BUY YOUR DREAM HOME IN THE HEART OF BLUES COUNTRY -- HISTORIC CLARKSDALE, MISSISSIPPI!
Love blues music and art? Love small, historic towns? Love beautiful, classic homes? Then, do something about it -- economy be darned! There's never been a 'housing bubble' in Clarksdale, Mississippi -- just cool, old houses located near the historic downtown's fun and growing shopping, dining and entertainment district. Live just 5 minutes walk to Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art, Madidi Fine Restaurant, Hambone Art Gallery, Rock N Roll Museum, Delta Blues Museum, Ground Zero Blues Club, Sarah's Kitchen, Carnegie Public Library, Bluestown Music, Miss Del's General Store, Bluesberry Cafe, Stone Pony Pizza, Tricia's Italian Restaurant, Delta Amusement Cafe, Delta Blues Room, historic Greyhound Bus Station (now our Visitor's Station), etc., etc. The house for sale at 111 Catalpa Street is a classic, 'craftsman style' abode located right across from John "Riverman" Ruskey's house (of Quapaw Canoe Co.) and 'in front of' another house owned by some other friendly folks who relocated here because they love blues music and Southern hospitality .... and down the block from yet another person who did the same. This might make the perfect home for you or may make a profitable B&B or rental property...

WEB LISTING: http://hstrial-bmiddleton.homestead.com/NEWLISTINGS.html
MORE PHOTOS: http://hstrial-bmiddleton.homestead.com/111Catalpa.html

IT'S LISTED with friends and realtors Joe and Brett Middleton of Clarksdale's Middleton Realty. Here's a bit of the official web listing: 111 Catalpa St. -- listing price WAS $85,000 but has been RE-PRICED to just $79,900. We've had some great walk-thru visitors, near-offers and phone/email inquiries, by the way... But credit is tight and most folks seem to either need to find a job first, sell their houses back home first or wait till they can retire in "2 or 3 years." It's a wonderful home at a deal of a price, I think, and visitors tell me the same. See for yourself.

I'D JUST LIKE TO ADD THAT... The front porch really is pretty big and cool. When you walk into the house, you find spacious, connected living and dining room areas that are loosely separated by built-in bookcases (that also work for blues CDs). There's a long hallway with plenty of wall space to hang cool stuff, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a back office/sunroom, main floor washer/dryer, kitchen and butler's pantry. There are decent closets throughout. The kitchen has a walk-in pantry and includes the built-in stove, dishwasher (sold to me by one of bluesman Big George Brock's 42 kids) and garbage disposal; the two small fridges and the deep freeze are negotiable. (By the way, a full-size fridge fits/works fine; I just didn't own one when I originally moved in.) The attic is unfinished but very very large and could be finished out, frankly, as an office or guest room. The basement is mostly crawl space; like most in the Delta, it's fairly useless... except for housing the hot water heater, pipes, ductwork, etc. The house has modern, forced-air central heating and air conditioning, by the way; I like to stay comfortable. The yard is pretty nice sized and includes holly bushes, magnolia tree, etc. There's a tool shed in the backyard that's nothing special but holds plenty of junk. The backyard is mostly fenced in. The house is wired for cable/internet and has two ornamental fireplaces with mantles. A long driveway runs along side the house, conveniently linking Catalpa Street with Maple Street (nice for parties/visitors -- though at least one visiting bluesman with the alias 'T-Model' has parked in the front yard, anyway, to my dismay!). In short, 111 Catalpa is a cool house located just across the Sunflower River from a neat little Delta downtown, and priced well below $100,000 -- now at just $79,900 -- it could easily be your next home or home-away-from-home! By the way, I'm only moving into a different house because my sweetie and I want to buy one together that is truly 'ours' if you know what I mean.

CURIOSITY PIQUED? Please contact Joe or Brett Middleton today at middletonrealty2003@yahoo.com, cell 662-902-1678, office 662-627-7311. They'll be happy to answer your questions or give you a tour of the house.

CLARKSDALE, MISSISSIPPI is conveniently located just 45 minutes from Tunica, MS, and 90 minutes from Memphis, TN. It's just off Highway 61 and convenient to Highway 55 and Memphis Airport. The blues history is thick... and still very much alive in Clarksdale. If you want to know more about CLARKSDALE while you consider moving here, please also check out these web sites:

TOURISM, http://www.visitclarksdale.com/
GENERAL INFO, http://www.clarksdale.com/
CHAMBER, http://www.clarksdale-ms.com/
GUIDE, http://www.cathead.biz/guide.html
MUSIC, http://www.cathead.biz/livemusic.html
NEWSPAPER, http://www.pressregister.com
NEWSPAPER, http://www.clarksdalebluesstar.com
RADIO, http://www.wroxradio.com
MUSEUM, http://www.deltabluesmuseum.org
MUSEUM, http://www.rockmuseum.biz
FESTIVAL, http://www.jukejointfestival.com
FESTIVAL, http://www.sunflowerfest.org
CLUB, http://www.groundzerobluesclub.com

WHAT'S UP WITH CLARKSDALE'S FUTURE? Good question. Downtown is currently buzzing with new businesses, new construction, planned renovations and more live blues than ever before (seriously). Recent weekends have featured live blues shows at an unprecedented 4 venues, and there is now reliable live blues in Clarksdale, Mississippi, from Tuesday through Saturday (and often Sunday) nights! Current renovations/construction/new businesses downtown include Tricia's Italian Restaurant (opened by ex-Indiana couple at 226 Yazoo back in Sept.), The Lofts At Five & Dime (Bubba O'Keefe's loft condos, retail and restaurant space in the old Woolworth's building), the former Club Champaign building (amazingly turned into a classic "Main Street" looking store/restaurant front -- ready to rent!), the former golf cart building next to Delta Amusement (the future location of Sun House Art Gallery), the former Brick Gallery building (where a new and interesting pizza joint called Stone Pony Pizza opened in Oct.), the former Rampant Lion building (now Delta Creations and just stripped down to its historic brick exterior as part of a major update), old Stackhouse Record Mart aka Cream Boat building (Charles Evans has crews working on it as I type), Rust Restaurant (in old Delta Eye location; not new but not old either; really great), etc. etc. Oh yeah, the "Clarksdale Farmer's Market" continues to grow, by the way, with the semi-permanent shade covering added to the park in the 200 block of Delta Ave. Other key businesses that continue to grow include Cat Head (my blues store), Ground Zero Blues Club, Rock N Roll & Blues Heritage Museum (Dutchman Theo recently bought a second building downtown as well!), Shackup Inn (in the past two years, it has grown into dang near a city out there; amazing), Delta Blues Museum (which has plans for a new Muddy Waters wing addition), etc. etc. We now have two newspapers here, more music festivals than ever before and as much international publicity as ever. Oh, also, our new Visitor's Station opened in Oct. inside the restored Greyhound Bus Station, downtown... and our annual Downtown Holly Days are set to begin at all the downtown stores in Nov./Dec. Jump on board, and enjoy the ride. Make Clarksdale your next home. Clarksdale is still history in the making.