Monday, November 30, 2009

Faith Hill and Tim McGraw List Belle Meade Manse

SELLERS: Faith Hill and Tim McGraw
LOCATION: Chickering Lane, Nashville, TN
PRICE: Your Mama Don't Know
SIZE: 6,430 square feet, 6 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: n/a

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Late last night, after a long drive that followed a longer weekend of festivities, family, several turkeys, a sizable sack of salt water taffy and far too many gin & tonics, Your Mama received a covert communique from Vlad the Revealer who pointed us toward the Nashville estate of country music mega-stars Faith Hill and Tim McGraw who appear to have put their plush property up for sale.

It certainly makes sense that the Hill-McGraws would sell their Chickering Lane estate since they've spent years and many millions building a new nest on nearby Crater Hill Drive in which they can house their boat load of Grammies, CMAs, AMAs, ACMs, and People's Choice Awards. However, Your Mama has yet to locate a complete listing or even an actual asking price for the Hill-McGraw mansion located in the swanky neighborhood of Nashville known as Belle Meade. So, although we'd bet our long bodied bitches Linda and Beverly that the property is for sale, we can't yet say it's for sale without also offering this caveat: It may or may not be for sale after all. Okay? We'll try and get that bit of confusion cleared up soon.

Anyhoo, property records and previous reports reveal the Nashville nobles purchased the 4.22 acre property in December of 2004 for $2,550,000. Records show the quasi-rural, pastoral and bew-collick estate spreads across 4.22 acres and includes a center hall, antebellum-style mansion–or is it a colonial revival number?–built in 1934 that measures a sizable 6,430 square feet and includes 6 bedrooms and 6 poopers.

A long flight of wide brick stairs leads from the driveway to the front door which is tucked into a double height portico held up by six spindly columns that Your Mama could probably snap with one swift kick iffin we were inclined and angry enough. Inside, the wood floors have been ebonized that gives the historically minded architecture a slight touch of the contemporary and allows all the mostly tan, taupe and beige day-core a dark base on which to stand out. The Hill-McGraw's nice, gay decorator–or skilled ladee dee-ziner–has used the entrance hall to successfully set the mansion's decorative mood which Your Mama might describe as updated traditional merged with some much welcomed and needed modern moments.

The entrance hall splits the home down the middle and is sparsely furnished but exuberantly decorated with a wonderfully worn and perfectly sized rug in shades of cafe au lait and beige, a couple of ridiculously over-sized, tulip-like stone urns sitting on chunky pedestals and four serpentine sconces that are, rather strangely, affixed to the double doors that open to the formal living and dining rooms. A tightly curving and terrifically southern staircase opposite the front door has wood treads covered with a beige runner and swoops up to the bedrooms on the second floor.

The formal living room, missing a coffee table on which to set cocktails and done in a number of shades of beige, has just enough black or nearly black accents–the wood flooring, fireplace surround, lamp shades and wing back chairs–to keep the room from visually evaporating into a giant field of ecru nothingness. Even still, the symmetrically placed furniture is an undeniably dee-lishus mix of clean lined modern things such as the long library table cleverly placed in front of the multi-paned floor to ceiling window and updated traditional pieces such as the wing back chairs that flank the fireplace. Your Mama would bet our bank account the rug is hand woven silk and feels heavenly under a bare foot. Like the living room, the dining room day-core also follows a mostly symmetrical pattern and also has a magnificently long library table, only this one with spiral carved legs set cleverly in front of the window.

Modern and traditional elements meet in the kitchen as well. There is a black and white tile floor, lavishly expensive stainless steel appliances including two refrigerators and a double wide range with more burners and griddles than a private chef could ever want. There are two work islands, one a chunky, glossy black that is threatened with bodily harm and a cracked counter top by a linear pot rack and the other, a spare, lab table like thing lit by two simple drum shade light fixtures. Along the window wall, custom build cabinetry gives the eyeballs a good and need zapping with it's fire engine red color.

The kitchen's tile floor continues into a crisp but still cozy family room area with dramatically high ceilings and a couple of massive, winter white chaise chairs for boob-toob viewing placed in front of a huge and glossy black cabinet with glass fronted shelving. A nearby room, let's call it the sun room, retains its original and marvelous architectural detailing in the form of a coffered ceiling and elaborate corbels–that Your Mama hopes are plaster–and opens to the side terrace through at least seven massive, arched French doors .

The side terrace, which has a roof of fabric panels that can be pulled open or closed to ward off the harmful rays of the steaming summer sunshine, spills down to the simply shaped and enormous rectangular swimming pool. Brick and stone terracing surrounds the swimming pool and instead of chaise lounges the Hill-McGraws and their team of decorators have chosen chunky sectional sofas for lounging and sunbathing. Two adjacent pavilions, connected by a vine covered pergola, have a distinct John Woolf/Hollywood Regency thing going on and Your Mama can only hope and pray these pavilions provide poolside poopers and wet bars so swimmers and sunbathers need not trot up to the house in order to make use of a terlit or mix a mid-day cocktail. An outdoor shower has been installed near the pool and children, there is little Your Mama likes more than an outdoor shower. If y'all haven't experienced that bit of summertime bliss you really should. The Hill-McGraw's outdoor shower consists of a brick wall and curtains that can be pulled closed along the circular bar for privacy.

Your Mama presumes that the Hill-McGraws will be moving to their new Nashville estate over on Crater Hill Drive which they've been custom building since 2004 when they bought the hilltop property for $3,000,000 and took out another $12,000,000 to build the damn thing. According to the good folks at Virtual Globetrotting, Mister and Missus Hill-McGraw also own a farm in Williamson County's Bear Creek Road that they picked up in 2001 and which was formerly owned by country music legend Hank Williams Sr.

Records and previous reports also show that in addition to the comely country couple's Nashville area properties, they also have a big house in Beverly Hills. Located behind the gates of the fancy-schmacy Beverly Park community, the 10,000+ square foot, 6 bedroom and 7.5 bathroom beast was first listed in October of 2008 at $14,800,000 and remains listed as the "Best Deal In Beverly Park" at $10,800,000.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Given that they're country western folk, and I think it's safe to say that as a group these folk are not exactly known for elevated design aesthetics, Tim and Faith display amazingly/surprisingly good taste in this house. Yeah, we all know about the nice gay decorator but they had to at least "get it" enough to hire the nice gay decorator. If the house is not officially on the market, exactly where did these pictures come from? Perhaps a magazine layout, but not credited?

Madam Pince said...

This is what I'd expect from Tim & Faith -- good taste. Although those front steps make me dizzy -- I'd need a bourbon & ginger ale by the time I reached the top.

StPaulSnowman said...

Josh was painfully smarmy tonight, Chad truly believes in himself and Madison just plain looked constipated while answering listing questions..............this show is the best!

Anonymous said...

Every week that Chad keeps getting weirder and weirder. "My real estate partner Starla"??????????

Anonymous said...

Well, even Starla knows "Talk is Cheap!"

Anonymous said...

The MDL "boys" are suffering from extreme immaturity disorder. God bless 'em.

Kissyface said...

"...they also have a big house in Beverly Hills. Located behind the gates of the fancy-schmacy Beverly Park community ...

Mama!!! No! No! No! No! I know Mama is suffering from G&T toxicity cross addicted with salt water taffy poisining, and normally I would prefer to pull out all my fingernails with a pair of plyers rather than pipe up impertinently to correct Yo-Sacred-But-Fun-Luvin'-Mama. But I cannot remain silent! I have to SURVIVE! So I MUST say it:

Beverly Park is NOT in Beverly Hills.

There, I feel so much better now. The crisis is past. Yes, Beverly Park carries a Beverly Hills post office address (90210 ZIP Code), but its located ENTIRELY within the city of Los Angeles. It's between Mulholland Drive and Sunset Boulevard and Coldwater Canyon Drive and Beverly Glen Boulevard, east of the Beverly Glen neighborhood.

O, Mama. I'm so sorry!

Hugs and kisses through crinkly Sheila MacLean tears. XXXXX OOOOOO

Anonymous said...

Wow, chic even by NYC or LA standards, let alone Nashville. I wouldn't change a thing except for the urns in the foyer which are so over-scaled they give off an Alice in Wonderland, acid trip vibe.

Well the slowdown in CD sales hasn't slowed down Faith and Tim!

thetruth said...

Okay - someone please tell me why the rich-diculous insist on incorporating oversized statues like that stoooooopid rocking horse?

Anonymous said...

Quit hatin' on Chad!!!!!

Lisa in Dallas said...

This can't be their furniture. It looks like a nice gay decorator went on a gin & tonic binge and spent the staging money at somebody's vanilla garage sale.

Yuck to the ginormous things in the foyer and the super ginormous buffet in the dining room. I assume it's the dining room because it has such a cute "dinette" set on the wanky carpet.

Nope, they've moved on already and this is just an estate sale gone bad & I mean that in a bad way.

Montgala said...

I really don't understand why the "NGD" decided to hang sconces on the doors. That is BIZARRE.

StPaulSnowman said...

Looks like a great house in a wonderful setting. I agree about the scale of the urns. It looks like the ceiling heights, except for the entry hall, are too low for the overall proportions of the house. It is really great to see some detail in the exterior brickwork and the use of arches throughout..............."remembrance of things past".........I will bid on the Edwardian rocking horse if they have a garage sale.

Anonymous said...

I would like to see the style of their new manse. Something tells me, we may see a lot more "cowbell" there - heavy molding, brown colors, columns, and bay-dormer-nook signs of the trendy faux-tuscan "I have money" style. If the style of the new house is equally dignified, then I would have to concede that they do have some refinement... whether bred or purchased with their money, I don't care.

Anonymous said...

Does anybody have a link to the listing for their place in Bev Park? Like to see what was done there by the nice gay decorator/stager.

Anonymous said...

Mama, I just consulted my grammar book published by McGraw-Hill and learned that "it's" means "it is." Hope you enjoyed all the turkey as well as the gin & tonics. My verification word is "punctuation."

Anonymous said...

I don't know if it's true or not, but I've heard that Faith Hill is very adept at interior decorating, decorates their homes herself, and is in fact in demand among their friends as a decorator.....read it in several articles about them, and a couple of articles about others from Nashville who had her decorate their houses, supposedly.

Kissyface said...

Dear Anonymous of December 1, 2009 6:08 PM -

Yo Mama hisself already broke the McGraws-Hill/Beverly Park story way, way back on October 15, 2008, when THAT $$14,800,000 listing was heaved onto the market ("measures in at a relatively modest for Beverly Park 10,500 square feet"). Here's Mama's excellent post, with lots and lots of pictures:

http://realestalker.blogspot.com/2008/10/faith-hill-and-tim-mcgraw-list-beverly.html

Enjoy!

Now that we know how effective Mama can be ranting against the unclean evils of pear art wall hangings, I think these Bev Park pictures should serve as a reminder that truth, justice and beauty cry out together for an effective rant against plywood tables covered with drapery fabric all the way to the floor! Mama DOES note "a center table with two items Your Mama loathes: a balloon skirt and a cloying statue of an angel." But surely balloon skirted center tables are a big and common enough threat to global occular equipoise to warrant more of a rant than THAT!

O, and Mama, I still love you even though your internet security system is making me write out "istedie." What's "istedie?"

Hugs and kisses! XXXXXXXXXX OOOOOOOO

Anonymous said...

They seem like such nice people, and a great couple. But since our beloved and adored Mama's Beverly Park post I can't see a picture of Faith and/or Tim without thinking about their penis-shaped pool and the gay locker room. The combination with the balloon skirt and angel statues scarred me forever. If Faith publicly admits to thinking up any of those things, her head must be spinning faster than her character in Stepford Wives.

Anonymous said...

I'm a really big fan of YoMama and I am glad to see that so many people share my obsession with celebrity real estate! I debated leaving a post but I think your curiosity deserves to be satisfied. I cant say how I know BUT you can believe me! The interiors of the Beverly Park house and the Belle Meade house are by Landy Gardner. If he reads this blog it must make him cringe to see his "NGD" title because not only is he married but he is the choir director at a big PENTOCOSTAL church in Nashville. No, Faith does not do her own decorating and I dont think she decorates her friend's houses either. But she has the good taste to pay someone to design for her. Its surprising that IN THIS ECONOMY she even mentions her newly constructed Nashville house on ellen and martha stewart. Its NOT surprising that they've kept their equally new and equally expensive house on their private island in the bahamas quiet. Everyone here in nashville knows how much they both cost!

Todd R. said...

Ya know, for two successful country musicians as themselves, this is a rather modest home compared to most!