Lupton retreat on Lookout up for auction
When former Chattanooga Coca-Cola bottling magnate Jack Lupton was assembling a wooded retreat on Lookout Mountain in the 1980s, he is said to have stocked its lakes with bass.
But rather than use small fish, the wealthy Lupton brought in a special strain of 2-pounders, said Chattanooga real estate broker Henry Glascock. Recently, someone landed an 11-pound bass in one of the two lakes on the tract, he said.
A 235-acre parcel, including the lakes, is up for sale in an absolute auction today at 11 a.m.
Plans are to sell the Walker County, Ga., property as a whole or in tracts ranging from five acres and larger, said Glascock of Henry B. Glascock Co., which is working with broker David DeVaney of NAI Charter Real Estate Co. The site is about 30 minutes from downtown Chattanooga off Highway 157.
Glascock said he’s hopeful the property, owned by four Probasco family members, will garner $1.5 million to $2 million.
The property was listed for sale four years ago for $2.5 million but it did not sell.
The entire property includes three lake homes and a custom log house, all in
excellent condition, according to Glascock.
The primary residence was custom-built by Lupton, who was looking for a nearby country retreat in the 1980s. His grandfather, legendary Coca-Cola bottler John Thomas Lupton, had fashioned such a place on a large rural tract in Sapphire, N.C.
DeVaney said the property is located amid hiking and mountain biking trails and other outdoor attractions in the area. Also included on the property are a tennis court and rolling pasture land with about 1,000 feet of brow views of the eastern valley.
The Probascos bought the Lookout Mountain land at auction in the 1990s. The property was later owned by former Lookout Mountain tennis ace and Wimbledon finalist Roscoe Tanner, who had purchased it from Jack Lupton.
Tanner bought the property after moving back to Chattanooga with plans to turn it into a destination tennis resort. But he ran into financial and legal problems and the site was auctioned from the courthouse in LaFayette, Ga.
Lupton died in 2010 at age 83.