It was an audacious proclamation. “This house is the one!” This was the first reaction of Danny Smith just after the real estate agent opened the front door of a Greers Ferry Lake home. 

From the front door, Danny and his wife, Kathy, could see through the open living area and onto the giant deck out back, which looked down into the glassy blue-green water in the tree-lined cove below. Not only had they barely stepped inside, this was the very first house that the Smiths had looked at in their quest to find the perfect weekend getaway on the lake. Nobody finds the perfect home in the first five minutes, right? 

Even though Danny is the kind of guy who makes up his mind and goes for it, they decided to go ahead and take a look at a handful of other houses that the real estate agent had on the schedule for the day. But Danny was right, and before long the Smiths and their family were enjoying summer weekends on the lake in their new home. 

The Smiths and their children have a family business in the Memphis area and they found that it was hard for them to all get away on a family vacation together.

 “Someone always had to stay around and take care of the business,” said Kathy. “But we could all get away together for the weekend so we started looking for places close to home.”  

When the couple’s daughter, Claire, got engaged to Blake White, the rugby coach at Arkansas State University, they focused their search on Arkansas and Greers Ferry Lake. 

“We made a few great weekend trips over to the lake, enjoying the last few weeks of summer, and we were just starting to feel settled in,” said Kathy. “I was at home one day when I got a terrible phone call from the termite guy.” He was at our new lake house standing ankle deep in water. A plumbing leak in an upstairs bathroom had been running for days, filling the house with water.” 

The couple’s dream weekend getaway went from a relaxing oasis to a major construction project in one brief moment. 

When the Smiths bought their house, they were thinking more about hammocks and suntans. A few months in, it was more like tile samples and sawdust. “We had only visited the house a few times when it flooded,” said Kathy. “We couldn’t use the home last fall and winter because of the construction. But on the bright side, we got to build it back exactly like we wanted it.” 

One of their favorite new features is a water shut-off valve that helps them sleep a little better when they are away. The newly remodeled home has a bedroom for each of her four children and their growing families. There is even a bunkroom for all the current and future grandkids. As this feature is being written, the Smiths have two granddaughters. By the time it is published, there will be four! 

The Smiths finished up the construction just about the time that things started to warm up at the lake. And now, as summer winds down, they are starting to appreciate the quieter, calmer days of the off season. 

They are looking forward to gathering with the family on fall holidays and they are excited about the year-round family getaway.