Country Music

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Dolly Parton’s childhood home looks the same—worn walls, simple furniture, pure heart ❤️ She rebuilt it just to keep the memories alive. Some things never change.

Introduction

Dolly Parton recreated her humble childhood home, a one-bedroom log cabin, at Dollywood. The replica features original family treasures. Parton grew up poor in this home, but she cherishes it and its memories. From this modest start, Dolly became a global singing sensation, embracing her roots while achieving immense success.

Dolly Parton is a phenomenal singer, well-known globally. Yet, prior to achieving fame, she was simply a young girl with grand aspirations, raised in a modest one-bedroom log cabin in Sevierville, Tennessee. Dolly’s parents, Avie Lee Owens and Robert Lee Parton, were only teenagers when they got married. By the time they were 35 and 37, they had 12 kids, six girls and six boys. As much as the family didn’t have much, they had each other.

Dolly referred to her family as mountain people who grew up in the church. The kids grew up knowing Jesus loved them and understanding that through God, all things were possible, a belief that gave Dolly strength throughout her life. Dolly was born in the Smoky Mountains, a place that she holds close to her heart. She recalled how they had no hospitals nearby. So, when her mother was having trouble giving birth, her dad rushed to call a missionary doctor who took care of the poor mountain people.

The doctor assisted in delivering Dolly, and her father compensated him with a sack of cornmeal since they lacked the means to pay in money. “I’ve always joked and said that I’ve been raking in the dough ever since,” joked Dolly. The singer’s desire for a better life started at their family home. The two-roomed house had no electricity or running water. At night, the family would catch fireflies and keep them in a jar to light up the house.

A look into the house, which still stands today, shows that it wasn’t a mansion but it was a home to the singer and her family. Dolly’s family cabin had a kitchen with a stove, a small pantry, and a table with six seats. A washing basin was placed between the kitchen and bedroom, which were separated by only a two-thirds wall. The family had no television, and Dolly confessed that she had been featured on local television before her family ever owned one.

o preserve memories of her childhood and share aspects of it with her fans, Dolly has created a replica of her family home in Dollywood. The house stands close to the entrance to Dollywood and has a sign written “Tennessee Mountain Home.” The sign also reads, “These mountains and my childhood home have a special place in my heart. They inspire my music and life. I hope being here does the same for you.” This message is signed, “Dolly.”

The replica, designed by Dolly’s mother and built by her brother Bobby, has original family treasures throughout. When one steps inside, they see the first part of the house, the kitchen, whose wall is covered with old newspapers and a floral wallpaper. The kitchen table is set with plates and aluminum coffee cups. There’s a wood stove in the corner, while utensils such as pans and bowls hang on the wall. The other tables are covered with decorative clothes while more cups, jars, tins, and plates line the wooden shelves. A basket filled with firewood sits on the floor.

The kitchen also has a washing space at the door of the bedroom. Hanging on the thin wall that separates the kitchen and bedroom is a 1946 calendar, showing her birth month, January, and her birthday, the 19th, circled. When one enters the bedroom, one can see a bed pushed against the wall and pictures of Dolly’s father and mother hanging on the wall above it. Other picture frames hang next to a dressing mirror, which is pinned above a dressing table. There’s a wooden chair next to the bed and sewing machine, and another chair in the furthest corner of the bedroom. The bedroom also hosts a simple cabinet with shelves that has a book and other items. The bedroom leads to a long and narrow porch through its back door.

Dolly mentioned standing on the porch of the Locust Ridge house in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. There, she would insert a tobacco stick into the cracks of the porch and position a tin can on the stick as a makeshift microphone. The singer proceeded to sing for the pigs, dogs, chickens, and kids as she pictured a bigger world. “I Imagined it, I dreamed it, I worked for it, and God was good enough to let me have it,” she proclaimed.

Dolly Parton’s song dedicated to her late husband Carl Dean.

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