The home that Johnny Cash built in rural Casitas Springs, California in 1961 as his quiet, easy-going place to escape from a busy recording and touring lifestyle went on the market in June for $1.795 million and has recently sold to a local buyer for $1.85 million—$55,000 over the asking price. The former owners had bought it for $739,000 in 2003.
The five-bedroom home in the hills near Ventura, California was meant to be a place where Cash and his then wife, Vivian, and their three daughters could relax and enjoy family life for many years into the future. While their future did not pan out exactly as Cash planned – the couple divorced in 1966 – the home was exactly what he envisioned.
According to the listing agents, “Johnny bought the land and built the house to his exact specifications, walking the rooms and deciding on exact placement and layout. He created a secluded sanctuary, unique to this rural small-town enclave. Longtime locals recount stories of Johnny setting up speakers on the hillside outside the house, and playing concerts for the townspeople down below.”
The double-gabled house is set on nearly 6 acres among the late singer-song writer’s beloved hills, fields, trees and flowers, at the end of a long private driveway, according to TopTenRealEstateDeals.
Cash’s influence is still very much a part of the home, including the country-motif family room and curved-brick fireplace, custom-wood built-ins and an original wall-mounted turntable.
The wood-paneled studio where Cash wrote some of his biggest hits is preserved. The same goes for the two his-and-her bedroom suites because of Cash’s night-owl routine of writing music late into the night and early morning.