Dean Gardens was one of the largest homes in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. At the time of its completion in 1992, the 32,000 square foot, 15 bedroom house was the largest in Atlanta. The former owner, Larry Dean, who made his fortune in software, spent $30 million on its construction, plus $1.5 million a year on its upkeep. [1]
The 58-acre property then became a boondoggle of failed construction efforts, wasted resources and a chain of owners.
The house was first put up for sale in 1994, two years after its completion. Since that time, it attracted media notoriety for having gone unsold for 17 years. Reasons why it never sold include its so-called, "Liberace-meets-Napoleon design," [1] which include pink themes, a Moroccan theater, 24-karat-gold sinks, a Hawaiian-art gallery, a 1950s-style dance hall, French Empire-style furniture, 13 fireplaces and a 24-seat dining room with a wall-sized aquarium called, the "Predator Tank." [1]
Dean Gardens was sold in 2010 to Tyler Perry, the Atlanta-based entertainment mogul, for $7.6 million, down from its original asking price of $40 million. [1] [2] Perry demolished the home to build a more energy-efficient and sustainable residence. [1] [3] However he failed to build anything and sold the land for $9.2 million to Lennar. [4] Lennar planned on building 70 homes, but due to land erosion and restrictions about building too close to the river, much of the land was unbuildable. Because it was not enough homes to turn a profit, Lennar canceled construction in February 2017, but not before streets and other landscape features had been built at a cost of nearly $13 million. [4] In 2017, the property was for sale by Lennar, with 61 empty lots and 3 completed homes. The property was later developed in 2018 and 2019 into the Bayard gated subdivision with 64 total single family homes.
A turnkey, a turnkey project, or a turnkey operation is a type of project that is constructed so that it can be sold to any buyer as a completed product. This is contrasted with build to order, where the constructor builds an item to the buyer's exact specifications, or when an incomplete product is sold with the assumption that the buyer would complete it.
Dunwoody is a city located in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. As a northern suburb of Atlanta, Dunwoody is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. It was incorporated as a city on December 1, 2008 but its area establishment dates back to the early 1830s. As of 2019, the city has a population of 49,356, up from 46,267 in the 2010 census.
George Ervin "Sonny" Perdue III is an American politician who served as the 31st United States secretary of agriculture from 2017 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 81st governor of Georgia from 2003 to 2011 and as a member of the Georgia State Senate from 1991 to 2002.
The Georgia Dome was a domed stadium in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west, it was owned and operated by the State of Georgia as part of the Georgia World Congress Center Authority. Its successor, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, was built adjacent to the south and opened on August 26, 2017. The Georgia Dome was demolished on November 20, 2017.
WUVG-DT is a television station licensed to Athens, Georgia, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language Univision and UniMás networks to the Atlanta area. Owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision, the station maintains studios on Peachtree Road NE in the Buckhead section of Atlanta, and a transmitter in North Druid Hills. Despite Athens being WUVG-DT's city of license, the station maintains no physical presence there.
Kirkwood is a national historic designated neighborhood on the east side of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is a historic streetcar suburb situated entirely in DeKalb County, bordered by the neighborhoods of Lake Claire, East Lake, Edgewood, and Oakhurst. Kirkwood is bound on the north by DeKalb Avenue, on the south by Memorial Drive and Interstate 20, on the west by Montgomery Street, and on the east by 1st Ave. A large part of the neighborhood is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Kirkwood Historic District.
Tyler Perry is an American actor, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of Mabel "Madea" Simmons, a tough elderly woman, and also portrays her brother Joe Simmons and her nephew Brian Simmons. Perry's films vary in style from orthodox filmmaking techniques to filmed productions of live stage plays, many of which have been subsequently adapted into feature films. Madea's first appearance was in Perry's play I Can Do Bad All by Myself (1999) staged in Chicago.
The Ryland Group, Inc. was a company engaged in home construction based in Westlake Village, California. In 2015, it was the 5th largest homebuilder in the United States. In October 2015, the company merged with Standard Pacific Homes to form CalAtlantic Homes.
The Kimball House was the name of two historical hotels in Atlanta, Georgia. United States. Both were constructed on an entire city block at the south-southeast corner of Five Points, bounded by Whitehall Street, Decatur Street, Pryor Street, and Wall Street, a block now occupied by a multi-story parking garage.
Located at 695 North Avenue in Atlanta, the Dupre Excelsior Mill may have been built as early as 1890 by DuPre Manufacturing Company. However, the mill fails to appear on Atlanta city maps in 1892 and 1899, which both show the property as vacant. The first possible reference to the mill exists in the report of the death of Hubert Neal on July 17, 1899. According to the report, his accident occurred at the Atlanta Excelsior Works, which may or may not be the same facility since at the time there were three excelsior factories in Atlanta. The earliest concrete confirmation of the mill seems to be three lawsuits filed against Dupre in 1907 for accidents that occurred at the facility. The mill does appear on the Sanborn-Perris fire insurance map of 1911. At that time, the only road connecting it was Angier Street. It was noted to have been heated by steam power, no lighting, and a private water supply from a well 10 feet in diameter and 40 feet deep. A watchman made hourly rounds to seven stations.
Lennar Corporation is a home construction company based in the Waterford District, an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. As of 2023, the company was the second-largest home construction company in the United States based on the number of homes sold. In 2023, the company was ranked 119th on the Fortune 500.
Sylvan Hills is a historic intown neighborhood in southwest Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
Mathis Airport was a private airport located in unincorporated Forsyth County, Georgia, United States, about 5 miles (8.0 km) northwest of Suwanee in the northeastern part of metro Atlanta. The airport closed in October 2014.
Morningside/Lenox Park is an intown neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia founded in 1923. It is located north of Virginia-Highland, east of Ansley Park and west of Druid Hills. Approximately 3,500 households comprise the neighborhood that includes the original subdivisions of Morningside, Lenox Park, University Park, Noble Park, Johnson Estates and Hylan Park.
The Newhall Land and Farming Company is a land management company based in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California, United States. The company is responsible for the master community planning of Valencia and previously developed other areas such as Canyon Country and Newhall which together with Saugus and Valencia would merge to create the city of Santa Clarita in 1987. The company is also responsible for the management of farm land elsewhere in the state.
Adair Park is a residential neighborhood located southwest of downtown Atlanta. It has the form of a left curly bracket, bordered by the MARTA north–south rail line on the northwest, the BeltLine trail on the southwest and Metropolitan Parkway on the east. Historically Adair Park also included the area from Metropolitan Parkway to McDaniel Street on the east, but the city now considers that area part of the Pittsburgh neighborhood.
Macedonia Park, also known as Bagley Park, was a development in what is now the Buckhead Community of Atlanta, Georgia which was located on the present site of Frankie Allen Park in the Garden Hills neighborhood. It was situated in District 17, Land Lot 60. While many African-Americans lived in the area from 1870 to 1920, streets and addresses weren't assigned until the area was developed by John Sheffield Owens, a white developer, in 1921. Despite the area's development, the homes were systemically bought up by Fulton County in the 1940s-50s. The County cited water quality issues and ordered a clean-up of the area, which ultimately led to the razing of the neighborhood.
Center Parc Stadium is an outdoor stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The stadium is the home of the Georgia State University Panthers football team as of the 2017 season, replacing the Georgia Dome which had served as their home stadium from the program's inception in 2010 until 2016.
The Mountain Beverly Hills, formerly known as The Vineyard Beverly Hills, is a 157-acre (64 ha) undeveloped property in Beverly Hills, California reportedly worth $1 billion.
The Roswell Historic District, in Roswell, Georgia in Fulton County, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.