By E. Thomas Wood

In December 2009, Middle Tennessee’s top home sales came in at an average price of $2.7 million each — the highest we have ever recorded. A month onward, we’re back to the reality of a badly bruised residential real estate market.The average price for the houses in this month’s column (which marks the second anniversary of “Headline Homes”) is a paltry $1.39 million. And it would be even lower if we stretched out to the usual 10 homes we include. We would have had to include an $825,000 sale to get to 10. We have decided to include just the eight area sales over $1 million.

Two years into this little exercise in gawking at the rich and famous, we feel able to draw one conclusion from the monthly fluctuations this column has observed: They tell us a little, but not much, about the local economy and housing market. “Headline Homes” prices, like the stock market, bottomed out in late winter or early spring 2009 and have posted a general upward trend since then — punctuated by hiccups. January was, if nothing else, a hiccup.

The one constant has been that folks buying in at the $1 million-plus stratum tend to be interesting. Our lead home this month goes to a high-level international executive previously based in Switzerland. A former American Idol contestant, now a successful country performer, is the buyer of house number two. And a former Titans linebacker is the seller of the third house on the list.

Largest single-family home transactions recorded in Davidson and neighboring counties in January 2010, ranked by dollar value:

1. 1115 Crater Hill Drive, 37215
Buyer: Jenny Gregg Saad and Suhail Konstantin Saad
Sale price: $1.9 million
Sellers: William E. Bickley and Cynthia Renee Bell Bortscheller
Sellers’ agent: Steve G. Fridrich (Fridrich & Clark Realty)
Buyers’ agents: Rhonda Brandon and Robin Thompson (Worth Properties LLC)

The Saads are putting down roots in Forest Hills after living in Europe for many years. According to a personal website, Jenny Saad is a Tennessee native. She is a pilot who has worked for several corporate aviation companies.

Suhail Saad was recently named vice chairman of the board of SwissInso LLC, a developer of solar energy solutions based in Lausanne, Switzerland. From 2001 to 2008, he was global head of business development for tobacco giant Gallaher PLC, where he oversaw more than $4 billion worth of acquisitions. Previously, he served as senior director for international business development with RJR Nabisco in Geneva. A Belgian national of Lebanese and Austrian ancestry, he is fluent in English, French, German and Arabic.

2. 4102 Sneed Rd., 37215
Buyer: Julie Boos, trustee for the Pretty Little Peacock Trust
Sale price: $1.435 million
Builder/seller: C. Rogan Allen
Seller’s agent: Amanda Wachtler (Pilkerton Realtors)
Buyer’s agent: Cindy Lockhart (Crye-Leike Realtors)

Rogan Allen, son of the late and legendary WLAC DJ “Hoss” Allen, is starting to specialize in building luxury homes for musicians, it would appear. Working with architect Sharon Pigott, he built a striking Green Hills home that Kings of Leon bass player Jared Followill bought in November. Now, a few blocks away, he has sold this spec home to country singer and American Idol darling Kellie Pickler.

Some disclosure seems appropriate here. This column regularly names celebrity buyers of homes when their identities can be confirmed, and we are more often than not able to learn who the real buyer is when a trustee makes the purchase. We find that other parties will inevitably make such info public soon after a star buys a place, and we know there is public interest in who is buying the most expensive homes in town. We hope we have not made too many celebs too unhappy, but we do as we must.

Here’s the complication in the case of Pickler’s buy: The author of this column lives immediately across the street (in a decidedly un-”headline” home, to be sure). He and his family recently met Pickler while sledding the icy bunny-slope between our homes. Amid a close-knit neighborhood where residents, their kids and their pets regularly mix and mingle, the politic thing would be not to mention who the real buyer is on this one. (We have already seen the Gray Line short bus outside the Followill home.)

But life, as Rodney Crowell memorably sang, is messy. “Headline Homes” is treating this transaction like any other we would cover. That’s what the job demands. Going forward, though, neighborly consideration will be more important than the pursuit of any celebrity scoop.

3. 5255 McGavock Road, Brentwood, 37027
Buyer: Paula A. Duvall
Sale price: $1.375 million
Sellers: Peter A. and Lindsay D. Sirmon
Agent for both sides: Andy Beasley (Brentview Realty Co.)

Ex-Tennessee Titan linebacker Peter Sirmon, who retired in 2006 after seven years in the National Football League, unloads this property after listing it in December 2008. Sirmon is now an assistant coach at the University of Oregon, his alma mater.

Paula Duvall is an agent with Fridrich & Clark Realty who had a $3.9 million sale that headed our list for May 2009. Daniel P. Duvall is married to her and is co-borrower on $375,000 in seller financing provided by the Sirmons. The place sold at a $120,000 discount to its original listing price of $1.495 million.

4. 108 Church St., Franklin, 37064
Buyer: Elaine J. and F. Perry Ozburn Jr.
Sale price: $1.36 million
Builder/seller: Steve Hulen Construction LLC
Agents: none of record

Perry Ozburn is a former honcho of what is now OHL Logistics. Like other buyers in downtown Franklin’s Brownstones development, he and his family appear to be buying a city place while retaining their country place — which in the Ozburns’ case includes land in the family for more than two centuries on which they have now given a conservation easement to the Land Trust for Tennessee.

5. 129 Bay Drive, Hendersonville, 37075
Buyers: Bjorn R. and Janet V. Svedin
Sale price: $1.35 million
Sellers: Stephen L. Young and William D. Stalker
Sellers’ agent: Russell Parrish (Parrish & Associates)
Buyers’ agent: Vicki McCloud Groeger (Re/Max Choice Properties)

Bjorn Svedin owns Van Vending Service Inc. in Hendersonville.

6. 4208 Wallace Lane, 37215
Buyers: Adrienne and Richard D. McRae III
Sale price: $1.31 million
Builder/seller: HR Properties of Tennessee
Agent for both parties: Gerald Langley (Brownstone Properties)

Another new build in the Trimble/Wallace/Sneed area of Green Hills cracks the $1 million mark.

7. 719 Brownlee Drive, 37205
Buyers: Adrian and Alice Rodriguez
Sale price: $1.195 million
Builder/seller: Richard L. Cammeron
Seller’s agent: Linda Seaton (Keller Williams Realty)
Buyers’ agent: Steve Dukes (Benchmark Realty)

Dr. Adrian Rodriguez practices with Nashville Skin and Cancer.

8. 9229 Carrisbrook Lane, Brentwood, 37027
Buyers: Robert S. Montano and Roseann Maikis
Sale price: $1.167 million
Builder/seller: Legend Homes LLC
Agents: unknown

Nashville Scene Article By E. Thomas Wood

Topped by one of Middle Tennessee’s priciest home sales in at least a decade, this month’s list of headline homes comes in at the highest aggregate total value since this column first appeared in February 2008. December’s top ten sales added up to $27.1 million, beating out July’s $25.2 million.

December is generally a slow month for the residential real estate market, but for whatever reason, high-end home sales in and around Nashville have been especially robust in the past two Decembers. Total sales value for December 2008 came in at $22 million.

As always, there are intriguing folks among the purchasers of these palaces. We know that much by the fact that at least two buyers, and possibly a third, used trustees involved in the entertainment industry to keep their identities out of the public record. We’ve had no luck so far in nailing down who some of the true buyers are, but if we find out after publication, we’ll update the online version of this story accordingly.

Largest single-family home transactions recorded in Davidson and neighboring counties in December 2009, ranked by dollar value:

1. 414 Lake Valley Drive, Franklin, 37069

Buyer: Jess Rosen, trustee
Sale price: $10 million
Builders/sellers: James C.D. and Rhonda G. Franks
Agents: none of record, though Rhonda Franks is owner of Battle Ground Realty

Builder Jimmy Franks, chief manager of Old South Construction LLC, dubbed this Tuscan-style villa “Bella Luce.” If published photos of the hilltop manse are any indication, the light is beautiful indeed, whichever way it shines upon a promontory with a 360-degree view of the Williamson County countryside. Just let the builder’s website sing the song:

“The massive great room offers breathtaking sunset views, with bookend fireplaces that rise 25 feet to meet the handcrafted Douglas fir trusses. This private estate has 5 bedroom suites, 7 full baths, a gourmet kitchen with fireplace, a theater with stadium seating, billiards room, exercise room, lookout tower, six-car garage, and a magnificent, outdoor, infinity-edge pool and full-body spa.”

It sounds, and looks, exquisite. And the private gate, not to mention the “lookout tower,” will certainly come in handy next time the peasants of Brentwood take up pitchforks and set out to eat the rich.

Trustee Jess L. Rosen is a partner with the Atlanta-based entertainment practice of national law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP. According to published reports, though, the true buyer may be none other than country superstar Kenny Chesney. Greenberg Traurig’s musician clients have included Chesney as well as Alan Jackson (whose own Williamson County spread is on the market for $38 million), Brad Paisley, Clay Aiken, Sheryl Crow, Christina Aguilera and Lil’ Kim. In 2005, Rosen served as trustee for the purchase of an Antioch home by former American Idol contestant Bo Bice.

The list price for the 30-acre Bella Luce property was $12.9 million. The main parcel with the home sold for $9.25 million, and the buyer picked up an adjoining seven acres of land for $755,000.

The transaction ranks among the most expensive single-family home sales ever in the Nashville area. In 2007, country singer Tanya Tucker sold her house on 500 acres of farmland in Arrington to developers for nearly $11.5 million, and billionaire Todd Wagner bought a 207-acre tract along Hillsboro Road for roughly the same amount that year. But the most comparable sale of an existing home is probably the $7.5 million purchase in 2005 of the old Sam Fleming place in Belle Meade by Julie and Thomas F. Frist III, which preceded a comprehensive remodeling of the residence.

2. 1641 Whispering Hills Drive, Franklin, 37069

Buyer: Kevin D. Montgomery, trustee Sale price: $3.14 million Seller: Reliant Bank Agents: none of record

This mansion in the gated Laurelbrooke community, off Vaughn Road, appears on our list for the second month in a row. In November, Reliant took title to it for $3.08 million after foreclosing on the proprietor of Nashville-based Brian D. Shaw Trucking LLC and his wife. Williamson County property records indicate the house was built in 2008 and contains almost 11,900 square feet of living area.

There are no clues in the public record as to the identity of the homeowner represented by Montgomery, a Nashville lawyer.

3. 828 Windstone Blvd., Brentwood, 37027

Buyer: Rocky D. & Jean S. Tannehill
Sale price: $3 million Builder/seller: Classic Design Homes Inc. Seller’s agents: Caye Beaver Davis and Alison Davis (Keller Williams Realty) Buyers’ agent: Tim Kelly (Zeitlin & Co„ Realtors)

This new 11,200-square-foot home in the Windstone development features six bedrooms, seven full bathrooms and three half-baths.

Rocky Tannehill is an entrepreneur involved in Christian-oriented social media ventures, including Zoecity Software Inc. His family has chosen Nashville as its new base, relocating from the Seattle area.

“After a three-year search, we chose to relocate in Nashville because of the positive, pro-family environment,” Tannehill said when contacted via Facebook. “We are happy to be here!”

Classic Design, headed by builder Ronald W. Davis, listed the spec home last summer at $3.6 million. It spent 65 days on the market before selling at a discount of 17 percent.

4. 4408 Iroquois Ave., 37205

Buyers: William W. and Emily K. DeCamp
Sale price: $2 million Sellers: Robert W. and Emily F. Kitchel
Agents: none of record

The Kitchels, parents of Emily “Mimi” Kitchel DeCamp, sell their longtime home within their family.

5. 4413 Warner Place, 37205

Buyers: J. Page and Nina H. Davidson Sale price: $1.67 million
Sellers: Jeffery C. and Shawn L. Factor
Sellers’ agent: Jeanie Barrier (Pilkerton Realtors)
Buyers’ agent: Mimi Kitchel DeCamp (French Christianson Patterson)

Bass Berry & Sims partner Page Davidson and family move into this home near Belle Meade Country Club.

6. 9599 Liberty Church Road, Brentwood, 37027

Buyers: Edward T. and Wendy Clydesdale
Sale price: $1.6 million
Seller: MDREA Inc.
Agents for both parties: Patricia A. Carter and Nancy Torrans (Zeitlin & Co. Realtors)

Ed Clydesdale is president of CNI Distribution in Nashville. The wholesaler serves sellers of Christian books and other merchandise.

7. 5105 Cornell Court, Brentwood, 37027

Buyers: Charles and Beverly J. McQueeney
Sale price: $1.59 million
Sellers: Jan D. & Nancy R. Faggioni
Sellers’ agent: Judy Ann Scully (Crye-Leike)

Buyers’ agent: Shelly Broward (Prudential Woodmont Realty)

8. 3418 Trimble Road, 37215

Buyers: Kelly Bennett and Stephane Braun
Sale price: $1.52 million
Builder/seller: A & K Enterprises LLC
Seller’s agent: Amanda Wachtler (Pilkerton Realtors)
Buyer’s agent: Rita S. Puryear and Trudy Byrd (Fridrich & Clark Realty)

This new Green Hills home is the work of architect Sharon Pigott and contractor Rogan Allen, who also teamed up on the contemporary chateau a little ways down Trimble that Kings of Leon bass player Jared Followill bought in November.

It went on the market on Feb. 3, at a price of $1.85 million, and 276 days passed before it was under contract.

Buyers Bennett and Braun are married. Braun is a plastic surgeon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

9. 1003 West Main St., Franklin, 37064

Buyer: The Gruntles Living Trust
Sale price: $1.33 million
Sellers: Gary K. and Michele Cooper
Sellers’ agent: Andy Beasley (Brentview Realty Company)
Buyers’ agent: John Fairhead (Village Real Estate Services)

We have had no luck finding out who the real buyer is, but he, she or they ought to feel thoroughly gruntled as they settle into the Turley-Faw House, a well-preserved and updated Victorian home that has been a regular stop on downtown Franklin home tours. Victor Wlodinguer, a New York City CPA specializing in the music business, is the trustee.

10. 5 Strawberry Hill, 37215

Buyers: Cheryl R. and Kenneth L. Sears Jr.
Sale price: $1.28 million
Seller: Larry Peach, as executor of the estate of Idanelle “Sam” McMurry
Seller’s agent: Emma Roy (Worth Properties)
Buyers’ agent: Richard B. French (French Christianson Patterson)

Kenneth Sears and his wife Cheryl, both anesthesiologists in Franklin, purchase the former home of longtime Harpeth Hall Headmistress McMurry, who passed away in November.

Nashville Scene Article By E. Thomas Wood

A foreclosure tops November’s list of the biggest home sales in town, but more interesting transactions can be found a few notches down. Among the properties changing hands last month: The Belle Meade Boulevard manse of an embattled former CEO, a relocating record-label honcho’s new place across from the Gores, and a 23-year-old rock star’s Green Hills showpiece.

The $17.9 million in total sales represented by November’s top 10 amounts to only 2 percent more than October’s totals, but in more typical years the number could have been expected to decline as the wintertime sales trough approaches.

The performance of such a small subset of the housing market is not a solid economic indicator, but the month-over-month improvement does coincide with positive anecdotal signals, as there is talk among agents of busier workdays and more crowded open-house events. Still, home purchases ought to slacken seasonally in the next three months or so, meaning we may not see a clear trend until the crocuses pop out.

Largest single-family home purchases recorded in Davidson and neighboring counties in November 2009, ranked by dollar value:

1. 1641 Whispering Hills Drive, Franklin, 37069

Buyer: Reliant Bank
Sale price: $3.08 million
Seller: Marc T. McNamee, trustee in foreclosure against Brian D. & Jan B. Shaw
Agents: none of record

Reliant takes title to a mansion owned by the proprietor of Nashville-based Brian D. Shaw Trucking LLC and his wife, in the Laurelbrooke gated enclave off Vaughn Road. Williamson County property records indicate the house was built in 2008 and contains almost 11,900 square feet of living area.

In September, a different lender foreclosed on another home the Shaws owned in Laurelbrooke, at 1458 Willowbrooke Circle. It changed hands for $1.06 million and is now on the market at $989,000.

The Shaws filed for bankruptcy liquidation in September. In addition to secured debt on the two houses, they reported $1.3 million in unsecured obligations. A bankruptcy trustee is now seeking to have their case either dismissed or converted to a Chapter 11 reorganization, claiming it would be an “abuse” of bankruptcy law for the couple to be able to discharge those debts.

The trustee placed the Shaws’ disposable income at $25,000 a month and said they are capable of paying off their debts under a Chapter 11 plan. The Shaws have responded that their income is nowhere near that high. The matter remains pending.

2. 1103 Belle Meade Blvd., 37205

Buyers: David F. & Cynthia Arnholt
Sale price: $2.78 million
Seller: Anna McIntyre Shaub
Seller’s agent: Steve G. Fridrich (Fridrich & Clark Realty)
Buyers’ agent: Kent McMillin (Fridrich & Clark Realty)

Anna and Jim Shaub had lived in this renovated 1930’s home since 1999. For most of that time, Jim Shaub ran Waffle House franchisee SouthEast Waffles LLC. Court filings revealed he paid himself salaries of more than $1.4 million in each of the company’s last two fiscal years before it declared bankruptcy in 2008, even as SouthEast Waffles racked up millions in unpaid taxes and other past-due debts.

Creditor SunTrust bank has sued him and Becky Sullivan, longtime chief financial officer of the company, whom Shaub has accused of running a check-kiting scheme without his knowledge. Among the bank’s allegations: The Shaub family’s “lavish personal expenses took complete priority over the liabilities of SouthEast Waffles,” and company funds covered the cost of renovating the home. That case remains open, while the bankruptcy winds down after franchisor Waffle House Inc. took over the restaurants SouthEast Waffles used to run.

Co-buyer Cynthia Haslam Arnholt is a daughter of Jimmy Haslam III, president of Knoxville-based Pilot Corp. Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, a current candidate for Tennessee’s Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2010, is her uncle. She and her husband have given more than $34,000 to GOP candidates and causes since 2003.

3. 14 Colonel Winstead Drive, Brentwood, 37027

Buyer: Harry Allan IV
Sale price: $2.13 million
Sellers: Ronald M. & Susan R. Thomason
Sellers’ agents: Judy & Richard Williams (Crye-Leike)
Buyer’s agent: Judy Williams (Crye-Leike)

This Governors Club property first listed for $2.45 million in February. Along with five bedrooms and six full baths, it features what the listing termed a “dramatic entry with turret office and a wine cellar in the dining room.”

Allan is CEO of ClearTrack Information Network Inc., a supply-chain technology provider based in Brentwood

4. 313 Lynnwood Boulevard, 37205

Buyers: John & Chantel Esposito
Sale price: $1.85 million
Sellers: Clay M. & Jeannette J. Whitson
Sellers’ agent: Steve G. Fridrich (Fridrich & Clark Realty)
Buyers’ agent: Amy Smith (French Christianson Patterson)

Situated across the street from Al and Tipper Gore’s pad, this home was built in 1917 and has been updated with a 500-bottle wine cellar, heated swimming pool and top-of-the-line fixtures throughout.

Warner Music Group recently moved John Esposito from New York City to Nashville and put him in charge of Warner Music Nashville, a newly formed umbrella for the Warner Bros. Nashville, Word Entertainment and Atlantic Nashville record labels.

5. 3540 Trimble Road, 37215

Buyer: MJF Living Trust, for Jared Followill
Sale price: $1.83 million
Builder/seller: C. Rogan Allen
Seller’s agent: Amanda Wachtler (Pilkerton Realtors)
Buyer’s agent: Lana Murphy (White House Realtors)

It’s good to be Jared. Last month, the bass player for hugely popular alt-rockers Kings of Leon turned 23 years of age, reportedly dumped his supermodel fiancée for Twilight Saga: New Moon star Ashley Greene, and bought what can only be described as a rock-star home perched on a hillside overlooking placid Trimble Road.

Rogan Allen, who has reshaped much of the Trimble-Wallace-Sneed neighborhood by replacing 1950s ranch houses with stylish mansions, built this contemporary home on spec and initially listed it at $2.3 million. It was on the market for a little over nine months. Soon after the sale to Followill closed, Allen sold another new home on Trimble for $1.52 million. That deed was recorded Dec. 1, and so the home will likely appear in next month’s “Headline Homes.”

6. 507 Excalibur Court, Franklin, 37067

Buyers: Surama A. & Amit A. Choksi
Sale price: $1.48 million
Seller: Pinnacle National Bank
Seller’s agent: Lisa Fernandez-Wilson (Fridrich & Clark Realty)
Buyers’ agent: Charu Shah (Keller Williams Realty)
Amit Choksi is a gastroenterologist with a practice in Columbia, Tenn.

7. 201 Thornhill Crescent, Brentwood, 37027

Buyer: Stephen C. Zeger
Sale price: $1.43 million
Builder/seller: Mike Ford Custom Builders LLC
Seller’s agent: Mary A. Kocina (Fridrich & Clark Realty)
Buyer’s agent: John Black (Realty Executives)

8. 1216 Taggartwood Drive, 37215

Buyer: J. Michael Morgan, trustee of the Taggartwood Trust
Sale price: $1.38 million
Sellers: Jason W. Owen & Samuel L. Easley
Sellers’ agent: Sam Easley (Zeitlin & Co„ Realtors)
Buyer’s agent: Barbara Moutenot (Village Real Estate Services)

9. 10 Castlewood Court, 37215

Buyers: Lesa Penny Blackwell & Timothy S. Blackwell Sr.
Sale price: $1.19 million
Seller: Linda N. Tabor, trustee of a personal trust
Seller’s agent: Jackie Peters (Crye-Leike)
Buyers’ agent: Richard G. Courtney (Fridrich & Clark Realty)

10. 104 Loring Court, 37220

Buyer: William H. Lassiter Jr., trustee of the Gateway Promise Revocable Living Trust
Sale price: $1.16 million
Builder/seller: Peachtree Developers Inc.
Auctioneer: E. Dwight O’Neal

Nashville City Paper Article By E. Thomas Wood

Physicians, a car dealer, a banker and a management consultant are among the buyers in October’s list of the biggest home sales in town. Sorry, no celebrities this time, as seen in so many prior months. Still, our monthly glimpse of the residential market’s upper reaches does provide a window on how homes are moving in that rarefied segment. As in prior months, we are the bearer of hard news about a few sales that came in well under asking price after lengthy listings. But with two home buys above $2 million and at least 17 last month at more than $1 million, the upper-end market is looking far from anemic.

Largest single-family home purchases recorded in Davidson and neighboring counties in October 2009, ranked by dollar value:

1. 504 Granny White Pike, Brentwood, 37027
Buyers: Robert P. & Mary C. LaGrone

Sale price: $3.3 million

Sellers: Ray Willis Hester and Evelyn E. Hester, as trustees for personal trusts

Sellers’ agent: Lisa Culp Taylor (Bob Parks Realty)

Buyers’ agent: Jeff Brandon (Realty Executives)

Situated on 4.7 acres, this 16-room, 11,900-square-foot chateau spent almost exactly a year—363 days—on the market after initially listing at $3.95 million.

Dr. Bob LaGrone is a Nashville rheumatologist. Attorney Mary LaGrone has a probate and estate practice in Nashville.

2. 337 White Swans Crossing, Brentwood, 37027
Buyers: Daniel L. & Sharon A. Huff

Sale price: $2.5 million

Builder/seller: Frawood Custom Builders LLC

Sellers’ agent: Laura Baugh (Worth Properties)

Buyers’ agent: Carolyn Wood (Realty Executives)

This new home in Cambridge Downs moved after a little under three months on the market. Described in its listing as a “grand yet very warm and cozy” French manor, it has six bedroom suites, a paneled library, a home theater and two recreation rooms.

3. 4004 Harding Place, 37215
Buyers: Kailey & Charles W. Hand Jr.

Sale price: $1.65 million

Sellers: Karen L. & Robert C. Elliott

Sellers’ agent: Laura Baugh (Worth Properties)

Buyers’ agent: Brandon Bubis (Keller Williams Realty)

This European-style home has four bedrooms along with four full and three half bathrooms, plus a guest house. The property listing touts its “inground gunite pool” —yep, just when you were expecting an above-ground pool from Watson’s—as well as “fabulous outdoor living areas” and an “awesome master suite.”

4. 6039 Robin Hill Road, 37205
Buyers: Michael D. Sontag, trustee for Katherine Johnson Cannata

Sale price: $1.62 million

Builder/seller: HR Properties of Tennessee

Sellers’ agent: Frances Garner (Parks Properties)

Buyers’ agent: Betty Finucane (Fridrich & Clark Realty)

This is the sixth time an HR Properties home has made the “Headline Homes” list since the column began in 2008.

Katherine Johnson Cannata and her brother Sidney Johnson Jr. run the Wyatt-Johnson auto dealership in Clarksville.

5. 200 Emily Court, Franklin, 37064
Buyers: Pamela Diane & Joseph Dale Storey

Sale price: $1.52 million

Seller: Pinnacle National Bank

Seller’s agent: Corbi Parker (Keller Williams Realty)

Buyers’ agent: none of record

The bank unloads a four-story townhome in the Brownstones development of downtown Franklin.

Joe Storey is a serial entrepreneur in the medical transcription business, having helped build and sell two start-up ventures during the past two decades.

6. 601 Enquirer Ave., 37205
Buyers: Christopher S. & Melissa Windham Johnston

Sale price: $1.45 million

Seller: Stephanie Coker Hastings, as trustee for a personal trust

Agent for both parties: Kristin Yarbrough (Worth Properties)

This 17-room Belle Meade estate dates to 1939 but has been renovated.

7. 887 Oak Valley Lane, 37220
Buyers: Kevin P. & May B. Lavender

Sale price: $1.35 million

Builder/seller: Nathan E. Montgomery Sr.

Seller’s agent: Molly Edmondson (Fridrich & Clark Realty)

Buyers’ agent: Valerie Roberts (Fridrich & Clark Realty)

With five bedrooms and five full and two half baths on 1.6 acres, this Oak Hill home was on the market just over six months with an original list price of $1.695 million.

Kevin Lavender, a former Commissioner of Tennessee’s Department of Financial Institutions in the Bredesen administration, is now senior vice president for corporate health care lending at Fifth Third Bank.

8. 1010 Greenwich Park, 37215
Buyers: William S. & Diane H. Keane

Sale price: $1.3 million

Builder/seller: Hannah Builders G.P.

Agent for both parties: Ellen Christianson (French Christianson Patterson)

This 6,200-square-foot spec home in the Green Hills development of Abbottsford went up for sale on July 30, 2007 at a price of $1.65 million. By the time of its most recent re-listing, the obviously motivated seller was offering “a trip for two to Costa Rica to the agent who brings an acceptable offer.”

The partners of Hannah Builders are local real estate developer Chester H. Hannah and G.H. “Chip” Christianson, owner of J. Barleycorn’s Wine & Spirits in Nashville.

Dr. William Keane is a Nashville radiologist.

9. 4008 Dorcas Drive, 37215
Buyers: Damon W. & Kimberly L. Drake

Sale price: $1.25 million

Seller: George C. deZevallos

Seller’s agent: Laura Baugh (Worth Properties)

Buyers’ agent: Brandon Childs (Crye-Leike)

If this address looks familiar, you may recall seeing it in the September 2008 edition of this column. George deZevallos, owner of printing firm Buford Lewis Co., bought the house at a foreclosure sale for $985,000.

10. 5899 Willshire Drive, 37215
Buyers: Brian Jason Ehrig and Sheetal Modi Ehrig

Sale price: $1.23 million

Builder/seller: Bob Haley

Seller’s agent: Tom Patterson (French Christianson Patterson)

Buyers’ agent: Lydia Armistead (Freeman-Webb)

Brian Ehrig has the distinction of being the first known Headline Homer with a Twitter account (twitter.com/behrig14). He describes himself there as a “triathlete, father and husband, [and] management consultant for retailers” with a home base of Atlanta.

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 Nashville City Paper Article By E. Thomas Wood

If you follow the money in the nation’s ongoing health care debates, you’ll find a few dollops of it in this month’s list of the biggest home sales in town. In more than the usual number of these deals, there is now a doctor in the house.Two of the buyers named below, William Nealon and Allen Sills, are surgical specialists moving to town to join Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Kenneth Lanyon is an anesthesiologist, Antarpreet Singh is a dentist, and we think, but are not sure, that William Bevins and Kevin McManus are also physicians. And Gary Seay is senior vice president and chief information officer with hospital operator Community Health Systems.

Other purchasers include James W. Perkins Jr., former president and CEO of Consumers Gasoline Stations Inc., and songwriter/producer Moe Lytle.

Largest single-family home purchases recorded in Davidson and neighboring counties in September 2009, ranked by dollar value:

1. 2055 Timberwood Drive, 37215

Buyers: William H. & Catherine A. Nealon

Sale price: $2.1 million

Sellers: Gregory D. Rice & Jonathan D. Watkins

Sellers’ agents: Sam Easley (Zeitlin & Co. Realtors) and Gregory D. Rice (Main Street Real Estate)

Buyers’ agent: Yvonne Kelly (Zeitlin & Co. Realtors)

This three-story contemporary home in Forest Hills was first listed in September 2008 at $2.75 million. It has six bedrooms including upstairs and downstairs master suites, along with six full and two half baths.

2. 702 Brass Lantern Place, Brentwood, 37027

Buyers: Tara L. & William Bevins Jr.

Sale price: $1.849 million

Seller: Michelle Elefante

Agent for both parties: Laura Baugh (Worth Properties)

This property first went on the market in March at $2.2 million.

3. 5053 Hill Place Drive, 37205

Buyers: Edward & Elizabeth Jackson

Sale price: $1.788 million

Seller: Christy W. Ivey, trustee for David A. & Elizabeth G. Dingess

Agents: None of record

4. 5178 Colleton Way, Brentwood, 37027

Buyers: Antarpreet & Jagdeep Singh

Sale price: $1.675 million

Sellers: Samuel A. & Julia M. Alfrey

Sellers’ agents: Linda Doyle & Linda G. Post (Keller Williams Realty)

Buyers’ agent: None of record

5 (tie). 618 Prince Valiant Court, Franklin, 37067

Buyers: Kenneth M. & Carrie W. Lanyon

Sale price: $1.5 million

Builder/seller: Trace Construction Inc.

Agent for both parties: Leigh Gillig (Keller Williams Realty)

5 (tie). 5223 Lysander Lane, Brentwood, 37027

Buyers: Moe & Naomi Lytle

Sale price: $1.5 million

Builder/seller: Chapman Ventures LLC

Seller’s agent: Sutton N. Redding (Pilkerton Realtors)

Buyers’ agent: None of record

The Lytles cop a bargain. Originally listed at $4.99 million in November 2007, this 14,800-square-foot palais in the McGavock Farms development has got everything one might expect in a property so massive: the waterfall out back, the mother-in-law apartment, the large theater, the “safe room” and so forth.

7. 1067 Natchez Valley Lane,Franklin, 37067

Buyers: Shawne C. & Allen K. Sills Jr.

Sale price: $1.35 million

Sellers: Ronald S. & Tanya A. Servidio

Sellers’ agent: Tanya A. Servidio (1st Realty Center)

Buyers’ agent: Starling Davis (Fridrich & Clark Realty)

8. 6045 Bresslyn Road, 37205

Buyers: Mary S. & James W. Perkins III

Sale price: $1.3 million

Builder/seller: Albertine Co. – Nashville LLC

Seller’s agent: Kent McMillan (Fridrich & Clark Realty)

Buyers’ agent: Jimmy Pilkerton (Pilkerton Realtors)

9. 8483 Taliaferro Road, Eagleville, 37060

Buyer: Joseph G. Seay

Sale price: $1.25 million

Seller: Ben J. Teague

Agent for both parties: Linda Schklar (Realty Association)

This home, which comes complete with a two-story orangery, sits on a spread of 20-and-a-half acres in eastern Williamson County. The sellers first listed it in September 2006 at $2.95 million.

10. 103 Liberty Court, Hendersonville, 37075

Buyer: Kevin T. McManus

Sale price: $1.2 million

Sellers: Brian T. & Kathryn J. Schnabel

Seller’ agent: Mike Gaughan (Re/Max Choice Properties)

Buyers’ agent: Lisa B. Swint (Coldwell Banker Lakeside)

Send your tips about Nashville-area home activity to tom.wood@nashvillepost.com.

Nashville CityPaper article by E. Thomas Wood

Money from out of town provided a big part of the $25.2 million in economic stimulus represented by July’s top 10 home sales in Nashville and surrounding counties — but none of it came from Washington.

Wealthy and accomplished people relocating to Nashville from points east and westward accounted for the top three sales and well over half the total dollars on July’s list, fueling a 60 percent rise in the average price per home over June’s $1.58 million.

To the extent that activity at the highest reaches of the local housing market can serve as a valid economic indicator, this month’s tune seems to be “Happy Days are Here Again.” 

Yet there is still real pain evident among these sales. One house went for a half-million less than it had cost four years ago. In another case, a bank sold for $300,000 less than it had paid to buy the property at foreclosure. In a third instance, the seller took a $150,000 haircut after owning the home for only two months.

One constant stands out between July 2009 and most of the 18 preceding editions of this column: Folks who can shell out the kind of money it takes to make our list tend to be interesting people. Along with CEOs, other senior corporate types and a physician, we round out the roster with one of the hottest names in country music. Read on to find out who.

Largest single-family home purchases recorded in Davidson and neighboring counties in July 2009, ranked by dollar value:

1. 1078 Vaughn Crest Drive, Franklin, 37064
Buyers: Vicki L. & Rodney B. Mott Sr., as trustees of trusts in their names
Sale price: $6 million
Seller: Charles R. Carroll
Agent for both sides: Bill E. Henson Jr. (Silverpointe Properties)

In the priciest transaction since the debut “Headline Homes” column came out in January 2008, former steel magnate Rod Mott and his wife make their second headliner buy in a year. Their purchase of a $3.4 million home for a family member, also in Williamson County, made the list last December. At the time, Mott told The City Paper that he and his wife liked Middle Tennessee and might move to the area eventually from their home on the South Carolina coast.

Mott was CEO of International Steel Group Inc. when Mittal Steel Co. bought it in 2005, and he took the helm of then-bankrupt Canadian steel producer Stelco Inc. the next year to lead a turnaround effort that culminated in its sale to United States Steel Corp. in 2007. Toronto’s Globe and Mail estimated that those two takeovers were worth a total of about $109 million to Mott personally.

The Motts’ new digs appear impressive even by the over-the-top standards of the gated Laurelbrooke enclave in which they are situated. In almost 20,600 square feet of living space, according to the property listing, are rooms with dimensions like 40 by 28 and 34 by 18 feet. Apart from all the usual comforts of home, this one includes a full guest suite, a “summer kitchen,” a “chef’s kitchen,” a wine cellar, a theater, a fitness center with sauna and a bowling alley. Outside is a three-tiered, cascading pool.

Carroll, who built and sold Nashville-based Integrated Biometric Technology Inc. some years ago, is now CEO of ASET Corp., based in Dayton, Ohio, where he was once a police officer. ASET’s Web site says it helps corporate clients deal with security concerns related to “labor disputes, plant closures, executive protection and workplace violence issues.”

He originally listed the home at $7.25 million and had it on the market for almost four months before it went under contract. Williamson County property records show that he bought it for $6.55 million in December 2005.

2. 1228 Canterbury Drive, 37205
Buyer: Little Harpeth LLC (for Richard W. & Andrea Waitt Carlton)
Sale price: $5.25 million
Sellers: David & Mary Catherine McClellan
Agent for both sides: Steve G. Fridrich (Fridrich & Clark Realty)

Rick and Andrea Carlton herald their arrival in Nashville from Santa Fe, N.M. with not one but two big home purchases — see also next item. Rick Carlton has been a successful real estate developer out west. The Carltons will fit right in to Nashville’s remarkable tradition of serving as an ATM for Republican politicians nationwide. They have donated some $214,000 to GOP entities and candidates since 2004. They can no doubt expect a call from party über-fundraiser Ted Welch.

Their new Belle Meade home is a showplace. It made the cover of interior design magazine Veranda in 2002, a couple of years after healthcare investor David McClellan and his wife commissioned architectural firm McAlpine Tankersley and designer Landy Gardner to create it. The Mediterranean-style residence features oaken doors and fireplace stone both imported from the English Cotswolds, as well as other materials sourced in Italy, Spain and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

3. 6460 and 6532 Edinburgh Drive, 37221
Buyer: Little Harpeth LLC (for Richard W. & Andrea Waitt Carlton)
Sale price: $2.9 million
Sellers: R. Bryan & Carole C. Easterling; John H. Tunstall
Sellers’ agent: Eric & Ria H. Grasman (Fridrich & Clark Realty)
Buyers’ agent: Steve G. Fridrich (Fridrich & Clark Realty)

The 52-acre tract the Carltons have purchased along the Little Harpeth River includes a 7,800-square-foot home, along with plenty of room to build an even grander abode, should they be so inclined.

4. 2005 Cromwell Drive, 37215
Buyers: Rafael A. & Karla D. Calderon
Sale price: $1.775 million
Builder/sellers: Kevin D. & Trina M. Montgomery
Sellers’ agent: Richard B. French (French Christianson Patterson)
Buyers’ agent: Gary Ashton (Re/Max Elite)

Teardowns in the Kingsbury-Cromwell area of Forest Hills, many of whose ranch houses were built in the 1950s and ’60s, have been rare to date. But Kevin Montgomery took down the original house at this address in 2007 to construct this 8,400-square-foot residence. Listed at $1.999 million, it sold after six months on the market.

A person named Karla Calderon is vice president for merchandising at the Kirkland’s Inc. retail chain, which has moved several of its execs from Jackson, Tenn. to Nashville in the past couple of years. Perhaps more coincidentally, two men named Rafael A. Calderón, father and son, have served as president of Costa Rica.

5. 4300 Iroquois Ave., 37205
Buyers: Herbert & Patricia Ligon
Sale price: $1.695 million
Seller: Pinnacle National Bank
Seller’s agent: Steve G. Fridrich (Fridrich & Clark Realty)
Buyers’ agent: Lisa Fernandez-Wilson (Fridrich & Clark Realty)

The bank took title to this spec home, at the northwest corner of Iroquois and Lynnwood, for $1.99 million last October after foreclosing on builder W&N Investments LLC.

6. 5142 Remington Drive, Brentwood, 37027
Buyers: Jason K. & Carrie Haslam
Sale price: $1.649 million
Seller: Distinctive Design Homes Inc.
Seller’s agent: Sam Jovanov (French Christianson Patterson)
Buyers’ agent: Amy Feldhacker (Zeitlin & Co. Realtors)

If the address of this house in the Princeton Hills subdivision looks familiar, you may be recalling it from May’s “Headline Homes.” Builder Distinctive Design Homes bought it from the folks who purchased a $3.9 million palace that had been on the market for a long time. Immediately after paying $1.8 million for it, Distinctive Design listed it for $1.65. It sold in 53 days, with Distinctive Design providing $1.474 million in seller financing.

Jason Haslam is an orthopedic surgeon in Nashville.

7. 112 Church St., Franklin, 37064
Buyer: Still House Hollow Farms LP 
Sale price: $1.569 million
Builder/seller: Forte Building Group LLC 
Seller’s agent: Laura Baugh (Worth Properties)
Buyers’ agent: Douglas K. Lackey (The Realty Association)

This three-story townhome in the Brownstones looks like a convenient pied-à-terre for Carl T. Haley Jr., registered agent of Still House Hollow Farms, who owns a lush farmstead on Still House Hollow Road out near Leiper’s Fork. 

Haley was among the investors in AIM Healthcare Services Inc. who cashed out in June, when a unit of insurer UnitedHealth Group paid a reported $430 million for the medical payment auditing firm.

8. 4321 Esteswood Drive, 37215
Buyer: Todd J. Vasos
Sale price: $1.498 million
Builder/seller: Divine Renovation Builders Inc.
Agents: None of record

Late last year, Dollar General Corp. named Vasos division president and chief merchandising officer for its 8,300-store network. He is relocating from the San Francisco Bay Area.

9. 3228 Kinnard Springs Road, Franklin, 37064
Buyers: Bethany T. Cook & Brian A. Sharp
Sale price: $1.495 million
Sellers: Paul W. & Kayleen Warden
Sellers’ agent: Bill E. Henson Jr. (Silverpointe Properties)
Buyers’ agent: Pam Tyson (Silverpointe Properties)

Cook and Sharp, who are married to each other, are both with Brentwood’s Prime Health Services, a managed care company — Cook as vice president and Sharp as CEO.

10. 4410 Granny White Pike, 37204
Buyer: James H. Cheek IV, trustee
Sale price: $1.425 million
Sellers: Jackie Miller & Robert Stutts
Sellers’ agent: Jack S. Miller (Bob Parks Realty)
Buyers’ agent: Laura McSpadden (Fridrich & Clark Realty)

This Mission-style stucco home was built around 1930. In addition to renovating the existing structure, Miller & Stutts added a guest house and saltwater pool.

Public records don’t spell out whom Jamie Cheek represented as trustee in the purchase, but there are clues. We know he is a partner in the business-management firm Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, whose personnel routinely serve as trustees on real estate purchases by country stars. We can see that whoever drafted the deed of trust on the $825,000 mortgage the purchaser took out on this property helpfully added the header “BENTLEY” at the top of each page. 

A source on Music Row confirms to us that the new owner is, in fact, one-time Vanderbilt SAE fratboy turned country hit-spinner Dierks Bentley.

Nashville CityPaper article by E. Thomas Wood

Are we there yet?

The road to recovery for Nashville’s housing market has been long and bumpy, and it’s impossible to tell for sure whether conditions are improving enough to declare that we have made it through the worst of the economic slump. But this month’s Headline Homes may be at least a slightly positive indicator.

June sales numbers released by the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors last week showed a shallower year-over-year decline in home prices than seen in previous months. And while there were 19 percent fewer sale closings in June 2009 than in June 2008, the total number of sales crept above 2,000 for the first time since last September.

On the other hand, a City Paper analysis found that initial foreclosure filings in Davidson County spiked dramatically higher last month, from 318 in May to 459 in June.

So it’s anyone’s guess whether the housing market for most of us in Nashville is really healing itself, but among the upper crust, conditions do seem to be stabilizing. June’s Headline Homes have an average price of $1.58 million, up 11 percent from May’s average. May’s list included four houses that sold for under $1 million, with the last house on the list a mere $840,000 sale. The June list bottoms out at $1.2 million.

Buyers this month include a new Tennessee Titan, a country songwriter, various corporate officers and — just when we were looking for one — an expert on cloned muscarinic receptor subtypes.

Largest single-family home purchases recorded in Davidson and neighboring counties in June 2009, ranked by dollar value:

1. 300 White Swans Crossing, Brentwood, 37027
Buyer: Tammy Matthews
Sale price: $2.095 million
Seller: Higham Management Inc.
Seller’s agents: Janice R. Lovvorn (Fridrich & Clark Realty) & Laura Baugh (Worth Properties)
Buyer’s agent: Laura Baugh (Worth Properties)

Complete with three-story elevator, catering kitchen, media room and guest quarters with a private entrance, this 9,000-square-foot house sits on two acres of what used to be the Goldston spread along Old Hickory Boulevard. The seller started out asking $2.54 million, and the place spent 13 months on the market.

No legal documents are on file to indicate that buyer Matthews took out a mortgage, so this may have been a cash purchase.

2. 3912 Wayland Drive, 37215
Buyers: Christopher & Janet R. Wall
Sale price: $1.84 million
Sellers: Caroline B. & Thomas W. Cook III
Sellers’ agents: Caroline Cook & Linda M. Elder (Worth Properties)
Buyers’ agent: Elaine Reed (Worth Properties)

The real estate listing for this property says seller Thomas Cook built it in 2006 as his family’s own home. It sits on a 1.3 acre lot in Forest Hills.

3. 6440 Edinburgh Drive, 37221
Buyer: Sandra Cornelius
Sale price: $1.7 million
Seller: James W. Carell
Seller’s agent: Richard B. French (French Christianson Patterson)
Buyer’s agents: Laura McSpadden & Corinne Barfield (Fridrich & Clark Realty)

The listing terms this one an “equestrian estate.” Arrayed on 14 acres at the Davidson-Williamson County line are a 7,300-square-foot home in “French Normandy style” and a barn/office with another 2,300 square feet of space. 

Sandra Cornelius is married to Brett James Cornelius, the country singer/songwriter who performs under the stage name Brett James.

Carell runs home-health company CareAll Management. He was recently in the news after federal authorities sued him, claiming the company billed Medicare for more than $6 million in inappropriate costs. His attorney denied any wrongdoing, saying it was actually the government that owes Carell money.

4. 9533 Sunbeam Court, Brentwood, 37027
Buyer: Nathaniel Washington
Sale price: $1.599 million
Sellers: Barry S. & Rebecca A. Callahan
Agent for both sides: Gania Clayton (Fridrich & Clark Realty)

Nate Washington joined the Titans as a wide receiver earlier this year, inking a six-year, $27 million deal as a free agent after earning two Super Bowl rings in his four years with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

5. 4420 Warner Place, 37205
Buyers: Catherine E. & Toby S. Wilt Jr.
Sale price: $1.5 million
Sellers: Julie D. & Thomas F. Frist III
Agents: none of record

The eldest son of HCA co-founder Tommy Frist Jr. and his wife sell their venerable Belle Meade home to the son of well-known Nashville investor Toby Wilt. In 2005, the younger Frists paid $7.5 million for the late banker Sam Fleming’s former place just down the street, at 810 Jackson Blvd. Renovations to that home have been underway for some time.

6. 283 Jones Parkway, Brentwood, 37027
Buyers: Kevin J. & Pamela J. Tyner
Sale price: $1.499 million
Builder/seller: Dan Stern Homes Inc.
Agent for both sides: Dana B. Stern (Pilkerton Realtors)

According to his bio at the social networking site LinkedIn.com, Kevin Tyner is chief financial officer of Nashville-based Document Solutions Inc.

7. 1465 Willowbrooke Circle, Franklin, 37067
Buyers: Timothy J. & Alison Pagliara
Sale price: $1.46 million
Sellers: Burt J. & Mary C. Wilson Living Trusts
Agents: no information available

Timothy Pagliara is managing partner at Capital Trust Wealth Management in Franklin.

8. 2308 Firefly Court, Franklin, 37069
Buyers: Mark A. & S.V. Penelope Jones
Sale price: $1.45 million
Builder/seller: Oak Tree Builders Inc.
Seller’s agent: Dee Russell (Realty Executives)
Buyers’ agent: Tim Thompson (ERA Johnson & Thompson Inc.)

A promotional video posted in November 2007 shows that this house was priced at $2.15 million then. Within its 7,100 square feet are five bedrooms, five full bathrooms and two half-baths. It sits on 11 acres in the Two Rivers Subdivision.

Someone named S.V. Penelope Jones was on the psychiatry faculty at the University of California-San Diego earlier this decade and has published a number of papers with titles like “Cloned Muscarinic Receptor Subtypes Expressed in A9 Cells Differ in Their Coupling to Electrical Responses.”

9. 4910 Maymanor Circle, 37205
Buyers: Frances J. & Albert E. Ambrose Jr.
Sale price: $1.45 million
Sellers: David H. & Linda B. Rue
Sellers’ agent: Amanda Wachtler (Pilkerton Realtors)
Buyers’ agent: Jamie Granbery (Pilkerton Realtors)

Albert Ambrose, who comes from a family that has been in the printing business in Nashville since the mid-19th century, is president of E.T. Lowe Publishing, a typographer and output service bureau founded in 1906.

Last spring, Bass Berry & Sims hired David Rue to serve as managing director of its corporate and securities and health care practices — even though he is not a practicing attorney.

10. 3033 Flagstone Drive, Franklin, 37069
Buyers: Jack E. & Beverly C. Polson
Sale price: $1.2 million
Seller: Kevin J. & Pamela J. Tyner
Agents: no information available

Jack Polson is executive vice president and chief accounting officer for Franklin-based Psychiatric Solutions Inc.

Luxist.com / BusinessWeek RSS feed by Diedre Wollard

For a while the Eagle’s Nest property in Franklin, Tennessee was the most expensive property in the area (it was listed at $33 million last year but is now down to $29.5 million). But now the Real Estalker reveals that country singer Alan Jackson has topped the market in Franklin by putting his huge home up for sale. Jackson’s palace is 19,000 square feet with six bedrooms on 135 acres of land. The property includes a stocked lake with a boat house, three ponds, a 20-car garage, separate gym, a two-bedroom log cabin and more. Jackson and his wife Denise built the home known as Sweetbriar which has a hotel-like feel. The main home has a huge home theater and a downstairs recreation area with a full bar.

An expansive virtual tour can be found here. The log cabin just might be the most charming part of this property. It’s got a great balcony perched right over the Harpath river and a small kitchen stocked with vintage-looking appliances. The home is hugely impressive but the question is whether anyone needs a home of this size and scale anymore and if they will pay $38 million to live in Franklin, Tennessee. Given that Eagle’s Nest has been on the market for around a year, I’m guessing we’ll be seeing Jackson cut his price by at least $5 million within six months.

I’d already blogged about the fact that Alan Jackson and his family were considering downsizing and getting out from under the monster that is Sweetbriar. And now, we have the actual listing sheet. You know, the sheet you carry around with you while you are looking at the house, asking how the water pressure is and if the roof is a tear-off and what the school district’s like. Things to make you sound like a prospective buyer of this $38 million crib on the Harpeth River in Franklin, Tenn. Be sure to check out the pictures, too, just to see how lucrative it was for Jackson to have gone country. Gawk all you want here, but only schedule an appointment with the realtor if you’re serious about the purchase. Seriously.

Nashville CityPaper article by E. Thomas Wood

You can sell a house for $3.9 million in today’s Nashville-area housing market. But you may not enjoy the experience. 

Read on, and spare a little sympathy for the builders and real estate professionals in our midst.

Largest single-family home transactions recorded in Davidson and neighboring counties in May 2009, ranked by dollar value:

1. 28 Governors Way, Brentwood, 37027
Buyers: Jerry A. & Suzanne Matthews
Sale price: $3.9 million
Builder/Seller: Distinctive Design Homes Inc.
Sellers’ agent: Paula Duvall (Fridrich & Clark Realty)
Buyers’ agent: Sam Jovanov (French Christianson Patterson)

So, first the builder put this 14,650-square-foot, 22-room palace in the gated Governors Club, with a “panoramic view of the 18th hole” of the club’s golf course, on the market for $4.2 million in January 2007. A year and a half later, the builder dropped the price to $4 million. In January of this year, the builder re-listed the property at $3.9 million with an offer to provide up to $3 million in seller financing at a 5 percent interest rate.

Ultimately, Distinctive Design sealed the deal by making a loan of $2.6 million to the buyers and also buying their old home for $1.8 million (see next item on our list) — and then listing it to sell at less than that price.

2. 5142 Remington Drive, Brentwood, 37027
Buyer: Distinctive Design Homes Inc.
Sale price: $1.8 million
Sellers: Jerry A. & Suzanne Matthews
Agents: Sam Jovanov (French Christianson Patterson)

Distinctive Design (see above) has now listed this home in the Princeton Hills development at $1.65 million.

3. 200 Emily Court, Franklin, 37064
Buyer: Pinnacle National Bank
Sale price: $1.45 million
Seller: Wesley D. Turner, trustee in foreclosure against Bernie G. Butler Jr. & Diane S. Butler
Agents: None of record

Pinnacle takes title in foreclosure to one of the units in downtown Franklin’s picturesque Brownstones, developed by Bernie Butler. The place is on the market presently for $2.3 million.

4. 116 Clydelan Court, 37205
Buyers: Joseph A. & Chris C. Hills
Sale price: $1.3 million
Builder/sellers: Cynthia D. & William T. Austin
Sellers’ agent: Betty Wentworth (Zeitlin & Co. Realtors)
Buyers’ agent: Ellen Christianson (French Christianson Patterson)

Cynthia Austin pulled the permit to build this house on a teardown lot in Belle Meade. The 6,700-square-foot house, on a dead-end street near Cheekwood, was first put on sale for $1.875 million in May 2008. Its sales price came in 30 percent under that figure.

Joe Hills is vice president for sales and distribution with the Tennessee Lottery, and Chris Hills is a senior vice president at Willis Risk Solutions.

5. 726 Sinclair Circle, Brentwood, 37027
Buyers: Douglas A. & Antonia Silva-Hale
Sale price: $1.195 million
Sellers: Kenneth H. & Edith M. Trader
Sellers’ agent: Suzan Hindman (Prudential Woodmont Realty)
Buyers’ agent: Gail Greil (Zeitlin & Co. Realtors)

Another Princeton Hills home here. With six bedrooms and six and a half bathrooms, it sold in two months at only a modest discount to its original price of $1.285 million.

Antonia Silva-Hale is a physician who was serving as an aerospace medicine flight commander in the U.S. Air Force when she received an honorary doctorate from Regis College in Weston, Mass. in 2000, according to a Boston Herald article from that year. A native of the Dominican Republic, she had risen to the rank of colonel in the USAF.

6. 824 Redwood Drive, 37220
Buyer: Aurora Loan Services LLC
Sale Price: $1.057 million
Seller: Shellie Wallace, trustee in foreclosure against Rodney & Melissa Davis and RM Enterprises Group LLC
Agents: None of record

This spec home in Oak Hill was on the market last summer for $1.5 million. Aurora, the lender taking back the title to the property, used to be known as Lehman Brothers Bank — a still-operating affiliate of the collapsed Lehman Brothers financial empire.

7. 7 Medalist Court, Brentwood, 37027
Buyers: Robert G. & Jane D. Jackson
Sale price: $900,000
Sellers: Richard J. & Abby Panner
Sellers’ agent: Jennie Clements (Prudential Woodmont Realty)
Buyers’ agent: Doris Marlow (Keller Williams Realty)

Here’s another tough sales story from the Governors Club. Listing records show that this property went on the market last September at $1.3 million and — with the sellers offering an extra incentive of $5,000 to go toward golf club dues — ultimately sold at a 30 percent discount. The price works out to $120 per square foot.

8. 6348 Chickering Circle, 37215
Buyers: Thomas Tesauro and Audrey H. Kang
Sale price: $899,000
Seller: Ron Wood
Seller’s agent: Joe Woods (Village Real Estate Services)
Buyers’ agent: Melissa Archer (Cobalt Premier Properties)

This one sits on five acres at the Davidson/Williamson county line and features — if the number on the listing form was not a misprint — a seven-car garage.

The buyers are both Nashville physicians.

9. 3514 Hampton Ave., 37215
Buyer: Clark Elam Harwell
Sale price: $855,000
Seller: John Denson, as trustee of the John Denson Revocable Living Trust
Seller’s agent: Melissa & Andy Clough (Keller Williams Realty)
Buyer’s agent: not available

10. 110 Middleton Circle, 37215
Buyer: Christopher J. & Kimberly R. Sigmund
Sale price: $840,000
Sellers: Kathryn L. & Donald F. Berschback
Sellers’ agent: Sidney McAlister (BrokerSouth Real Estate Partners)
Buyers’ agent: Buyers’ agent: Evelyn Rogers (Harpeth Co.)