Does Bruce Springsteen live here? John Mayer? Chuck Berry, Eddie Van Halen or Eric Clapton?
A palatial estate surrounded by guitar-shaped landscaping is the kind of boutique property you�d expect to be the residence of an avid guitarist, collector or, heck, a music buff.
But no!
It turns out that the owner of this prime piece of Alabama real estate is none of the above. He�s a successful businessman named Larry House, who carried no six strings to his job as former CEO of MedPartners, a physician management company.
�The guitar was just a whimsical, great idea,� explains listing agent Pam Ausley. �You know he just thought it up � and it�s gotten a lot of attention.�
Located just 25 minutes outside Birmingham, and two hours from Atlanta, Ausley describes the Shoal Creek area surrounding House�s house as a mix between a national park and a resort, with plenty of access to some of the best golfing in the country. But House chose a more continental theme for his fancy digs than fairways and putting greens.
According to Ausley, the guitar-shaped grounds are just a small part of a house�s allure. The dwelling itself compares better to Versailles than Elvis Presley�s American Delta homage to musical greatness, Graceland. But even Versailles is not quite the right royal analogy.
The home was built and designed by House in 1997 for a reported $26 million. For the finishes and detailing, House hired International Fine Arts Conservation Studios (IFACS,) who worked onBuckingham Palace.
Listed for $17.9 million, the home sits on 27 park-like acres and has equestrian trails, four pastures, indoor and outdoor arenas as well as a six-stall barn with attached living quarters. The manse itself is sprawling with 55,000 square feet of living space replete with high-end finishes: Marble floors, mahogany floors and doors, gold and silver-leafing and hand-painted frescoes.
Plus there�s a room for everything, considering the 15 bedrooms, 22 bathrooms and 13-car temperature-controlled garage. For fun, there�s a 25-seat home theater, a full-sized commercial elevator and a 2,000-bottle wine cellar.
Why is House strumming his farewell tune to the unique homestead? Ausley says the home has gotten a little too big for House.
�Their kids are grown, and they�re just ready to do something different,� she said. �He knows it�s not the best time to sell; he�s just ready.�
Even with current low mortgage rates, this Shoal Creek home has a pretty pricey monthly payment. According to data from the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace, with a 20 percent down payment on a 30-year-loan, the monthly payment will be $75,044.
