By Karen Parr-Moody
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – If you want a historic house free of paranormal inhabitants, simply look for the “not haunted” sign. It hangs, complete with cartoon ghost, in front of a red brick house that was built in 1930 at 1033 Madison Street.
The sign, called a “rider” in the business, is one that is attached to a larger sign to add a slogan or more information (such as “sold”). This particular rider is the brainchild of Dorothy Havens and Toniann Thompson, licensed Realtors at Keller Williams who are co-listing the 4-bedroom brick house for $229,900.
“We were trying to come up with some creative slogans for signs to draw attention to some houses,” Havens said. “That was one that seemed fitting for that house.”
The sign has received attention from a number of drivers along Madison Street, Havens said, including comments on Facebook. One woman even left Havens a phone message about the sign. She said she had been having a horrible day until she passed the sign and laughed out loud.
“That was the best message,” Havens said. “But I’ve had comments over and over again.”
In addition to being “not haunted,” the historic home at 1033 Madison Street also features high ceilings, crown molding, large rooms and 3,039 square feet of space.
This isn’t the first time someone has used a “not haunted” sign to sell a house. The Star newspaper of Canada reported that in 2012 a Re/Max real estate agent, Jake Palmer, advertised a Saint John, New Brunswick home with a “not haunted” sign. (He used other signs as well, including “No Dandelions,” “Fog Resistant” and “Batteries Included.”)
More recently Finis Shelnutt, the owner of Shelnutt Real Estate in New Orleans, used both “Not Haunted” and “Haunted” signs in an attempt to hedge his bets among that city’s eclectic homeowners. (When told about Shelnutt’s “not haunted” signs, Havens said she had never seen such a sign before.)
The Keller Williams “not haunted” sign at 1033 Madison Street was recently replaced with a sign advertising an open house. But it will return.
Havens said, “It got a lot of good publicity, so it will be back up in a few days.”
In the meanwhile, if you are interested in a historic home without ghostly inhabitants, Havens can be reached at 931-980-4799 to show you the house at 1033 Madison Street.
The 4-bedroom brick house counts being “not haunted” as one selling point among others, including spacious rooms./Karen Parr-Moody
Karen Parr-Moody began a career as a New York journalist, working as a fashion reporter for Women’s Wear Daily, a beauty editor for Young Miss and a beauty and fashion writer for both In Style and People magazines. Regionally, she has been a writer at The Leaf-Chronicle newspaper and currently writes about arts and culture for Nashville Arts magazine each month.