Quintessential Southern belle, Oscar-winning actor Reese Witherspoon is planning to completely renovate a historic mansion she bought earlier in 2014 in the town of her birth - Nashville, Tennessee.
Built by an established and very prominent Nashville family, the property was first put on the market last year.
It was snapped up by Lee Beaman and his wife, Kelley Beaman, whose business Beaman Automotive does trades in Toyota, Ford, Buick, Scion, Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, and Ram vehicles in the greater Nashville area.
The couple's desire was to save it from being bulldozed and replaced by a mega modern mansion and after their purchase they did some basic maintenance - including painting the interior, refurbishing the hardwood floors and ripping out the old kitchen and the bathrooms.
Most importantly they also put in place a deed restriction on the building, which has barred any future owners from destroying it and building a new house.
In July this year Witherspoon purchased the four-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom, 3,855sq ft home for $1.95 million.
Stately home
Stately in appearance, this white house is at the end of a very long driveway that leads into the 6.5-acre estate in the high end, exclusive Oak Hill area. The governor of Tennessee’s own mansion is literally around the corner.
With an elegant staircase, a panelled library and three fireplaces - despite the work of the Beaman's earlier in the year - the property still requires extensive renovations.
The kitchen is still in need of replacement. The flooring is missing and there are no appliances whatsoever, though there is some wall paper on the walls.
Witherspoon, whose parents still live in the Nashville area, should not be short of the money for the work that needs doing as the actress has put her estate in Los Angeles on the market for $10.5 million.
Witherspoon - who says her Hip Hop name would be “Little Spoon” - was recently interviewed by Vogue magazine inside the Spanish-style house in the San Francisco Bay area of Brentwood in California.
Laid back
It looks very laid-back and extremely comfortable so should fetch the asking price. There is a small guesthouse by the pool, a natural stream runs through the middle of the estate's grounds, and there is a trampoline in the backyard
Off the front entrance there is a living room which has a fireplace, as well as lots of bookshelves (Witherspoon has been reading Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty), and a grand piano in one corner: As well as selling the Brentwood home Witherspoon has also dispensed with her country estate retreat in Ojai . But she had to sell it at a loss.
From the outside the Ojai Valley property had appeared to be worth every cent of its $10 million price back in September 2012.
Unfortunately for the star, Witherspoon had to part company with the retreat in the outlying area of Venture County for around $4.98 million - less than 50% of her original asking price and $1 million less than she had paid for the estate back in March 2008.
Comments