Trisha Yearwood announced earlier this year that she is selling her historic Nashville house, where she has lived for 23 years. The singer is now opening up about why she decided to sell her spacious home, revealing that she hasn’t lived in it for quite some time, at least not since she married Garth Brooks at the end of 2005.

“I’ve been married almost 18 years,” Yearwood tells Country Living. “I probably don’t need to have a backup home. It’s been hard to think about parting with it, but it’s time. We shoot the show here, but someone should live in this house and love it all the time.”

The 58-year-old admits she looked at plenty of places to live in, before settling on this 6553 square-foot home, which sits on more than four acres.

 

“I looked at a lot of houses and everything that was brand-new, felt brand-new with no character, and everything that was really old, felt like it had way more character than I wanted to have to deal with,” Yearwood explains. “This house had been built in the 1920s, but the people that I bought it from had renovated and kept the charm of it, but modernized it. It had all the bells and whistles.”

Fortunately, the Grand Ole Opry member didn’t have to do much to the interior of the home, at least not until Food Network came calling.

“In the 1990s, there was a trend here in Nashville to paint your dining room bright red,” Yearwood remembers. “It was bright red and the ceiling was bright red, and I painted it white immediately. Then there was an office that was a spare bedroom that was like a dark hunter green, and I painted that, but really, I didn’t have to do much else to it.”

Once Yearwood signed on to do Trisha’s Southern Kitchen, however, Yearwood had to rework some of the kitchen, adding elements like a stove facing the camera. It’s been her sanctuary, and where she has hosted meals, including for several of her fellow country music singers, which is why she hesitated to walk away.

“Every time I walk in it I feel like it just feels warm and welcoming,” Yearwood explains. “It’s a place of serenity and it’s probably why I’ve held on to it for so long.”

Fortunately, Yearwood still plans on filming more seasons of Trisha’s Southern Kitchen, just from a different location.

“We’re almost finished building a new structure,” the Georgia native reveals. “I finally got smart. All of my heroes have built kitchens on their property to shoot in. Ree Drummond has a kitchen she shoots in, Ina Garten has a kitchen she shoots, and I decided to do that. Garth had been trying to talk me into this for several years about building a little structure on our place. Once it’s done, we’ll start shooting in the new Trisha’s Kitchen and it will be about a 60-second commute for me.”

In addition to selling her home, Yearwood is also working on a new album, one that she says will include songs she has written. Find all of Yearwood’s music and upcoming concerts at TrishaYearwood.com.