Former Franklin County Jail Back on the Market

A 1914 jailhouse in Ozark on the Arkansas River has been renovated and is back on the market as a home. (Photo provided)

You won’t need to post bail, just a down payment, if you’re interested in buying a house inmates once called home. The former Franklin County Jail in Ozark is back on the market after three-and-a-half years.

Built in 1914 and listed at $600,000, the 2,512-SF structure has been renovated by Loren and Beverly Maier. The longtime Ozark residents bought the property in 2021 for $200,000.

After two rounds of floor-to-ceiling pressure washing, crumbling plaster fell, revealing names, tally marks and other graffiti scratched into the former jail’s 14-inch concrete walls. Many of the former inmates’ families still live in the area and tell stories of tossing cigarettes to their incarcerated kin leaning out of the second-floor cells.

“They would go to the side windows,” Loren Maier said. “That way if you missed, it didn’t fall on the porch because if they fell on the porch, the sheriff wouldn’t let you go get them.”

Now, those barred windows have been traded for glass. Central heat and air conditioning, a new roof and a Ring security system are all additions the Maiers have made during the renovation.

“It’s probably more secure with those cameras than it was originally,” said Jeff Clifton, executive broker with the True North Team at Keller William Pro Realty and the property’s agent.

While he isn’t marketing toward a particular buyer, Clifton said the listing could be particularly attractive to the Airbnb market, those looking to enjoy the nearby wine country or even paranormal enthusiasts. But Loren Maier said he had never felt anything unusual during his time living in the former jail.

Before the couple bought the property in 2021, it had been owned by Greg and Nancy McKenzie, who bought it for $13,500 in 1975 after it was decommissioned as the county jail. Greg McKenzie converted the downstairs into his law office, but several jailhouse quirks remained. For example, the switch for the upstairs lights was located downstairs where the jailer’s quarters had been. “So when the jailer went to bed, everybody else went to bed,” Loren Maier said.

Many of those quirks were rectified during the renovation, which aimed to mimic the look of a distressed French chateau. Totaling 0.4 acres, the property is larger than when it was last sold. Two adjacent lots, one with a metal shop, have been added. It comes complete with the original cell door keys too.