The son of June Carter and Johnny Cash was doing some reminiscing on his old childhood home this past weekend.
John Carter Cash, the only son of the iconic country music couple, took to social media to share a photo that perfectly encapsulates how time keeps charging forward. The singer-songwriter and musician was sent a photo of what used to be his childhood home on Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville, Tennessee (just 30 minutes or so from Nashville).
The historic home has quite the story, and now, it sits on the banks of the lake as a reminder of what used to be. In the picture below, you’ll see that whoever owns the lakefront property now has moved their house up onto the top of the hill, rather than down closer to the shore where June Carter and Johnny Cash’s house used to sit.
But the homeowner decided to leave the remnants of the Cash house standing, and anyone that rides by on the lake can see it… or even snap a picture of it. John Carter Cash thinks what they’ve done with the property is beautiful, as he explained in the caption of his post:
“The foundation in the foreground of this house is the old foundation for my childhood home. The building burned down some 20 years ago. The new house has been built on the top of the hill, I find it beautiful. Time moves on.”
Hard to argue with the “beautiful” analysis… the place is stunning.
That stone foundation has sat there since the 1960s, and it appears that it will sit there for years to come.
If you’ve never heard the story, Johnny Cash moved into the home in 1968 after he convinced a man by the name of Braxton Dixon that was building the home for himself to sell it to him instead.
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.
One of the only things that survived the fire was the aforementioned stone wall that was included in the unique build. It was sold in 2020 for $3.2 million dollars, and from the looks of the photo, the new owners are just about finished building in the iconic property. Of course, the famous Cash Cabin is located right nearby, and that piece of property is still owned by the Cash family.
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.
So the famous Cash family lake house lives on in the museum and by the shore of Old Hickory Lake.
