The historic Greenhaw home in Athens has a new owner, and he plans to turn the place into a bed and breakfast.

The Warten House, as it will be named, is expected to be ready to rent the first week in October, in time for the Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention as well as for wedding parties.

Lanier Greenhaw told The News Courier Friday he sold the home at the corner of Jefferson and Hobbs streets to David Gregory of Athens, who plans to begin renovating Sunday or Monday.

Gregory, who grew up with his family at 300 N. Marion St. in Athens (the former Drucilla’s Restaurant), finalized the sale Friday.

Athens residents know the Jimmy and Kitty Greenhaw home because for more than 40 years a lighted cutout of Santa and his reindeer has appeared each Thanksgiving on second-floor porch. The décor has served as a nostalgic harbinger of the holiday season and Santa’s impending visit to residents all over the county.

Why a B&B

Gregory wanted to create a B&B in Athens because he likes them.

“This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” Gregory said. “I spent my honeymoon in ’86 was in Dahlonega, Georgia. Wherever I go I like to stay in them.”

He considered buying the former Drucilla’s building, the house where he grew up, along with the house next to it and create a B&B, but it wasn’t feasible, he said.

He talked to Melanie Newton, head of Main Street in Athens, who is an old high school buddy, about a B&B on Marion. When that wasn’t going to work, she said, “What about the Greenhaw house?”

He found the home in fine condition. Plus, it had never been renovated, a dream to anyone who wants to renovate and retain a building’s historic integrity.

Henry Warten, a cotton broker, began building the home in 1898 and finished it in early 1902.

(You can look at photographs of the home on the Warten House page on Facebook.)

“The staircase and the eight mantels were all imported from England,” Gregory said. “And all the original light fixtures are still in the home.”

Gregory said he plans to have the home ready for rental in time for The Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention the first week in October. He will rent it to travelers as well as for wedding parties. He will start with six rooms and eventually add two more, including a presidential suite in the currently unfinished attic. After he has a year on the books, he hopes to add a restaurant on the first floor.

Gregory will do some of the cosmetic work and yard, though he has a full-time job elsewhere. He is currently head of industrial security for Davidson Technologies in Huntsville. He and his mother began the original Athens Antique Mall in 1988 on U.S. 31, though they sold it.

Greenhaw tie

Lanier, former owner of Dub’s Burgers in Athens, acquired the Greenhaw home when his father died in August 2015. He thought it would take two or three years to sell it due to its size and historic nature. It took only a year; it was first listed for sale last May. Although the home is leaving the Greenhaw family, Lanier feels good about the B&B plans.

“Mom and Dad had talked about doing a restaurant at some point, so seeing it as bed and breakfast where other people can enjoy it will be easier to sell it and let it go out of the family,” Lanier said.