established in 2019
In 1980, Glenn Sudduth bought at auction in Pennsylvania a 1931 Norfolk & Southern caboose. Glenn had the caboose shipped by rail and flatbed truck and finally lifted onto a short set of tracks he’d installed on the mountainside above the home where he and his wife Mary Sue were raising their three daughters. Glenn lovingly restored the caboose to its original glory, using authentic berth lamps, berth ladder, mirrors, and Pullman wallet/key pouch he’d bought at the auction. He studied articles about refitting a caboose as living space, and he spared no expense in doing that with his. He even built a little station house alongside the caboose. During the 1980s Glenn also added to his family home, creating the spacious dwelling we have today.
Train tracks had run through the town of Blue Ridge, GA since 1886, and the first depot in town was built in 1905. Passenger trains passed through the town until 1951, but freight trains continued to use the tracks until 1987. In 1990, a group of townspeople started working to bring the railroad back to town. Glenn Sudduth was instrumental in bringing the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway to life in 1998; sadly, after 8 years of working to make this dream a reality, Glenn passed away months before it opened for business.
Fast forward to May 2019: we spot a mention on Twitter of a house with a caboose for sale in the gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains of north Georgia! Years after the passing of their mother, the three Sudduth sisters made the difficult decision to sell their beloved childhood home and their very own caboose. We had the fantastic luck to stumble on this out of the blue, and we put in a contract five days after it came on the market. We have always loved trains, and have taken our three sons to ride the Strasburg Railroad in Pennsylvania and sleep in a real caboose nearby annually for 20 years. How could we resist? One visit to the lovely town of Blue Ridge, GA and we were hooked. We purchased the house in June 2019 and found an amazing local contractor who spent the entire summer renovating and updating all three structures, making it a beautiful and very comfortable home for us to enjoy and for us to share with train-loving guests. Like Glenn, we are passionate about our home, our caboose, and our town.
We hope you’ll come stay with us - you have to see it to believe it!