As a young girl, Elizabeth Long Crawford had a lazy eye. To make her more desirable for marriage, she undertook surgery to fix the condition, but it was unsuccessful and left her blind in one eye. Later, she and her husband Perry moved into her family home in Marlcrest, Georgia. They raised their two children, Martha and Perry Jr., in the house. One day, Perry went out hunting and died prematurely of a heart attack. Heartbroken, Elizabeth was never the same. She died many years later in a nursing home, but not before she could sell Marlcrest to a developer and donate all of its belongings to a museum.

Martha married a decent man, Raymond, and had two children. When the children were grown, Martha found out Raymond was having an affair, and although they tried to make it work, she divorced him six months later. She asked for three things: their current home, their Scaly Mountain home, and to never see Raymond again. He complied. Five years passed, and Martha decided to move into the Scaly Mountain home full-time. There, she decided to plan an entire family reunion and invite even her most far-off relatives. The family played games at the reunion, did relay races, and pored over their family tree.

Many years later, Martha's grand-niece Olivia drives through the Georgia mountains with her husband and kids. They pass a familiar road, and Olivia insists they take a look. Sure enough, Olivia remembers the Scaly Mountain home from her childhood family reunion. The house is dilapidated and filled with decaying objects. They find a for-sale sign and look for the realtor. That very day, Olivia decides to buy the family home.