AN American couple transformed an abandoned home they bought for US$1 into a US$2.4 million estate.

    But it took George and Nancy Corbett seven years of hard work and one jaw-dropping move up the Tampa Bay, where the Victorian mansion was ferried along the water until it was planted in Ruskin, Florida.

    The seven-bedroom, 7,000-square-foot (650-square-meter) home, boasting five fireplaces, an elevator, stained glass windows and a lagoon pool with a built-in waterfall, has hit the market two years after it was reportedly sold for US$1.15 million.

    The Corbetts, who ran a retreat for Baptist ministers in North Carolina, bought the home for just US$1 from a developer who was hoping to build a condo on the grounds in Palmetto.

    It was the perfect passion project for the wealthy couple, who spent a rumored US$250,000 to float the 220-ton home about 20 miles (32 km) up the water to Ruskin, where they owned a plot of land.

    Despite the couple’s experience fixing up six homes before they took on Lamb Manor, they dramatically underestimated the work it would take to restore it.

    The Corbetts thought they would spend a maximum of three years, but it ended up taking more than double that time building a first floor from scratch before renovating the rest of the home.

    The four-story mansion now boasts luxurious drapes, chestnut and oak paneling, along with stained glass windows.

    The estate, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, overlooks the Tampa Bay, with a separate two-story guesthouse, four-car garage, and a dock extending out on the water.

    “It’s not about the money. This is what we like to do,” George told the Tampa Bay Times in 2014.

    It is unclear who purchased the home in 2014, but it was released on the market again last week at US$2,400,000.

    (SD-Agencies)