The former home in rural Casitas Springs, California of country music icon Johnny Cash is hitting the market for $1.795 million. Cash often sang about the hills, flowers and wide-open spaces, and he lived it too.

In 1961, Cash built a 4,500-square-foot house in Ventura County as his quiet, easy-going place to escape from a busy recording and touring lifestyle. The five-bedroom home was meant to be a place where he and his then wife, Vivian, and their three daughters could relax and enjoy family life in the hills for many years into the future. While their future did not pan out exactly as Cash planned – the couple divorced in 1966 – the home was exactly what he envisioned.

According to the listing agents, Adam McKaig and Melissa Borders of Douglas Elliman, “Johnny bought the land and built the house to his exact specifications, walking the rooms and deciding on exact placement and layout. He created a secluded sanctuary, unique to this rural small-town enclave. Longtime locals recount stories of Johnny setting up speakers on the hillside outside the house and playing concerts for the townspeople down below.”

The double-gabled house is set on nearly 6 acres among hills, fields, trees and flowers at the end of a long private driveway, according to TopTenRealEstateDeals.com. The property includes five bedrooms, a pool, office, barbecue area and sweeping views of the Ojai Valley, oak trees, evergreens and year-round flowers.

Cash’s influence is still very much a part of the home, including the country-motif family room and curved brick fireplace, custom wood built-ins and an original wall-mounted turntable.

The wood-paneled studio where Cash wrote some of his biggest hits is preserved. The same goes for the two his-and-her bedroom suites because of Cash’s night-owl routine of writing music late into the night and early morning.

With proximity to Lake Tahoe, world-class ski resorts and scenic parks, Truckee residents have long predicted that their sleepy, little town would continue to grow—what they didn’t foresee was just how fast that change would come about.

While official figures won’t be released until the fall, various reports have estimated anywhere from a 10-15% increase in population, including a San Francisco Chronicle study, which found a 1,082% increase in households moving from San Francisco in 2020.

“We expected to see growth in Truckee but maybe over the course of 10-12 years,” says Katie Tyler of Tahoe Mountain Realty. “It all happened within two years.”

The once railroad community also found itself positioned at number one on Zillow’s most popular places of 2021, which based their selection on “Zillow page-view traffic, available housing inventory, price appreciation and other housing barometers that indicate consumer demand.”

Tyler says that the extreme influx of new residents and high construction costs have caused new development in the already low-inventory area to become more expensive than ever. As a result, completed homes are often a more viable option. “In our micro-market, construction costs go through the roof, along with labor shortages and supply chain issues. So, if buyers want a home anytime in the foreseeable future with a reputable design and construct and a desirable location, they need to start looking at something that’s already completed.”

Surveying Tahoe-Truckee’s current inventory, new and few options available include a 5,100-square-foot home in Lahontan, one of the area’s most desirable golf resort communities. Tyler and fellow Tahoe Mountain agent Tal Fletcher are representing the property at 12223 Pete Alvertson Drive, which is being offered for $6.5 million.

Tucked away among the trees on one of the community’s best lots, the six-bedroom home was built in 2002. Wood and stone elements such as shingle siding, tree-trunk columns and rock facades make for a traditional, luxury cabin exterior.

Tastefully updated and enhanced, interior spaces feature more contemporary touches, including sleek counters and cabinetry in an open-concept kitchen, a glass-fronted wine cellar and a spa bathroom with a modern freestanding soaking tub.

Stylings more associated with more classic mountain abodes can also be found throughout the residence, such as high, wood-paneled ceilings, log accents and stone fireplaces.

Designed with an expansive, sectioned layout, the home allows for big families to co-exist without stepping on each other’s toes, says Fletcher. “You can fit three generations in this house and still feel like you have your own space. Grandma and grandpa can be relaxing in the primary while the kids are having fun on the other side of the house.”

Other highlights include a private upstairs office, sizable laundry/mud room and an impressive, spacious great room.

The property is located just off of the seventh fairway of the Lahontan Golf Course, with sweeping views of the surrounding mountains. A spa, outdoor dining area and fire pit make up the plot’s outdoor offerings.

“It’s a timeless mountain retreat,” says Tyler, “and when complemented with the updates, you have a clean, bright finish that will appeal to today’s buyers.”

Tahoe Mountain Realty is an exclusive member of Forbes Global Properties, a consumer marketplace and membership network of elite brokerages selling the world’s most luxurious homes.