Willie Nelson’s former Tennessee home hits the market
The former home of country music legend Willie Nelson has been listed for sale, and the folklore surrounding it is just as interesting as the home itself.
According to property records, the 150-acre property and its pastures, woods, trails, and cabin have been owned by just two people, including the Georgia On My Mind singer.
“From what we can find from tax records, there have only been two owners. One is the current seller and different members of that family. And the other is Willie Nelson,” Ross Welch, one of the two Zeitlin Sotheby’s International Realty agents representing the property, said.
“This was one of the properties that the IRS seized when Willie was not paying taxes.”
Before the IRS seized the home in the early 1990s, Nelson lived there from the early 1960s.
After settling his tax debt in 1993, the property was returned to the family that had owned it, who then sold it on to the current owners.
“From what we have been told and what we’ve seen on tax records, it was seized by the IRS and then the IRS went back to the family that had previously owned it and asked if they wanted to buy it back for pennies on the dollar,” Matt Lawson, the second agent representing the home, explained.
Prior to its complicated ownership, Nelson built the property’s rustic log cabin, which features lime and mortar from the property in the shower and fireplace.
In 1970, another home on the property caught fire while the singer wasn’t inside, sparking the story in which he rushed home to rescue his beloved guitar Trigger and a pound of marijuana, per Taste of Country.
The events described in Nelson’s hit Shotgun Willie also reportedly took place while he lived at the home and earned him the nickname, though Lawson hasn’t found concrete evidence to confirm the stories.
“One of the biggest stories that I wish I had concrete proof of is that this is the place where he got the nickname ‘Shotgun Willie,’” he said.
“There’s a ton of just wild stories about him out there.”
The sprawling property has been listed for $2.5 million ($AUD 3.9 or $NZD 4.3 million).
Images: @willienelsonofficial (Instagram) / Realtor.com