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Fire destroys Johnny Cash's house
• House burnt down during renovations by new owners BeeGee Barry Gibb and wife
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By
The Minx, Entertainment Editor
Wednesday,
11 April, 2007
Johnny Cash's lakeside home has been destroyed by fire during its refurbishment for new owner Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees.
The building, situated in a Nashville suburb, was bought by Gibb in 2006 who hoped to remodel it and eventually write songs there with his wife and sons.
Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, lived in the home from the late 1960s until their deaths in 2003 and the house was a showcase where he wrote many of his songs and entertained US presidents, fellow musicians and fans.
The fire began early on Tuesday afternoon and fire trucks arrived within five minutes, but the house was already ablaze, officials said.
Just a few hours later, there was almost nothing left of the predominantly wooden house except its stone chimneys.
"So many prominent things and prominent people in American history took place in that house - everyone from Billy Graham to Bob Dylan went into that house," said singer Marty Stuart, who lives next door and was married to Cash's daughter, Cindy, in the 1980s.
Johnny's last video, for a cover of the Nine Inch Nails song "Hurt", was made at the mansion. Ten construction workers were inside the home when the fire started, but all managed to escape unharmed.
There was no immediate cause given but it is known that the Gibbs were replacing a lot of the woodwork in the house and it was recently treated with inflamable wood preservative.
ITV News report
Update: 26 April2007
Gibb announced he would build a new home on land near the original foundation, in a statement saying: "I have decided to build our own home on the higher ground surrounding the Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash home and the original foundations shall be kept in tact and preserved for the people of Hendersonville and the people of Nashville. This land is sacred land to all of us here and must be protected forever."
Fortunately it is reported that the house was emptied for the building works and no memorabilia were destroyed as these were in storage.
The Naked Reader 2007
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