The Landmark course features 89 traps and houses well out of range of stray shots.
Avalon might seem an odd name for a golf course community. In medieval romance, it was an island paradise of healers to which King Arthur was taken to cheat death. He didn't. Nevertheless, developers of Avalon, just 20 miles outside Knoxville, TN, aren't cheating anyone. The community's prices seemed so reasonable when we visited last year that we were tempted to plunk down a payment on a lot.
Avalon provides a little bit of everything in terms of housing. Its 115 so-called "villas" are patio homes with landscaping and grounds keeping included. At full build out, the community's 430 acres will include 150 condominium units and 245 single-family homes. The lot that tempted us was ½ acre on a rise overlooking the middle part of a fairway on the golf course with a nice view of the Cumberland Mountains beyond. It was priced at just $85,000, but certainly would be a little north of $100,000 today. Lots with views of both the Cumberland and Smoky Mountains are offered starting around $125,000. Construction costs run about $150 per square foot. 
The single-family homes in the neighborhood called The Links, ranging in size up to 4,500 square feet on three levels, are priced starting at $540,000. Lawn maintenance is available at $75 per month. Elsewhere in the community, custom single-family homes range in price up to $1.2 million, about the lowest ceiling we have seen in any nice golfing community in the southeast and indicative that Knoxville has still not yet been fully discovered.
Avalon is attractively located less than a half hour from the city and its airport, and about five miles from significant shopping and hospitals. Real estate agents selling property in Avalon tout its location and claim they have been selling property to residents of the Rarity Communities and Tellico Village, large projects about 40 minutes to the east that require drives of more than 45 minutes to reach Knoxville. [More below]
