The “Man in Black” must have been rather convincing in his heyday.
Then again, how could you refuse an offer from the legendary Johnny Cash? As the story goes, a man by the name of Braxton Dixon had bought a beautiful piece of land on Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville, Tennessee. The location was the definition of perfection, offering up scenic waterfront views all while still being around a 30-minute drive from Nashville.
Dixon was constructing the unique lakefront home for he and his family to live in. And when I say unique, I really mean it. According to the lore, that I discovered at the Johnny Cash Museum this past weekend, Dixon never had a blueprint for the home. He instead built the house portion-by-portion, doing what he felt was right and natural throughout the building process. Eventually, it all culminated in an exquisite home on 200 Caudill Drive.
So when Braxton Dixon got done with it, did he move he and his family into the house he had worked so hard on? Well, as surprising as this might sound, he ended up selling the home as he was still building it. That’s because Johnny Cash set his eyes on the structure and immediately fell in love with everything about it. So he convinced Dixon to sell it to him, and Cash ended up moving into the newly built masterpiece in 1968 instead of Dixon and his family.
And by “convinced,” I imagine it’s more like “paid a lot of money” to…
All in all, the 14,000 square foot house boasted seven bedrooms, massive windows to bring in both a ton of natural light and the scenic views of Lake Hickory, and even had various, picturesque gardens that were placed all across the breathtaking plot of land. The building materials used for the home were also uncommon, as the builder utilized reclaimed barn wood, marble and even featured incredible walls out of stone. Dixon also created rounded rooms throughout the bungalow, which if you are familiar with home building, can be a nightmare to plan and execute.
Cash moved into the house shortly before he got married to June Carter, and he and his wife called the Hendersonville lake house home for over 40 years. It’s rumored that the star-studded country music couple hosted countless musicians, distinguished dignitaries from all across the globe, and even a couple of different Presidents of the United States at their unique waterfront property. They were even happy to say hello to fans that walked by the home, considering it was just a part of a regular lakeside community and didn’t have a gate keeping anyone away from the house.
After Johnny and June both passed away in 2003, the lake house sat vacant for a number of years until Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees bought the house in 2006. The falsetto singer planned to spend a lot of time in the Nashville-area home, and looked forward to writing songs there as he looked across Old Hickory Lake.
However, as he was renovating the home, tragedy struck. Flammable preservatives that were being used on the home somehow sparked, and the house quickly caught fire and burnt to the ground.
Built by Braxton Dixon between 1968-1979, this was the home of Johnny and June for over 40 years. Barry Gibb of the 1970s pop group the Bee Gees bought the property in 2006 and planned to write songs there. The house unfortunately no longer stands, but the family spirit remains. pic.twitter.com/oJ7MGeLCRQ
— Johnny Cash (@JohnnyCash) March 30, 2019
One of the only things that survived the fire was the aforementioned stone wall that was included in the unique build. If you are to watch Johnny Cash’s iconic “Hurt” music video, you’ll actually see glimpses of the stone, since a majority of the footage was shot in the Hendersonville home’s lake side room. Gibb actually allowed for the Johnny Cash Museum in Downtown Nashville to excavate the stone wall from the property and place it in their exhibit.
That’s where its still on display today – right next to the portion of the museum that’s dedicated to the music video directed by Mark Romanek that so elegantly captured the lifetime essence of Johnny Cash:
