Wide Open Spaces, Close Knit Community
Fayette County, Tennessee
Fayette County, Tennessee sits directly east of Shelby County along the Highway 64 corridor, and for buyers who have outgrown the suburbs or never wanted them in the first place, it represents something genuinely different. The county is made up of distinct small towns — Somerville, the county seat; Oakland, one of the fastest-growing cities in the state; Mason, home to Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken and Blue Oval City Ford's nearby manufacturing presence; Piperton, a quiet community straddling the Fayette-Shelby county line; and Gallaway, which sits at an Interstate 40 exit that is about to see significant commercial attention. Median home prices in the county run around $400,000, but buyers regularly find acreage properties and farmhouses in the $200,000s that simply do not exist at comparable prices anywhere closer to Memphis. For families seeking land, space, and a community identity rooted in the land itself rather than a subdivision name, Fayette County is the answer. Nikki and Michael Mosteller at Acres and Avenues Living work across Fayette County's full range of property types.
Life in Fayette County
Life in Fayette County is organized around the rhythms of small town Tennessee. High school football in Oakland, Somerville, and the other county towns is a genuine Friday night event, and the Annual Fayette County Fair draws residents from across the county each year for a celebration that is exactly what it sounds like — horses, livestock, community competitions, and a midway that has been running for decades. The Wolf River runs through the county and gives residents access to fishing, paddling, and greenway trails that connect Rossville to the broader midsouth trail network. Horse farms and equestrian properties are a genuine part of the landscape here, not an amenity added to a subdivision — Fayette County has the land, the fencing, and the tradition to support serious equestrian life in a way that no Shelby County suburb can match. Braden Station, Rossville, and the small communities scattered along Highway 64 and Highway 57 each have their own rhythm, their own gathering places, and the kind of unhurried pace that buyers leaving Germantown or Collierville are often specifically looking for.
Homes & Neighborhoods
Fayette County real estate is defined by variety at a price point that surprises most buyers coming from Shelby County. At one end of the market, farmhouses and country estates on five to thirty acres are available throughout the county at prices that start well below $300,000 and rarely exceed $600,000 even for significant acreage. In Oakland, newer subdivisions and single family homes in the $300,000 to $450,000 range are attracting buyers who want Fayette County's lower tax rate and more space without giving up subdivision amenities entirely. In Piperton, the Lakes of Greenbrier community offers lots from under a half acre to over an acre with green space, stocked ponds, and a walking path — one of the county's most active newer developments. Somerville, as the county seat, offers a mix of historic in town homes, established neighborhoods like Woodbridge on the former Cooksey Golf Course property, and new development along the Highway 64 corridor. For buyers interested in custom builds, raw land parcels in sizes from two acres to over 100 acres are consistently available throughout the county. Fayette County's property tax rate is meaningfully lower than Shelby County's, which is a real and often appreciated part of the financial case for buying here.
Local Favorites
Eat: Gus's Fried Chicken in Mason is the original location of a restaurant that has become one of the most cited food destinations in the entire midsouth — the spice, the crust, and the setting in a small-town storefront are all part of why people drive from Memphis specifically to eat here. Wolf River Café in Rossville serves the kind of Southern home cooking and catfish plates that feel like someone's grandmother decided to open a restaurant. Braden Station brings a historic train depot setting to classic comfort food in a way that is genuinely hard to find anywhere else in the region.
Explore: Fayette County Park in Somerville offers recreational facilities and green space that serve as the county's primary public gathering grounds. The Wolf River Greenway through Rossville connects residents to a trail network that extends well into Shelby County. The horse farms scattered throughout the county's rolling countryside are not just scenery — many are working operations open to equestrian buyers, and the county has the infrastructure of boarding facilities, farriers, and feed suppliers that serious horse owners need.
Culture: The Annual Fayette County Fair is one of the most traditional agricultural fairs in western Tennessee, with livestock competitions, carnival rides, and the kind of community turnout that reflects how Fayette County has chosen to maintain its identity. Local bluegrass and gospel events run through the year in churches, community centers, and outdoor venues across the county. Oakland and Somerville both hold community parades and seasonal events that keep small-town civic life genuinely active.
Why People Choose Fayette County
Acreage properties and farmhouses at price points that do not exist in Shelby County, with median home prices around $400,000 and entry points well below that for land and rural properties
A property tax rate meaningfully lower than Shelby County, which compounds into real savings over time for buyers comparing comparable properties across the county line
Oakland, one of Tennessee's fastest growing small cities, bringing new residential and commercial development to Fayette County while the surrounding communities maintain their rural character
Genuine equestrian infrastructure — working horse farms, boarding facilities, and trail access — that suburban communities cannot manufacture
A county identity rooted in agricultural tradition and small town civic life, with the Memphis metro accessible in 30 to 45 minutes depending on where in the county you live
Thinking of Moving to Fayette County?
Fayette County is the page on this site that exists because of what Acres and Avenues Living is actually built around — the buyers who want land, space, and a property that means something beyond square footage and a HOA. If that describes you, Nikki and Michael Mosteller know this county, they know the towns, and they know which parts of it are changing and which parts are staying exactly as they are. That distinction matters when you are buying five acres and a farmhouse as much as it does when you are buying a subdivision home.
