After buying it for $1, George and Nancy Corbett ferried a circa 1910 Queen Anne-style home 25 miles across Tampa Bay, by barge, in one piece, to save it from demolition.

They expanded the home to 7,000 square feet, created a ¾-acre man-made lagoon on the new 5.2-acre site, and, despite the changes, successfully petitioned to add the home to the National Register of Historic Places.

Years later, as sometimes happens when owners invest heavily in a home in a relatively low-price market, the Corbetts wound up selling their house for far less than they were originally seeking. Listed for just under $5 million in February, it sold for $1.15 million in November, 2014, a 77% reduction, according to public records.

The couple say they have no regrets. In fact, they say they found the perfect buyers: Rick and Aly Yohn who, like the Corbetts, run an evangelical Christian retreat.

The home’s unusual back story and design won over WSJ.com readers. In WSJ.com’s annual House of the Year contest, readers voted for their favorites among 52 homes for sale that were profiled over the course of 2014 in the online House of the Day feature. The Corbetts’ home, profiled in March, when it was still for sale, received 63,916 votes, out of a total 632,489 votes cast.