So Jose Velázquez and his wife, Jennifer, bought the house.
For a buck.
The James Lee House is a farmhouse that was built in 1848. It's the birthplace of the Memphis College of Arts. The home stayed in the Lee family until 1959, and then was turned over to the city with a 50-year lease to turn it into a museum. It never happened, so the house just kind of sat there, collecting dust, rotting away.
In 2011, the lease ended, and the city of Memphis made a call for proposals from those who wanted to restore the grand home in a way that would benefit the community at large.
Jose Velázquez told The Huffington Post he submitted a report on plans to invest $2.1 million in restoring the 165-year-old mansion and turning it into a fully-functioning bed and breakfast in just under one year.
He and his wife posted tons of before and after photos on the James Lee House Facebook page showing how they turned a beautiful disaster into an amazing bed and breakfast.