Vince and Barbara Dooley are living in their pool house – and not by choice.
The high-profile couple in Athens started renovating their home in the fall and ended up demolishing most of it instead.
The white-pillared center of the house had to be leveled, the Athens Banner-Herald has reported. Right now the only thing that connects the home’s two wings is a pile of rubble.
It’s one thing to go through a major home makeover. It’s another if you’re somewhat of a local celebrity. Vince Dooley is the former University of Georgia head football coach and athletic director. Barbara Dooley is a radio talk show host, author and public speaker.
People know the Dooleys. And they know where they live.
As the Banner-Herald has reported, the demolition has created a lot of buzz around town.
So how could a basic home project turn lead to a crumbling pile of rubble? Take a 1950s home, add in some asbestos and mold, and you’ve got problems. Ones that led the Dooleys to realize it was cheaper to raze the house than renovate it, Barbara Dooley told the Banner-Herald.
“(The main house) is gone, and it looks like a bomb hit,” she told the Banner-Herald.
The couple told the newspaper they expect work to finish up next spring. Meanwhile they will be spending the next couple of months in their pool house.
While athletic director at UGA, Dooley spent more than $309,000 provided by athletic boosters to maintain and refurbish the house.
It’s unclear whether any of the renovations will impact the Dooley’s multi-acre garden that contains, among other things, hydrangeas, Japanese maples and a small stream.
Dooley said Friday, “Barbara said about 10 months ago that she wanted to downsize and I made the mistake of saying ‘you can do anything you want to this house but I’m not leaving the garden. I’ve spent too much time on that.’
“So she goes ahead with this massive undertaking on a house that has been renovated 10 times and we’re in the pool house.”
Life's not all bad, said the coaching legend.
“It’s great. It’s three steps to the bathroom, four steps to the kitchen and one step to the workout room. ... [Barbara] still has her closet and bathroom [in the main house]. And that leaves me with my 1-yard-by-1-yard bathroom [in the pool house.]
-- Staff writer Mark Bradley contributed to this report
“It’s great. It’s three steps to the bathroom, four steps to the kitchen and one step to the workout room. The only good thing is that she still has her closet and bathroom [in the main house]. And that leaves me with my 1-yard-by-1-yard bathroom [in the pool house.]
“I’ve been telling people that the disgruntled alumnae finally found out where I lived,” meaning they put him out of house and home.
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