TV star house for sale

Three years after construction and hundreds of series replays later, the HGTV Dream House that sits atop Stringer's Ridge is once again up for sale.

The 7,800-square-foot residence - built by general contractor B.R. Smith for his daughter, Kelli Smith, and her then-fiancé James Ladd - was initially meant for the newly engaged couple, but after 18 months of construction and taping, the pair broke off the engagement. The house went on the market in 2007 shortly after the TV show wrapped, but when it didn't sell, Kelli Smith decided to move into it on a trial basis, her father said.

"It's too large of a home for one person, so that's the reason for selling it," B.R. Smith said of the five-story house.

About two weeks ago, the five bedroom, 41/2 bathroom house went back on the market, with an asking price of $1.2 million - down from $1.35 million when it was for sale in May 2007.

B.R. Smith said with the resurgence of banks' willingness to back jumbo loans - mortgage loans greater than $417,000 - the down housing market and recession won't have much of an impact on selling the house.

From the business side of it, he said it would be hard to sell a large home without a jumbo loan. "I think we have it priced really well," he said.

Gail Hunter, a Realtor for Re/Max Properties, said she has already received several inquiries on the home and has shown it to a couple of prospective buyers.

"The people who have the money to buy this kind of home, still have the money to buy this kind of home," she said. "With all the new people coming from Volkswagen, Alstom and all these new companies, we're getting people from outside of our local people that are coming in as well, and this isn't necessarily a huge number for them."

Though the average home price in Chattanooga is about $130,000, Chattanooga Association of Realtors President Randy Durham said there is still demand for seven-figure dwellings in the area. When priced competitively, he said, they usually sell within a year.

"That's one thing you've got to keep in mind - it's going to take some time," Durham said.

The decision to put the home up for sale was a tough one, B.R. Smith said. In the three years since it was built, the family has held several events at the home and still has fond memories of the time and effort put into building the house and taping the show.

"We all enjoyed it," he said. "We had a good time. It looked like we weren't having a good time, but we were having a great time on the TV show. ... It was a hard decision, because there's a lot of history here."

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