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Villa Collina, Knoxville's giant mansion, to be torn down, land subdivided

New owners bought the Lyons View Pike property last week for $6.5 million.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — One of Tennessee's biggest mansions is destined to become a heap of debris.

In October, new owners under the name LView Properties LLC bought the property at 5628 Lyons View Pike for $6.5 million, Knox County Register of Deeds Office records show.

The closure came quickly this week after lawyers resolved a bogus lien that had been attached to the site in June, according to Register of Deeds Nick McBride.

The 40,000-square-foot, over-the-top mansion with the amazing water and mountain views has seen numerous owners in its roughly 25-year history. The most recent was an LLC tied to a man who secured it as part of the resolution of a federal lawsuit involving businessman Eric Barton.

Realtor Sharon Bailey represents the buyers, who she said prefer to remain anonymous.

Bailey told 10News on Friday plans call for an auction of everything that can be sold -- it was purchased furnished -- and then a quick teardown. The new owners will subdivide the land into three lots, she said.

Furrow Auction will handle the auction, Bailey said. A sale of the interior furnishings will be Saturday, Dec. 4, she said.

"They're going to auction everything as fast as possible," she said.

The backyard view at Villa Collina

Then, the big house with all the bells and whistles -- including a 2,600-square-foot wine cellar -- will be taken apart and cleared forever, Bailey said.

Listing agent Debbie Elliott-Sexton expressed relief that the sale had gone through. 

"We had a successful closing," she said Friday.

The house has been tied up in the courts for months after Erica Elliott, 36, and another man filed a $19 million lien that authorities say is bogus and tied to the Sovereign Citizen movement. Elliott was sued this summer in Knox County Chancery Court over the lien. Also named as defendants were what's identified as Daion Dushawn Elliott Trust and something called the Allah International Federal Government.

On Oct. 15, Elliott signed a "full release of affidavit of lien," which is now on file with the Register of Deeds, "for value received." That cleared the way for the transfer this week.

The LView Properties LLC is linked to an address on Deane Hill Drive.

Elliott faces a separate criminal trial next week in Knox County Criminal Court. She is charged in a three-count indictment. Judge Kyle Hixson will preside over the case.

Elliott is free on bond.

A Knox County grand jury also indicted a second person in the case, but that person hasn't been served yet.

Mike and Deane Conley were the original owners of the property, records show. Construction of the mansion started in the 1990s.

In 2011, Scott and Julie Boruff bought it for $8.5 million. Then, Barton's LLC acquired it for $6.375 million in 2016, records show.

Resolution Systems LLC got it -- listed legally at $10.5 million -- as part of the federal lawsuit resolution in October 2020 and quickly sought to find a buyer.

Bailey said the new, unnamed owners want to move on the auction and teardown as quickly as possible.

View from upstairs at the main entrance of Villa Collina.

On Dec. 22, Total Demolition Services Inc. from Knoxville received a demolition permit. In the permit, they estimated that demolishing Villa Collina would cost $147,652.

The land will be used to build three houses.

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