State-Journal.com - Mansion brings $1.9 million, called a bargain

Photo By Ginger LopezTom Biederman looked for bidders on Jeri Wise’s home at an absolute auction held on the property’s back lawn. Dozens of spectators attended the auction, but preferred to watch from the shade.

Lexington businessman Ron Turner, right, was congratulated after his winning bid at Thursday’s sale.

Jeri Wise got a hug from Bill Justice, owner of Justice Real Estate, after her Frankfort home was auctioned for $1.9 million.

He owns a 10,000-square-foot white house on Chinoe Drive in Lexington well known because of the enormous lights and decorations at Christmas.
He owns Signature Estates across from Calumet Farm, the Signature Club of Lansdowne, nine condos in Destin, Fla., and motels and commercial property in Panama City, Fla.
And now Lexington's Ron Turner, a commercial developer and electrical contractor, owns the most luxurious home in Frankfort.
In a 15-minute absolute auction " on the perfectly manicured lawn by the swimming pool " Turner bought the 15,000-square-foot white house with a $1.9 million bid.
Adding a 7 percent buyer's premium which goes to the selling agents, Turner paid $2,033,000 for Frankfort native Jeri Wise's house, which sits on 8.9 acres by South Elkhorn Creek.
Immediately after the auction, Turner told Wise it was the "most marvelous home I've ever been in, and I've been in homes that are unbelievable. I have a friend in Destin who has a $9 million home on the bay, and this surpasses his."
Wise said she was "very happy" with the sale. "You always would like to have more, but that's not the most important thing."
She said the winning bid didn't surprise her.
"It's actually what I thought it would bring," she said. "He got a bargain and he knows it."
Turner agreed.
The white house at 232 Stonehedge Drive is behind a stone fence and gate near Two Creeks " across the street from the 14th green and 15th tee of the Frankfort Country Club.
In 2004 the house was assessed for $1,855,000 " the highest assessed value of a single-family residence in the county " according to the Franklin County Property Valuation Administrator's office.
In 2006 the face value property tax bill was $17,240, the PVA office said.
The house was listed for sale three years ago at $4.5 million, and Wise said Tuesday it would take $6.9 million to rebuild it.
Jerome L. Kallop, who owns homes in Winchester and Las Vegas, bid $1.85 million, but wouldn't go any higher.
"We have a home similar to this in Vegas," Kallop said. "We just didn't want to get caught with two of them at the same time. If we didn't have the other house, we absolutely would have gone higher."
Kallop and his wife, Marthanna, both retired, made their money in supermarkets in several Kentucky towns, and in a Chevron station and store in Las Vegas.
Turner, 64 " wearing a long-sleeve light pink and white pin-stripe shirt and black slacks and shoes " admitted he would have bid $2 million, if necessary, but no higher.
He's the owner and CEO of Turner Development and Amteck, an international electrical business with 520 employees.
"I travel all over the world as an electrical contractor," he said. "I got in the development business about 10 years ago. I've built a lot of buildings on Fortune Drive and have done about a half million square feet of commercial development in Lexington, trying to have a little income.
"I work eight days a week, 30 hours a day. I work while I sleep."
For relaxation, Turner said he has a houseboat on Lake Cumberland, "right across from Mike Tewell's boat."
Tewell, owner of Glenn Toyota of Frankfort, lives in the front of Two Creeks and attended the auction as a spectator and friend of Wise. He wasn't interested in bidding on the house " "not because it was too expensive, because it's too big."
Turner said he's been married for 44 years and has three adult children and seven grandchildren. He said he's involved in "a lot of charity functions, including the Salvation Army at Christmas. It's all about giving because the good Lord has blessed us immensely."
His wife wasn't with him at the auction and at 11 a.m. he hadn't called to tell her about Thursday morning's purchase.
"But I think she will be happy," Turner said. "She pretty much goes with the flow. She will probably be a little confused. Our home we have in Lexington is a pretty nice home."
He said his grandchildren like to fish, and Wise, smiling, told him "they will love it here."
Wise said she doesn't have a favorite room in the house. But her favorite place on the property is at the back edge of the lawn, where South Fork Creek ripples along, even on the driest summer days.
Next to her favorite fishing hole is a large deck built on pillars overlooking the creek.
Just before the 10:30 a.m. auction began, auctioneer Walt Robertson, with Swinebroad-Denton Inc., said, "Right here on Elkhorn Creek, you look at this and you understand why Paul Sawyier painted so many pictures of it. It is absolutely beautiful."
Then Bill Justice, of Justice Real Estate in Lexington, said, "I've probably been in some of the most beautiful homes in the country. And the prevailing comment of about 500 to 600 people who came through here (at open houses) was it's one of the prettiest, well-built houses in a setting like this they've ever been in. I'd like to echo those statements. The buyer of this property is going to get a jewel."
When the bidding came to a standstill, Justice made a plea, saying, "Where we're standing you can't duplicate. You can't do the house for anywhere near what we're talking about. And you still have to find this beautiful ground. This will never be available again. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It's going too cheap."
Kermit Payton, who is retired from the U.S. Air Force and real estate work, attended the auction because he's a neighbor of Wise's mother, Eunice Mayes, in Indian Hills subdivision. A native of Frankfort, he returned as a resident about three months ago.
"Tucson (Ariz.), where I lived, has some fabulous places," Payton said. "I've seen a lot of houses all over the U.S. and I don't think any of them can beat this one. It's got everything. Everything in there is so exquisite, high class, every room you go into. There isn't any junk. The upstairs bedrooms aren't just bedrooms, they're suites.
"There's no doubt it's a hell of a deal to try to keep it all up, just the yard. But if you've got the money, this is the ideal place to put your money in this area."
Before the auction, Payton predicted the top bid would be $2 million, "and it should go for more," he said.
Mayes, sitting by the pool before the auction, said she hated to "see Jeri lose the house, but I think she's ready. It's just too much upkeep. She's a good girl and very good to me. She has a lot of faith. She thinks everything will work out all right, and it usually does. She's very energetic, and has to be doing something all the time, whether it's mowing the grass or cooking."
Jeri's daughter, Stephanie Decker, of Sellersburg, Ind., said Thursday was a "bittersweet" day for her.
"My husband and I got married here. But it's the best thing for my mom. It's a lot of work for her and I think she wants a little more freedom. The house ties her down."
After the auction, Turner was going inside with Wise to try to work out an agreement on purchasing her furniture. "The furniture is critical to the deal if we move into it," he said.
Wise said Tuesday she would like to sell the furniture and most of the artwork with the house.
Jeri " wearing a white pullover top and a thin, silk blue-gray paisley skirt with beads and sequins " spent Thursday morning smiling and taking photos of the crowd with her Nikon camera.
She had no mortgage on the house and said the utility bills "weren't outrageous. They were very reasonable for a house this size."
She could have continued paying the taxes, insurance and utilities, "but the house controls you because you don't feel you can just pick up and go for any length of time," she said.
A former longtime employee of Lords Of London Insurance, Wise, 55, owns a travel agency, Travelwise. And she's ready to do a lot more traveling and contemplate what she wants to do next.