161 Obey River Ln

A 2000 log home on 5.3 acres on a ridge above the Obey River at Celina, 2,088 square feet with three bedrooms and two baths, listed at $359,900. The listing says the land is unrestricted, on a private cul-de-sac, right on the river, and that a walkway bridge runs from the house to the riverbank and a dock. It pitches the place as a vacation home, a year-round escape or an Airbnb, minutes from Dale Hollow Lake. The house sold for $165,000 in January 2015, and the county still appraises it at $205,400. None of the 46 photos shows the bridge, the dock, the bank or the basement, and every photo is small. It went on the market on September 4, 2026.

The land and setting

The listing gives 5.3 acres, one parcel, 069.01, with lot features of cul-de-sac, wooded, cleared, waterfront, views, farm and trees. Clay County has the parcel, 042 069.01 000, at 230,868 square feet, which is 5.30 acres. The two agree.

The aerials tell the story the remarks do not. The house sits on top of a wooded ridge, and the river runs along the foot of it, well below. The outline in the aerial reaches down the slope to the bank. The town of Celina is across the river. The listing gives the view as Obey River and the waterfront features as Obey River, waterfront, river.

Access is Obey River Ln, which the remarks call a private cul-de-sac. The straight-down aerial shows a gravel lane ending at the house and garage. Who maintains it is not listed. Zoning is listed as none, there is no HOA, and horses are allowed.

The house

Built in 2000, two levels on a full unfinished walk-out block basement, with a metal roof. The listing’s materials field reads log siding, frame and block. The remarks call it an Honest Abe log home, and the deck photo shows full log corners. Three bedrooms and two full baths, with the primary on the main floor and two bedrooms upstairs. The listing gives 2,088 square feet. Clay County has 1,670 finished square feet and a 1,044 square foot unfinished basement.

Inside is one open room under a vaulted pine ceiling, with a stone wood-burning fireplace, hardwood floors and an open stair to a loft that the remarks offer as an office or exercise space. The kitchen has oak cabinets, a peninsula, and a stainless range, dishwasher and microwave, all listed as included along with a washer, dryer and electric water heater. Laundry is in the basement. The house is empty in every photo.

Heating is listed as electric central. Cooling is listed as wall and window units, and the photos show a window air conditioner in a bedroom and another in an upper room. When the house sold in 2015, the listing then said central heat and air had been installed in 2012 and that an emergency generator and a backup water pump came with it. The current listing mentions none of the three.

The main floor bath has a tub and shower. The upstairs bath photo shows a vanity and toilet and nothing else of the room. There is no photo of the basement, the garage interior, the deck from outside at close range, or the river from the property.

The facts

What to know before you call

The bridge, the dock and the bank are in the remarks and not in the photos. The listing’s first two sentences sell riverfront and direct access from the house to the riverbank with a dock over a walkway bridge. Forty-six photos, and not one shows a bridge, a dock, the bank, or the river from anywhere on the property. The aerials show why the bridge exists: the house is on top of a ridge and the river is at the bottom of a steep wooded slope. Ask for photos of the bridge and the dock, ask how far and how steep the walk is, and ask what condition the bridge is in.

Is the river frontage deeded. The parcel outline in the aerial runs down to the bank, and the county acreage matches the listing, which is good. But the listing gives no frontage length and says nothing about whether the dock and the ground it sits on are inside the deed or on someone else’s land or the river’s. Have the title company confirm that the boundary reaches the water and that the dock is on the parcel.

The Obey here is a dam tailwater. Celina sits a few miles below Dale Hollow Dam on the Obey, and the river level rises when the dam generates. A dock on a tailwater has to ride that. Ask how the dock is built and moored, and what the bank looks like at high release.

The price is 118 percent over the 2015 sale. It sold for $165,000 in January 2015 after a listing that started at $180,000 and was cut three times, and for $155,000 in January 2013. The county appraises it at $205,400. The current remarks name nothing done since 2015. Ask what has changed in eleven years.

The square footage does not match the county. The listing gives 2,088 square feet and calls it almost 2,100. Clay County records 1,670 finished square feet and a 1,044 square foot unfinished basement. The gap is 418 feet, which is about the size of the open loft. Ask whether the loft or the basement is being counted and how the 2,088 was measured.

Cooling is window units on a house that had central air. The listing lists cooling as wall and window units and heating as electric central. Two photos show window air conditioners. The 2015 listing said central heat and air were installed in 2012. Ask whether the central system still cools, and if not, what failed and when.

A generator and a backup water pump were part of the 2015 sale and are not mentioned now. Water is public. A backup pump on public water usually means a pressure problem on a ridge top or a booster in the basement. Ask whether either is still there and whether they convey.

Taxes, and how Tennessee handles them. The bill is $1,335 a year on a county appraisal of $205,400, assessed at the residential rate of 25 percent. Tennessee does not reassess on sale. Clay County reappraises on a cycle, and the last jump on this parcel was in 2022. A sale at $359,900 will inform the next reappraisal, and a bill sized to this asking price would be a good deal larger than $1,335. Ask the Clay County assessor when the next reappraisal is due.

Flood zone. Zillow’s climate panel puts the property in FEMA Zone X, minimal risk, which fits a house on top of a ridge. The bottom of the parcel at the river is another matter, and any structure at the bank, dock included, may sit in the floodway. Ask for the flood map with the parcel drawn on it.

A private lane with no road agreement listed. The remarks call it a private cul-de-sac. The aerial shows a gravel lane ending at the house. Who maintains it, who plows it, and whether there is a recorded road maintenance agreement are not listed. Ask.

Log home or log siding. The remarks say Honest Abe log home. The materials field says log siding, frame and block. The deck photo shows full log corner joinery, which is what a log home has and log siding does not. Ask which it is, because the two insure and maintain differently.

Airbnb. The remarks pitch it. Zoning is none and the land is unrestricted, so nothing in the listing stops a short-term rental. Ask Clay County and the city of Celina whether a permit or a hotel tax registration is required before you count on the income.

Two addresses. The listing address is 161 Obey River Ln. Clay County files the same parcel as 161 Celina Hwy. Ask which the 911 system uses.

What is not shown. No photo of the basement, the garage interior, the bridge, the dock, the river from the property, or the septic. Every photo the listing serves is 1,024 pixels wide, which is why the gallery here is softer than usual. That is the listing’s resolution, not ours.

Three days on the market. Listed September 4, 2026 with no price change yet.

You can see everything else we have listed on the properties page. In Tennessee at a similar price we have 8.86 acres on Smith Hollow Road in Greeneville and an 1800s log cabin grown into a 2,068 square foot house on 1.17 acres in Seymour.

To ask about this one, call American Way Real Estate on 931-526-9581, ask for Vickie Loftis, and reference MLS 246954. The listing prints no number for the agent. Tell them where you saw it.