Tellico Village vs Rarity Bay

Two Communities, Same Lake, Different Character

Tellico Village and Rarity Bay both sit on Tellico Lake in East Tennessee — the 16,000-acre, 357-mile-shoreline lake that defines the region’s retirement appeal — but they represent genuinely different scales and community models.

Tellico Village, in Loudon, Loudon County, is by far the larger of the two at approximately 5,000 homes. It functions closer to a self-contained town than a single gated community — multiple neighborhoods, several marinas, multiple golf courses, and a broad price range from around $200K to $800K+. Its scale means a deep bench of clubs, activities, and resale inventory, but also less uniformity from one section to another.

Rarity Bay, in Vonore, Monroe County, is smaller at approximately 1,600 homes and is fully gated with a single defined golf course as its anchor amenity. Prices run $250K–$700K. The smaller, gated, single-community structure gives Rarity Bay a more consistent, curated feel than Tellico Village’s sprawl — at the cost of the broader amenity and social-club variety that comes with Tellico Village’s much larger population.

Side-by-Side Facts

Which Community Fits Which Buyer

• Choose Tellico Village if: you want the widest possible price range and resale inventory selection, value a large and varied social-club scene, and don’t need the uniformity of a single gated entry.
• Choose Rarity Bay if: you specifically want a fully gated community with one consistent golf-anchored identity, prefer a smaller and more curated social environment, and are comfortable with a narrower (though still substantial) range of home inventory.

Both communities share the core East Tennessee value proposition — Tellico Lake access, zero Tennessee state income tax, and insurance costs roughly 70% lower than Florida or coastal North Carolina equivalents. The decision between them is almost entirely about scale and gating preference rather than cost or tax differences.