My New Home: In the clear in Bartlett

Photo by Ben Fant
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The Risners are happy with the kitchen; the appliances in the old house were looted after the couple was taken to the hospital.

Photo by Ben Fant
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In addition to painting some rooms, the Risners had the 1,875-square-foot house rewired.

Photo by Ben Fant
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The stonework continues on the interior, including a rustic fireplace and arches in the kitchen.

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The Risners like the arched stone facade of their new home in the Bartlett Estates neighborhood. But most importantly, it met their requirement of having no trees in the yard. It was the couple's one inflexible requirement after a giant tree twice crashed through their former home in Frayser, burying the couple.

Carole and Richard Risner had one unusual, but unbendable, requirement for their new Bartlett home: No trees.

The couple started their home search after a giant tree crashed through the roof of their former home in Frayser incredibly not once, but twice. The second time, the couple was awake and moving around the house when a storm blew through with so much force, they almost didn't make it out alive.

"It was 10 at night on April 25, 2011," Carole said. "There was no warning whatsoever; all of a sudden we were just buried underneath the house. It split the house in the middle, split it in two."

Carole was on one side of the massive tree, Richard on the other side. Neighbors helped dig the couple from the rubble, and they were transported to The Med in critical condition.

"When we got out of the hospital, we really didn't have a home to go to at all," said Carole, a part-time merchandiser with American Greetings. "My brother lives in Millington, and he came up to the hospital, got both of us and took us to his house, where we stayed for four months with him."

In the meantime, Carole and Richard dealt not only with cleanup efforts and their own recovery, but with looting of the few possessions that hadn't been ruined by the storm.

"They stole everything they could get out of our house, thousands of dollars worth of things," Carole said. "They stole the air conditioner, the washing machine, all of Richard's tools, kitchen appliances. Luckily we did have homeowners' insurance."

They also had a referral to a Realtor, Nancy Huddleston of John Green & Co. in Collierville. As soon as they were able, Carole and Richard called Huddleston to begin their search for a new home.

"Their big thing was, 'Nancy, we do not want big trees in our yard,'" Huddleston said. "They're terrified now, God bless them."

The Risners, who both grew up in the Frayser area, also wanted to pick up and start fresh. They chose to center their search in Bartlett.

"We stayed away from Millington because of all the flooding," Carole said. "We decided Bartlett was a good place to be, and we had heard a lot of good things about it."

Over a three-week period, Huddleston showed the Risners about 10 houses. Some, they eliminated at first glance.

"One of them, we didn't even go inside," Carole said. "There was a big tree on each side. Another we looked at had a tree in every corner of the yard."

"We would literally drive away from some really good houses," Huddleston added. "Because of a tree in the front yard or back yard, we'd bypass it."

The house the Risners now call home, though, passed every test. It had no trees towering over it from any direction. And Carole loved the arched stone faade and pretty, peaceful neighborhood.

"I liked the way this house looked from the outside before we ever came in," Carole said. "And then when we came in the entryway, we both loved it, and Nancy too."

The house had three bedrooms and two full baths, which is what the Risners wanted. It also had a front porch and a covered back patio, features Carole had hoped for.

"I'd wanted either a back or front porch, and I got both," she said.

The Risners purchased the 1,875-square-foot house in the Bartlett Estates neighborhood in late August for $114,000. Before moving in, they had some painting done and had wiring redone throughout the house.

Then they set about moving in and rebuilding their life.

"After the thefts, my whole family helped us get our possessions out of that house," Carole said. "They also all helped us move."

Once they'd settled into their new home, Carole and Richard went shopping for new furniture to replace items that had been destroyed by the storm.

"We bought everything in this living room, all the furniture, the TV," said Richard, system manager at Flash Pawn in Frayser.

Getting the house set up and ready has taken time, Carole said.

"Everything we take out of boxes has to be cleaned, so it's taking longer than it ordinarily would," she said.

One feature of the house that appealed instantly to Carole was the floor in the brick red entry hall, which is clad in unique, Asian-style square tiles. In the living room, the Risners added a red sofa, two brown recliners and glass-and-metal accent tables.

Carole had the kitchen painted a bright, sunny yellow. The room features white cabinetry, a double oven, a niche for the cooktop and a pass-through to the yellow breakfast room. Beside it, a large room with a fireplace and beamed ceiling will eventually serve as the dining room.

Down the hall, a guest bath has a unique, sunken marble tub. One bedroom serves as Richard's office and another will serve as a guest room. In the master, Carole opted for cheery apricot paint. The attached bathroom has been updated with dark cabinetry and a framed mirror.

After a year of tragedy and upheaval, the Risners are thankful to be settled in a nice house, in a nice neighborhood, on a lot with absolutely no trees.

"That was the challenge," Huddleston said, laughing. "It wasn't finding a three-bedroom, two-bath home for them in Bartlett. The challenge was, in Bartlett, where there are tons of trees, finding a house without any."

But she did, and the Risners are thankful for her, too.

"She definitely went out of her way," Richard said.

"I loved working with Nancy," Carol added. "I've never worked with a Realtor before, but I know she's got to be one of the best."

Source: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/oct/16/my-new-home-in-the-clear-in-bartlett/?partner=RSS

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