Tellico Lake Communities & Neighborhoods

Tellico Village: The Dominant Community

Tellico Village is the defining community of Tellico Lake's residential market — approximately 6,000 households across multiple subdivisions in Loudon and Monroe counties, developed starting in 1984 by Cooper Communities, Inc. of Bella Vista, Arkansas. Cooper was a successful developer of planned lakeside retirement communities and brought a documented track record to Tellico. Over 40 years, the Village grew into one of the most established planned lake communities in the Southeast, governed since the developer's exit by the Tellico Village Property Owners Association (TVPOA). The TVPOA operates the community's three golf courses, two recreation centers (Wellness Center and Toqua Recreation Center), the Yacht Club marina, and manages common area infrastructure across the entire Village footprint in both counties.

The Village is organized around three major neighborhoods, each anchored by a golf course. Tanasi, in Loudon County, is the original and most established Village section with the Tanasi Golf Course designed by Tom Fazio. Toqua, also in Loudon County, expanded the Village footprint with the Toqua Golf Course (also Fazio) and additional waterfront and golf-view lots. Kahite, the third neighborhood, is non-contiguous — located approximately 10 miles south of the main Village in Monroe County, anchored by the Kahite Golf Course. All three neighborhoods are part of the TVPOA governance structure and share amenity access despite the distance between Kahite and the Loudon County neighborhoods.

The County Line Within the Village

Tellico Village's county boundary matters financially. The majority of the main Village (Tanasi and Toqua neighborhoods and associated subdivisions) is in Loudon County at $1.5183 per $100 assessed value. Kahite is in Monroe County at $2.23 per $100 — nearly 50% higher. Some lots in the transition zone between the main Village and Kahite near the county boundary should be verified by parcel number before any tax assumption is made. There is no visual marker of the county line on the ground within Village properties. The only reliable way to determine county is the Tax Map Number through the Tennessee Comptroller's assessment data at assessment.cot.tn.gov. Buyers comparing properties in different parts of the Village on a price-per-square-foot basis are not making a complete comparison until they know which county each property is in.

WindRiver (Former Rarity Pointe)

WindRiver is a resort and residential community on Tellico Lake's eastern shore in Loudon County, approximately 3–4 miles from the main Tellico Village area. The community was originally developed as Rarity Pointe by Rarity Communities under developer Mike Ross, who was charged in federal court with mail fraud and money laundering in 2012. WindRiver Management LLC purchased the property in 2012 and rebranded and expanded the development. WindRiver is a separate community from Tellico Village and is not part of the TVPOA governance structure. It has its own marina, golf course, and community amenities. Buyers specifically interested in WindRiver should research its current governance structure, association fees, and financial health independently from Tellico Village research.

Vonore

The Town of Vonore is a small incorporated municipality in Monroe County sitting on the southeastern shore of Tellico Lake adjacent to the Tellico Village development area. Vonore itself is not a large town — it is primarily residential with minimal commercial development of its own. Its significance for buyers is primarily its tax rate: properties within Vonore city limits pay the Monroe County rate of $2.23 plus the Vonore municipal rate of $0.35, for a combined $2.58 per $100 assessed value. This is the highest applicable rate on Tellico Lake. Some properties marketed as Tellico Village-area properties may technically fall within Vonore's incorporated limits; confirm city boundary status via the Monroe County Assessor before making tax estimates. Vonore is also the site of the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, a Cherokee cultural heritage site near the Tellico Lake shoreline.

Non-Village Lake Properties

While Tellico Village dominates the Tellico Lake residential market, there are properties on the lake outside the Village footprint — along the shores in Loudon County beyond the Village boundaries and in Monroe County outside the Kahite area. These properties operate under standard TVA Section 26a permit rules without the additional TRDA-Shoreline-Strip layer that applies within the Village boundaries. They also do not carry TVPOA assessments, which may make them attractive to buyers who want Tellico Lake access without the managed community overhead. However, they also do not include the amenity infrastructure — golf, recreation centers, yacht club, organized social activities — that Tellico Village's TVPOA assessments fund. The trade-off between community amenities and lower annual carrying costs is genuinely a decision each buyer needs to make based on their lifestyle priorities.

Rarity Bay

Rarity Bay is a gated lakefront community on the eastern shore of Tellico Lake in Loudon County, approximately 3–4 miles from the main Tellico Village area. Originally developed by Rarity Communities, the community operates today with its own homeowners association and amenity structure separate from the TVPOA. Rarity Bay has lakefront marina access, an 18-hole golf course, a country club with dining and social events, tennis and pickleball courts, a fitness center, and community docks. Its governance, fee structure, and resale market differ from Tellico Village despite the geographic proximity. Buyers who want to compare Rarity Bay and Tellico Village before committing should request each community's financial statements, current assessment schedules, and reserve fund balances independently, as they are separate organizations with separate financial health profiles.

WindRiver and Other Lake Communities

WindRiver, the former Rarity Pointe community purchased by WindRiver Management LLC in 2012, operates on the eastern shore with its own resort and residential amenities. Legacy Shores, Harbour Place, Foothills Pointe, and Thunder Pointe are additional communities on the lake with varying amenity packages, HOA structures, and price points. TellicoLake.com provides a community comparison tool that allows buyers to compare the listed amenities of each community side by side — useful for an initial screen before requesting financial documents from specific communities. The underlying Loudon County tax rate of $1.5183 per $100 applies to properties in all of these communities that sit within Loudon County, and Monroe County's $2.23 rate applies to those in the southern areas of the lake. Confirm county for any specific community before running tax estimates.