The house that would make Johnny Cash proud
Story by Steve Nussbaum | photos by Erika Carter
Pictured above: Homeowners Ann and Todd Burns inside their 3,300-square-foot Home they built on 4.5 acres in Sportsman’s World for $135,000. The home is filled With recycled products that have either been given to them or have come from torn-down structures, making it a treasure trove of PK artifacts and history. The unique kitchen island is made from a 1966 Chris Craft boat that Todd Burns salvaged and is truly a work of art.
Every issue of PK Magazine features an iconic home, and Possum Kingdom Lake has lots of beautiful multimillion-dollar mansions to choose from.
But it’s not always the biggest structures that are iconic. Instead, it’s the ones folks drive by and point out to their relatives who are visiting from out of town. Those are the homes that have a unique story to tell.
This issue’s iconic home belongs to Todd and Ann Burns, who built their Sportsman’s World abode in 2017 with love, patience and many hours of hard work. The way in which it was built evokes a line from the chorus of the Johnny Cash song “One Piece at a Time.†In the 1976 chart-topping novelty song, Cash narrates a tale about a General Motors assembly line worker who schemed to build a Cadillac “one piece at a time, and it wouldn’t cost me a dime. … I’ll have the only one there is around.â€
In a similar fashion, that’s what the couple has been able to do in their home, combining their rich family history at the lake with their unique vision – along with lots of help from family and friends, too.
The large windows above the kitchen sink came from the salvaged 1966 Chris Craft boat. Guests who look closely can see marks left behind in the glass by the boat’s windshield wipers.
Todd Burns estimates that he and his wife have spent $135,000 on their 3,300-square-foot home. That’s not a misprint, either; they built a truly custom home in Sportsman’s World for that price – and they did this in 2017, not 1982. That $135,000 bottom line includes the 4.5 acres the house sits on, too. The couple admitted that it’s still a work in progress, but their hard work has paid off.
Ann Burns’ father started Scuba Point in the 1960s (the site of the current-day Lush Resort). She and her brother, Roy, were raised around a shop and building things. In fact, one of her first baby pictures shows her in a makeshift bassinet with a baby bottle clamped to a board, while her dad works on a boat he named the RoyAnn after his two children. Her father, Tom Davis, started selling air and renting scuba setups at the lake for $7.50.
Ann’s father, Tom Davis, passed away in 2000. Ann took over the business and would eventually buy out her brother’s share of the operation. Ann and Todd Burns met at Scuba Point, where he had come to the lake to get certified as a diver. The couple sold the business in 2013.
Ann Burns said her dad dove all over and was an avid collector of sea figures and shells.
“I thought I was inheriting a dive shop,†she said. “I actually got thousands of shells from around the world.â€
The nautical theme she grew up with has carried over to the couple’s home. They’ve been married for 17 years, and between them they have five children.
They also own and operate two businesses at the lake. Ann Burns runs Clean Cruis’n Boat Cleaning service, while her husband runs Todd Burns Dock Repair and Dive Service.
Todd Burns said he doesn’t dive too much anymore and instead lets his employees do most of the diving nowadays, but he added that he still enjoys helping recover wrecked and destroyed watercraft on the lake.
Ann Burns said she still cleans boats to support her “resin habit,†which she has turned into a small business. Her handiwork can be found throughout the couple’s custom home.
In 2016 the couple was living on the northern part of the lake when Ann Burns decided she wanted to be closer to her brother in Sportsman’s World. She and her husband were looking for land to build on when they came upon a beautiful 4.5-acre parcel that had a huge rock wall feature and a creek running through it that flowed right into Hell’s Gate.
They said their children ran from the car when they saw the property and climbed a rock wall, exclaiming, “This is it!â€
Todd Burns recalled thinking, “We can’t afford this property.â€
However, Ann Burns noticed that her brother was the person who had put the property up for sale, and he sold it to them at a price they could afford.
After buying the land, Ann and Todd Burns began construction on the site in 2017.
The Burns began building their home themselves from the ground up, and other than the framing, electrical and exterior parts, the home is filled with recycled products that have either been given to them or have come from torn-down structures, making it a treasure trove of PK artifacts and history.
It’s a two-story structure, with three bedrooms, two-and-a-half bathrooms, a media room and a safe room. The home has so many unique features, though, that it’s hard to describe. Almost every piece of furniture, appliance and fixture has a story of how the couple either acquired it or built it themselves. The rustic and nautical theme pays homage to Ann Burns’ family history – and Scuba Point, too.
Guests enter through the extra-tall glass front door, which came from The Rafters restaurant, now the site of Hemmingway’s Craft House and Pie House restaurants. Once inside the Burns’ house, visitors enter a wide-open kitchen, living and dining space. This is the heart of the home, and Ann Burns made all the kitchen cabinets herself out of recycled barn wood she was given. The kitchen countertops are all made of resin that is filled with sand and shells she got from her dad. The kitchen’s farm sink was given to the couple because it had a small, undetectable chip, and Ann Burns did her thing and built the cabinets and countertops around it.
The most unusual feature is the kitchen’s island, which is the focal point of the entire house. The island was made from a 1966 Chris Craft boat that Todd Burns salvaged and is truly a work of art. It features electrical plugs that pop out of the top, and it can easily seat 10 people.
The top of the island is another one of Ann Burns’ resin projects. It’s filled with old driftwood, shells, sand dollars and seahorses that her dad collected. The entire kitchen island took six gallons of resin and more than 60 hours to complete, she said, and under-cabinet lighting was added to the island for ambiance.
The large windows above the kitchen sink came from the salvaged 1966 Chris Craft boat, as did the wooden table in the kitchen dining space. Guests who look closely can see marks left behind in the glass by the boat’s windshield wipers.
In the living room is a collection of family memories and nautical items the couple has collected over the years. On the main wall is a transom that was given to them by Bobby and David Martin from another abandoned Chris Craft boat, and hanging in the living room is one of the old Scuba Point signs.
The room is anchored by a large picture window that gives a great view of the cliff wall that runs along the creek in the back yard. The window was an old sliding glass door that the Burns recycled into a huge picture window.
Bobby and David Martin gave The Burns this transom that came from another Abandoned Chris Craft boat. The lights work and it is a major focal point in the living room as well as one of the old Scuba Point signs, below:
Most of the downstairs walls are covered in beautiful, rustic wood that came from the floors of a home that had flooded three times. The wood has a great look and texture left by the once-damaged flooring.
Pictured above: This table was also rescued from the same Chris Craft boat that The Burns built their kitchen island out of.
The entire home also has barn doors that Ann Burns made out of recycled barn wood.
Upstairs in their son’s room is a feature that might not be found in any other home anywhere. It is a cab of an excavator that was filthy and abandoned. The cab was restored and had to be hoisted to the second floor of their house with a mechanical lift.
“I had just put in the studs when Ann had the idea for the excavator cab,†Todd Burns said.
He removed the back door and studs so the project could be completed, and today the cab sits in their son’s room and is used as a gaming space. They both agree that the cab will be included in any sale of the house, because it’s not going anywhere.
Todd and Ann Burns have many shared memories of life at Possum Kingdom, including being part of the original group of volunteers that started the Hell’s Gate Clean Up. The Inland Divers have now taken on this important project, and neither of them dive anymore, but it was diving that brought the couple together.
Both stay busy with their jobs and continue to build their home one project at a time, and Ann Burns also spends her time on her various resin crafts and other items she makes. She has a whole craft room in the house, and a large barn for her wood projects, too.
In addition to all that, she also serves as one of the organizers for the Sportsman’s World Craft Show that will take place May 27 under the pavilion.
In today’s world of instant gratification, it’s great to see two people patient and skilled enough to build their own home “one piece at a time,†and even the singer who was known as “The Man in Black†probably would have approved.
Todd and Ann Burns relax in front of an old Scuba Point Dive Shop sign that they placed in their backyard. The Burns enjoy a beautiful cliff wall that runs along the creek in their back yard that is absolutely stunning.
Ann today, in her in-home craft room preparing for a craft show.
Pictured above: The Burns made a custom sign that resides in the hallway of the home thanking all of those that contributed materials and other items to their custom, one-of-a-kind home in Sportsman’s World.
