with a growing restaurant and bar scene, walkable streets, and strong appreciation momentum over the past several years.
- Antioch — Southeast of Hermitage, with Percy Priest Lake access from a different angle and some of the most affordable entry points in Davidson County.
- Madison — Northwest across the Cumberland, with an emerging creative community and character-rich homes at prices that still make sense.
- East Nashville — Further into the city for buyers who want the same east-side orientation with more walkability and a more developed food and arts scene.
