A huge swath of Buckhead hits the market. Any big ideas?
A quiet slice of Buckhead with a unique backstory is up for grabs, offering what sellers call a “once in a lifetime opportunity” for a great price.
Larger than Centennial Olympic Park and Woodruff Park combined downtown, the 3910 Randall Mill Road property spans nearly 30 acres between luxury properties east of Interstate 75 and south of I-285.
Today it is mostly forest, with a picturesque section of Nancy Creek.
“When you’re there, you don’t even feel like you’re in Atlanta — it’s a slice of the mountains,” Nick Stinnett, an Atlanta resident who has walked his dogs several times along the property’s creek, tells Urbanize Atlanta. “It will probably be subdivided and developed, which is sad, because it would be a wonderful natural park.”
3910 Randall Mill Road is located close to central Atlanta and the Interstate 75/285 interchange near Truist Park. Google Maps
Looking southeast toward downtown and downtown, the 30-block facility is visible with Interstate 75 on the right. Ansley Real Estate/Christie’s International Real Estate
The property was listed last week with Ansley Real Estate/Christie’s International Real Estate for $15 million, offering a rare undeveloped Buckhead lot of just over a few acres. The listing notes that the “old property” includes “as rich a history as you can find” in the city.
The previous owner, famed Atlanta photographer and philanthropist Lucinda Bonin, the “godmother of Southern photography” who helped build the High Museum of Art’s photo collection, died last year at age 92.
In the mid-1950s, the Bonin family commissioned Cecil Alexander, architect of the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium and many other famous local buildings, to create a house inspired by the works of Frank Lloyd Wright on 5 acres. This eccentric and modern structure still stands today, surrounded by a swimming pool, tennis court, and many trees.
The driveway leads to the main house structure of the Randall Mill property. Ansley Real Estate/Christie’s International Real Estate
Inside a 1950s home on site today. Ansley Real Estate/Christie’s International Real Estate
As the decades passed and Bonin’s photography career took off, the owners continued to purchase adjacent land, eventually expanding to the approximately 30 acres offered today. A photo-developing darkroom (Google it, kids) was installed on the ground floor of the main house in 1970, according to the listing.
Two decades ago, a two-mile trail was created around the property to enjoy nature, walk dogs, hike, and take photos of it all.
Today’s offering includes two homes totaling seven bedrooms, six bathrooms and more than 7,000 square feet. Perhaps this will be a moot point, if this ITP haven is redeveloped. Or if it were kept largely as is, giving some wealthy buyers the ultimate in privacy in the city.
A plaque showing the location of the main house structure and Nancy Creek on the 30-acre site. Ansley Real Estate/Christie’s International Real Estate
Scene on the property next to Nancy Creek. Presenter
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