Gone with the Wind (on a Bargain Basement Budget)

‘Antebellum style’ residence in Tennessee that looks like a ‘bargain basement budget’ ‘Gone with the Wind’ house for sale for just £128,000

Slammed in the Facebook group ‘Vintage Houses For Sale – Pre 1940s’ as “looking like it’s wearing a giant sombrero,” an ‘antebellum style’ house in Ridgley, Tennessee has gone on sale for just £128,700 ($179,900).

Extending to 3,632 square foot in total and on a plot of just under an acre, 221 Poplar Street is marketed by agents Carousel Realty as “gorgeous” and built in 1910. It was last sold in 2008 for just £42,900 ($60,000) and this time comes with “all furniture and antique furniture.”

Very much having the appearance of a ‘bargain basement budget’ version of “frankly my dear” Rhett Butler’s mansion in the 1939 movie adaptation of Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel, 221 Poplar Street’s wrap-around-porch has most definitely got ‘Marmite-like’ qualities. Of it, on Facebook, one commentator remarked: “It looks like a house in a cage” whilst another concluded: “I just love it.”

Situated in the Lake County area, where the militant ‘Night Riders of Reelfoot Lake’ tobacco farmers took on the monopolistic American Tobacco Company in the early 1900s and where between 1877 and 1950 thirteen black people were tragically lynched, the population makeup of the locality according to the 2000 census was 67% white and 31% black or African American.

The Public’s Take…

• “Is this the house from Dallas?”
• “Looks like a mortuary.”
• “Looks like a houseboat.”
• “Looks like the Flying Nun!”
• “Looks like a house in a cage.”
• “Looks like Amazon just delivered it.”
• “Reminds me of a ‘Tara’ recreation, circa 1960s-1970s.”
• “Is there an actual house in there somewhere or is it just a porch?”
• “What’s with the flat roof? You could land a helicopter on that thing.”
• “That veranda is a bit much.”
• “Does it come with the dog statue?”
• “Can they still advertise antebellum [in the new ‘woke’ age]?”
• “Poor photography. This is what happens when a realtor uses their phone for photos.”

The Numbers – 221 Poplar Street, Ridgely, Lake County, Tennessee, TN 38080, United States of America

March 2021 – For sale for £128,700 ($179,900, €150,100 or درهم660,700) or the equivalent of £36 per square foot ($50, €42 or درهم184 per square foot). Offered by realtor Karen Paschall of Carousel Realty of Dyer County at a sum 200% more than the December 2008 sale price.

December 2008 – Sold for £42,900 ($60,000, €50,000 or درهم220,400) or the equivalent of £12 per square foot ($17, €14 or درهم62 per square foot).