Reginald and Virginia Rowell opened Rowell Apple House in 1968 after planting 100 red delicious and 100 golden delicious apple
trees on their property on Hwy. 70 E. The two had been proprietors of the Rowell Hotel and they started the orchard as a side business
as the new interstate began changing traffic patterns.
nald was originally from Vermont, where
his family owned a dairy farm. They moved
north the following year.
Five years later, they returned to Crossville
and they opened Rowell Motel off
Hwy. 70.
“He was from the north, but loved it
here,” Virginia said in a 2010 interview.
The couple kept their hotel for many
years, but as work began on the new Interstate
40 in the 1960s, they knew traffic patterns
would be changing. So they looked to
change their business to keep up with the
times.
“He wanted to start something else, and
he always loved growing things. He wanted
something that we wouldn’t have to be occupied
with 24 hours out of the day everyday
like we were with the motel,” Virginia said
with chuckle. “Well, little did he know how
much work that would be.”
Reginald planted 100 red delicious and
100 golden delicious apple trees in 1966 and
’67. Rowell’s Apple House opened in 1968.
At first, most of their crop went to White
Stores in Crossville, with a few offered to
the public from the hotel lobby.
When the Apple House was built in 1983,
the apple business went retail to the public.
6 | Cumberland Now • September 2020
It’s a no-frills enterprise, Reggie says.
“We’re a big roadside stand for apples
and just apples,” he said.
“A lot of our regular customs come from
Knoxville, Roane County, Morgan County
— even Nashville. They make a day of it.”
The Next Generations
Mr. and Mrs. Rowell passed away in 2010
— he in March and she in May.
They put the business in the hands of
their son, Reggie.
Reggie was in the military when his
parents planted those first trees. He followed
that with 30 years of work at Y-12
in Oak Ridge. But on the weekends, he
returned home and he and his wife, Thela,
and daughters Tracie and Trudi spent their
weekends and free time helping with the
orchard over the years. Thela passed away
in 2015.
Trudi married John Roberts and they live
in Knoxville with their children, Brooke
Ann Roberts and Reginald “Lane” Roberts.
Tracie married Tom Howard, and they
live in Crossville. Son Jacob has been helping
Grandpa and the family with apple picking,
though he says he prefers the washing
Son-in-law John Roberts picks apples to
sell in the Apple House. He’s been able to
put a degree in agriculture to work at the
orchard.