Buckhead.com sat down for an exclusive interview with Johnson for his take on being courted by Ted Turner to lead CNN, what drew him to Buckhead, his thoughts on its future, and what keeps him “driven” into his 80’s
The bookshelves lining the office of Tom Johnson’s Buckhead home are practically overflowing with books, eye-catching mementos and photos of the famed journalist with significant world leaders like former President Lyndon B. Johnson, Fidel Castro, and Colin Powell. Johnson, 81, has collected a lifetime of such keepsakes, along with the memories of being in the room for some of the most notable moments in world history over the last six decades.
While working as a White House Fellow during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration, Tom Johnson handed the president a note that Martin Luther King Jr. had been shot in Memphis on April 4, 1968. Johnson was present in 1991 when Mikhail Gorbachev signed his letter of resignation, effectively dismantling the USSR. In fact, Gorbachev’s pen was not working when he attempted to sign the document, so Johnson lent the outgoing USSR president his own pen to ink the resignation that altered the course of world history.
When he wasn’t directly involved, Johnson often played a leading role in sharing information with the world about many significant events of the late 20th century. After working in various roles in the Lyndon Johnson administration, Johnson, who is of no relation to the late president, was named executive director of the Texas Broadcasting Corporation, and later an editor and the publisher of the Dallas Times Herald. In 1977, he took on the role of president and publisher for one of the nation’s most notable publications, the Los Angeles Times. It was Johnson who was on the phone with Walter Cronkite during a live broadcast as the CBS Evening News host informed the nation of LBJ’s passing in 1973 .
Originally from Macon, Georgia, Johnson permanently moved to Buckhead in 1990 after being personally recruited by Ted Turner to serve as president of CNN, the 24-hour news channel that was still a novel foray into disseminating information. From 1990 to until his retirement in 2001, Johnson took on the roles of president, chairman and CEO of CNN, leading the news organization from its relative infancy to prominence, and revolutionizing the way Americans consume news.
Though Johnson retired from CNN over twenty years ago, the self-described “workaholic” is far from finished working. His bookshelves may be packed with mementos, but his desk is very much an active space, filled with manila envelopes and spiral-bound notebooks of the octogenarian’s current projects, including his extensive philanthropic work. He is also enveloped in writing a yet-to-be-named memoir and proudly showcases a notebook garnished with a photo of his wife, Edwina, pronouncing this chapter by far the most important of his memoir.
It was Edwina who located the Johnsons’ Buckhead home when Tom began his tenure at CNN. Johnson said Buckhead “almost marketed itself” with its positive media buzz, abundance of forestation, large lots, great schools, and of course, its convenience to his new workplace.
“Buckhead made a very good impression,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s fondness for Buckhead has endured ever since he and Edwina discovered their home near West Paces Ferry Road more than 30 years ago. Even today, he derives immense pleasure from the sprawling 5-acre property nestled in a forested paradise, complete with a tennis court and a now-vacant chicken coop.
“It’s just right,” he said. “It is beautiful.”
While the original appealing characteristics of Buckhead remain, Johnson said over the last 30 years traffic has become a glaring issue. “More attention” has been given to public safety in the area, although he feels some in Buckhead don’t look at crime statistics outside of the area as closely as they should for comparison. He also feels current Atlanta and Buckhead lawmakers are making positive strides in combating the issue, one of the reasons why he did not support Buckhead becoming its own municipality.
“I’m a strong opponent of breaking away from Atlanta,” he said. “I think it would be devastating for Atlanta Public Schools. I think, over time, it would not be as successful as many of the proponents believe. I’m pleased that the legislature has now voted two times not to proceed on that. I also think the proponents are not as sensitive to the potential damage to Buckhead [a separate municipality would create]. I would prefer for Atlanta and Buckhead to work, as they are today, to build and strengthen rather than trying to blow it up. I’d like to continue to work toward making it a better, stronger city. There’s just so much strong leadership in Buckhead and people who care broadly about Atlanta.”
Johnson found his way “back home” to Georgia to lead CNN after being inspired by Ted Turner. The news organization’s founder has the unique distinction of being considered a “genius” by Johnson. According to him, Turner’s ability to generate unique ideas is unparalleled, evident in his creation of a 24-hour news channel, which he later expanded globally, establishing platforms like Turner Classic Movies and CNN Airport. Additionally, he turned the Atlanta Braves into a dynasty club, secured the America’s Cup in 1977, and donated a billion dollars to the United Nations, driven by his belief that the world needed a method for addressing problems without resorting to violent conflict.
“I don’t think there’s ever been somebody quite like Ted, and I doubt there will ever be another one like him,” Johnson said. “I really loved working for him, and I remain very close to him.”
After talking with Turner, Johnson was “convinced the future of television news was CNN.” Johnson quickly had to learn the ins-and-outs of television news given his background primarily focused on print journalism. He was given a crash course when, just a few days into his tenure, then-president George H.W. Bush declared Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait “will not stand.” Johnson approached Turner about the possibility of war, and estimated that up-to-the-minute comprehensive coverage would require the news organization to spend between $5 million and $30 million over its anticipated budget.
“He said, ‘Spend whatever it takes,’” Johnson said.
CNN’s unrivaled coverage of the invasion and subsequent Gulf War helped further cement Johnson into the upper echelon of American journalism, made more impressive by his humble roots.
Johnson was born in Macon in 1941 to a financially struggling family. While attending Lanier High School, he took a job as a sports correspondent with the Macon Telegraph following local high school sports teams, reporting on games, and phoning in scores. The experience helped Johnson discover his passion for journalism. He quickly took on other roles under the guidance of more senior reporters and his editors, and later studied journalism at the University of Georgia. While working at the Macon Telegraph, he caught the eye of the newspaper’s owner, Peyton Anderson. When Anderson asked Johnson what he wanted to be, the budding journalist responded that he wanted to be a news publisher, spurring Anderson to make an extremely generous offer.
“He said, ‘in that case, you need to get a Harvard Business School degree’…and he said ‘if you can get in, I’ll pay your way’,” Johnson said. “And I did get in, and he did pay my way.”
While attending Harvard, Johnson returned to Macon for two summers with his new wife Edwina. The two had met at UGA where Edwina had been dating future legendary Auburn University football coach Pat Dye. Johnson jokes that he “prevailed” over Dye to marry Edwina, or as he sometimes calls her, “Sparkle,” based on the Dick Tracy character and Edwina being a “continually happy person.”
“She and I together have shaped our years together,” Johnson said. “There’s been no decision that has been made in all our years together that we haven’t made together.”
That soon became evident in their marriage when Edwina presented Johnson with a New York Times article covering the new White House Fellows program created by LBJ and urged him to apply.
“Now, for quite a while I thought she saw uncommon potential in me, but as much as anything, I think she didn’t want to go back to Macon,” Johnson laughed.
Johnson was accepted into the program, and the experience helped him later become the executive vice president of the media organization owned by LBJ’s family. He spent eight years with the company until it was bought by the parent company of the Los Angeles Times. Johnson wanted to return to his roots in journalism, and L.A. Times publisher Otis Chandler “created a pathway” for Johnson to become an editor and then publisher of the Dallas-Times Herald, and later the publisher and the president of the L.A. Times. He spent 17 years combined with the publications before joining CNN.
“I’ve never seen a plan for anybody quite as specific as the plan [Chandler] outlined for me, giving a young guy a chance to become an editor and publisher in Dallas and to become president and perhaps publisher in Los Angeles,” Johnson said. “But he saw in me, I guess, the potential to rise within his own organization. And I did.”
Johnson credits Chandler as one of several people who helped him carve out his successful career. The first was his mother, who saw her son’s potential and instilled in him an ethic of “work hard and do right” to accomplish anything he set out to do. He also credits Edwina, Macon Telegraph publisher Anderson, former White House Press Secretary Bill Moyers, former President Johnson, and Turner.
With such strong influences and those willing to assist Johnson throughout his life and career, he now has turned his attention to helping others.
“I believe as a result of all that’s been done for me that I will do everything I can for others,” he said. “I want to do it privately…but I really want to make sure in my last two ‘innings’ I do as much for others as I can possibly do.”
These ventures include considerable philanthropic efforts, with the Peyton Anderson Foundation, the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, the LBJ Foundation, the Mayo Clinic Foundation, and the Emory Winship Cancer Institute. Johnson has a particular focus on cancer research and treatment — his wife Edwina is a multiple myeloma survivor — and mental health issues, particularly depression and substance abuse. Johnson has been candid about his past struggles with depression, and is a strong advocate for talk therapy, proper mental health diagnosis, and providing advisors to school-aged children and teens at every school, both public and private.
These endeavors continue Johnson’s “workaholic” tendencies, which he says can be a positive attribute, but he “does not recommend” the lifestyle. A significant regret he has is not being more present when his children were young. For that, he is even more thankful for Edwina steering the family ship during those times. Between his extensive volunteerism and as he sets out to pen his memoir, Johnson shows no signs of slowing down.
“I was born driven, and I can’t stop being driven,” Johnson said, perhaps cementing the name for his memoir in the statement.
A winding drive leads to the gated entrance of 1823 River Forest Road. The location is ideal, set in the heart of Buckhead’s prestigious Paces neighborhood on one of the best streets! Beyond the gates you will find a stately brick home with a classic rocking chair front porch situated on over 2 wooded acres. A private well provides water for irrigation, and the home includes a whole-house generator.
The back of the home is built for seasonal fun and entertaining, with an in-ground pool, patio, and generous wrap-around deck overlooking the beautiful greenery. In addition to the attached 2-car garage, a separate garage provides an additional enclosed parking space.
Once inside, the two-story foyer provides access to the formal living and dining rooms, and other common areas. The formal living room features a fireplace with access to the deck.
Along the rear of the home, the spacious eat-in kitchen has a warm farm-house vibe featuring wood beams, wood floors and brick accent walls, and a lovely breakfast room. White cabinets and counters line the kitchen providing an abundance of storage and food prep areas.
The inviting sunroom will undoubtedly be your favorite room! It spans the entire back of the home, and provides natural light through skylights and a wall of windows overlooking the pool and patio. Family and guests will enjoy dining, relaxing, and entertaining in this bright open space.
The family room has deck access, a convenient powder room, and a deluxe bar area.
The owner’s suite on the second floor has an oversized bedroom with a fireplace, multiple closets, and plenty of room for a seating area. An ensuite main bath features double vanities, a soaking tub, and separate shower.
Three additional bedroom suites occupy the remainder of the upper level. Each suite has a generous closet and ensuite bath access, with two bedrooms sharing a Jack & Jill bath. Keep an eye out for the ladder to a hidden play room!
Downstairs you will find a large family room/ bonus room with an exterior entry and a full bath. There is a bedroom that makes a great private home office, and a large workshop space as well.
Driving down many streets in the Paces neighborhood, it would be easy to imagine yourself in the hills of North Georgia. The neighborhood has rolling topography, dense forest, and secluded properties. Then, you crest a hill and see the entire Atlanta skyline peeking above the tree line, a reminder that you are a few minutes from just about anywhere in Buckhead, Midtown, or Downtown! This embodies what Buckhead is really about, a wonderful quality of life combined with the conveniences of a modern city at your doorstep … or front gate.
Georgia Power has plans to bury electric lines in several Buckhead neighborhoods starting this year as part of a multibillion-dollar plan to reduce blackouts. First, they need to secure the necessary easement by winning over property owners in the path of the project.
Buckhead’s impressive urban forest is a huge civic asset, but also means that storms – like the remnant of Hurricane Irma in 2017 – often topple trees into power lines. Burying – or “undergrounding” – the lines is a way to avoid that problem.
“Placing power lines underground makes the grid more resilient because they’re less vulnerable to storms and wind, but it’s not fault-proof,” said Georgia Power spokesperson Marie Bertot. “In areas prone to flooding, digging, root vegetation and other underground activity, it’s not always an option.”
Undergrounding is sometimes done for aesthetic reasons as well. But the Buckhead plan will leave existing poles standing to carry lines from the street to houses and businesses, and for use by telecommunications companies (AT&T, Comcast). According to one source, additional poles will actually be added to deal with the new web of connections. In rare cases where neither Georgia Power nor the telecommunications companies are using a power pole, it will be removed.
In addition, the underground system requires a series of transformers housed in familiar green metal boxes that will be installed in front yards and along sidewalks, so many residents will be hearing from Georgia Power contractors about purchasing easements for those devices.
The local work will cover the Paces Ferry, West Paces Ferry, and Powers Ferry roads corridors in such western neighborhoods as Chastain Park, Paces and Tuxedo Park, as well as part of North Buckhead between Ivy and Wieuca roads. Georgia Power aims to begin construction this spring and summer, with the work lasting approximately 12 months.
The work is just one part of Georgia Power’s “Grid Investment Plan,” a major, multiyear project of systemwide improvements. The goals are improving the reliability of Georgia’s electric grid and lessening the impact of any failures. The company is about two years in the first phase, for which it is spending $1.3 billion.
Improvements are not performed randomly. “We are making strategic grid investments, selecting project locations based on historical service and performance data to ensure that we are putting our resources in the right places to improve reliability,” said Bertot.
The grid has two basic components: transmission, where power is sent over long distances to localities, and distribution, which is sending the electricity into your home or business.
On the transmission side, the plan includes replacing wires and/or structures, and substation improvements as significant as full reconstruction.
On the distribution side, undergrounding is just one of several improvement tactics. Others include: adding “automated line devices” that automatically isolate outages to smaller parts of the grid; adding connections, which can provide a backup power source; relocating lines in hard-to-reach areas so that repairs are easier; and line strengthening, which can refer to a variety of upgrades in localized spots that make damage or other failures less likely.
Buckhead is also getting automated line devices and strengthened poles, according to Georgia Power.
Many other neighborhoods, such as Druid Hills, are getting similar improvements, including undergrounding.
Undergrounding requires various metal boxes to be set into the ground to provide power switching and delivery. In particular, a box called a “single phase transformer” has to be placed “every few homes” for delivery, according to Georgia Power’s website. Those are green boxes on a concrete pad that are roughly 26 inches high, 34 inches long and 31 inches wide. They are built on a concrete pad and need about 10 feet of clearance to be maintained on all sides.
There is not sufficient space for the boxes to be installed in the public right of way, which in residential areas typically means a narrow strip of lawn along the road. Acquisition subcontractors are now contacting residents seeking easements to install the devices, offering around $1,000 as compensation. If the initial offer is rejected, the offer escalates quickly and significant amounts have been reported.
The easements are all voluntary, according to Georgia Power, though it is less clear what happens if property owners refuse, especially on an entire street. The company’s answer is that in such cases it would “explore other project alternatives.”
The company says it aims for “minimal disruption” in installing such devices. But the work might require trimming trees, removing landscaping and digging up sidewalks and road trenching. Landscaping and sidewalks would be replaced by the company.
The undergrounding affects only the main distribution line, not the lines going to individual properties, so poles will remain for that purpose. Georgia Power also says it notifies telecommunications companies that may also use the poles about the work, but can’t control whether they also choose to bury lines. Any pole used purely for carrying a Georgia Power distribution line would be removed after the undergrounding.
Georgia Power provides extensive information about the Grid Improvement Plan – including frequently asked questions and construction maps – on its website.
The following are the general areas and timelines for undergrounding of lines in Buckhead, according to Georgia Power. All of the general areas include “most side streets in the area.”
Dozens of local and nationally-known decorators have descended on Buckhead to create not one, but THREE decorator showhomes! All three are currently available for tours and also for purchase.
Developers use showhomes to generate interest in their product, and decorators use them to attract attention to their style. Buckhead has always been fertile ground for these events but, to my knowledge, this is the first time that there have been three open at the same time. Whether you are simply looking for a fun afternoon tour with friends, decorating ideas, or are interested in buying one of the showhomes, there is something for everyone here! Contact me for a private after-hours tour if you are interested in purchasing any of these homes. Otherwise, see below for additional information, tour dates, and ticketing information.
Tour Dates and Hours: Open now thru 11/27/22. Thurs-Sat 11am-5pm and Sun 1-5pm. (Closed Thanksgiving, Black Friday hours will be 1-5pm)
This showhouse is a nod to classic Regency-style and features some heavy-hitters in the design world such as Bunny Williams, Suzanne Kasler, and Ray Booth. It was designed by award-winning Atlanta architect Peter Block & Associates and was built by luxury home builder Young & Meathe. The 10,000 square foot has been decorated by 21of the design industry’s most celebrated interior designers, with the grounds coming to life at the hand of renowned Atlanta-based landscape architect John Howard. FLOWER magazine Founder and Editor-in-Chief Margot Shaw tapped legendary designers Charlotte Moss as the Honorary Chair and Suzanne Kasler as the Design Chair.
Tickets: Tickets are $40. A portion of the proceeds benefits the Atlanta Ballet. Purchase at www.flowermag.com/showhouse
Images in this gallery by Emily Followill
Tour Dates and Hours: December 3rd through December 17th on select days.
For the fifth year running, House Beautiful is revealing Whole Home 2022, a luxury design showcase with collaborations from the best and brightest in the industry which takes place this year in Atlanta, Georgia. In partnership with Ladisic Fine Homes, architects Pak Heydt & Associates and eleven design teams from across the country, the team completely reinvigorated the home’s 11,000 square foot 1950’s ranch-style house situated on a tree-lined street in the Tuxedo Park neighborhood.
Ariene Bethea, Jonathan Savage, Keia McSwain, Leanne Ford, Lisa Adams, Mark Williams, Niki Papadopoulos, Whittney Parkinson, Ashley Gilbreath, Zoë Feldman, Brynn Olson, Lisa Adams and DuVäl Reynolds each lent their design expertise to the home
Architect Yong Pak of Pak Heydt & Associates created a modern Tudor design which includes wings for working, dreaming, hosting, and for simply being a teenager. It took four project managers, 100 skilled tradespeople (carpenters, plumbers, roof layers, tile and wallpaper installers, and landscapers) to bring the vision to life, culminating in an astonishingly beautiful, intimate light-filled home for the modern, busy family and their guests.
The house has multiple lounges, serene bedrooms and rooms to both entertain and unwind, and includes an outdoor kitchen and guest room with hotel-style amenities.
Tickets: The home will be open to the public December 3rd through December 17th on select days and those interested can buy tickets here for $35 and more information may be found here.
Images in this gallery and featured image above by Rustic White Interiors.
Tour Dates and Hours: Open November 17TH – December 11TH, 2022 Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m.— 4 p.m. and Sundays from 1 — 4 p.m. Closed Monday—Wednesday and Thanksgiving Day.
Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles presents their 14th annual Home for the Holidays Showhouse & Marketplace benefiting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Not only does this wintertime tradition showcase some of the region’s most esteemed design talents, but it’s also a festive celebration of the holiday season. This new contemporary English estate in Buckhead is the latest collaboration between Harrison Design and KBD Development & Construction.
During the run of showhouse, don’t miss a lineup of inspiring events, including pop-up shops and floral demonstrations, evening Candlelight tours and more.
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased at www.atlantahomesmag.shop for $40-60 and more information may be found at www.atlantaholidayhome.com
Images in this gallery by David Christensen.
Residents of Buckhead’s Paces neighborhood are urging opposition to a plan to add a ramp from I-75 directly onto Howell Mill Road.
A Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) plan calls for connecting I-75’s Exit 255 at Northside Parkway to Howell Mill via a U-shaped “slip ramp.” The ramp would bypass the intersections of Northside and Howell Mill. A public comment period on the plan runs through Nov. 14.
GDOT claims in a presentation that the ramp is needed to lessen collisions and backups at the Northside Parkway intersection both now and following future development. The Paces Civic Association (PCA) is among neighborhood groups saying there’s no evidence the Howell Mill ramp would help, and they’re concerned about stormwater runoff.
“This project is proposed to relieve the existing excessive vehicular congestion, reduce traffic crashes, and prepare for an increase in vehicular and pedestrian traffic of a quickly developing portion of the City of Atlanta,” says a GDOT presentation.
“The proposed project would cause substantial harm to our community due to the tremendous amount of water that would be routed into Nancy Creek/Peachtree Creek,” said Marie Macadam, the PCA’s vice president of community planning, in a Nov. 4 email to members. “Properties adjacent to these waterways would inevitably incur substantially more flooding than currently exists. In addition, the already bad sewer spills experienced on some lots could multiply as well.”
Community groups rejected a similar proposal in 2020, the PCA says, amid concerns the ramp really was intended to serve nearby private development. The PCA did not respond to a comment request about that.
“This is the same project that we defeated in 2020,” Macadam said in the email. “Our goal is to defeat the project again. To achieve that goal, we need support from all the neighborhoods and neighbors, even those that are not directly impacted.”
A GDOT spokesperson could not immediately comment on the development claim and the stormwater concerns. GDOT’s presentation includes general information about the agency’s standards for handling stormwater.
GDOT says the project would cost $600,000 and is slated for construction in fiscal year 2025.
Comments can be sent to GDOT through Nov. 14 at this link.
The ramp proposal comes as GDOT recently drew controversy with another, much larger plan near Buckhead: widenings, pedestrian access features and other changes to a long stretch of Northside Drive roughly between I-20 at Atlanta University Center and I-75 on the Buckhead border.
It is an iconic home at the corner of Davis Drive and Northside Drive. From this vantage point passing motorists catch a glimpse of “Round Hill”, home of the late Charlie Loudermilk. A front lawn longer than an NFL field is lined by an avenue of trees on either side, framing a stately limestone facade and a life-size statue of a Buck. Like the man for whom this sprawling estate was built, it is larger than life.
Situated on a serene 14+ acres at 825 Davis Drive, it is the largest property available in the Buckhead area and is being offered for sale for the first time ever by Buckhead Realtor, Ben Hirsh. “It is a real honor to be chosen to represent such an amazing property,” said Hirsh. “I had the privilege of knowing Charlie and spending time with him here at his home. He loved this place dearly, and I look forward to finding the next owner who will make it their home.”
The home was designed by William T. Baker for Loudermilk with significant influence from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Virginia, at twice the scale. “The scale and quality of construction of this home is extraordinary,” said Baker. “The quality and quantity of hand-carved limestone, the slate roof from Vermont, and wood-mould bricks would be very hard to replicate today. Even if you could, it would cost well over $1000 per foot to build.”
The 15,000 square foot home was constructed by Jerry Bonnor and completed in 1999. The grounds include 14+ usable acres. Paths winding through the wooded property connect various improvements which include a fishing pond, waterfall, greenhouse, garden beds, an old log cabin that was once a hunting lodge, and a barn.”This is an heirloom-quality property,” added Hirsh. “A rare opportunity that you have only one shot at.” For more photos and information, contact Ben Hirsh and click here.
It is hard to imagine a quieter or more peaceful setting than where 115 E Chambord sits on a culdesac off of Davis Drive, surrounded by large estates. The home is classic, stately and elegant, with warm and inviting spaces your family will love. The current owner/designer has kept the home updated and renovated through several decades of ownership, with Spitzmiller and Norris assisting on renovations and the guesthouse addition.
The carefully designed gardens include a large lawn, a rose garden, and a woodland garden with extensive pathways. The lush pool courtyard is the perfect place to both relax and entertain.
Around the side of the home, a large motor court connects the five garages (three are air-conditioned!). A beautiful breezeway connects the detached 3-car garage, guest apartment and a flower arranging workshop to the main house. You will appreciate the convenience and sustainability of many features such as the private well, and a generator in case of an outage.
Intricate millwork and other fine details are found throughout the home. The grand entry foyer leads to the formal dining room and the central hallway. The living room is a bright space features a wall of French door that open onto the sun porch and the pool terrace beyond. On the way to the kitchen you’ll find a wet bar that is great for entertaining on the main level as well as the pool terrace.
They say the kitchen is the heart of a home, and this totally updated kitchen makes a convincing argument for that idea! High end Wolf appliances, huge center island with counter seating, and a bright breakfast area are only the beginning. Skylights in the vaulted ship-lap ceiling flood the large space with natural light. Custom cabinets and a walk-in pantry provide ample storage.
A two-sided stone fireplace connects the kitchen to the family room, with its vaulted ceiling, window seat, and built-in book cases. It displays a depth of character that is so hard to find in homes today!
Down the central hallway on the main level you’ll pass the private study on your way to the owners’ suite. The main bedroom features ample space for a sitting room and more, a fireplace, and access to the sun porch and the pool terrace.
A large walk-in closet with custom built-ins leads to the luxurious master bath with soaking tub, dual vanities, and gorgeous view of the natural surroundings.
Access the upper level from the grand main staircase, or a second staircase near the kitchen. Upstairs you’ll find three generous bedroom suites, a huge finished storage/closet space, and easy access to the attic spaces.
Two bedrooms have ensuite baths and large closets. The third has a private sitting room, and a closet large enough to function as a nursery!
The finished terrace level has many spaces that will surprise you. A large family room with a dining area leads to the rec room. In the rec room you’ll find a stone fireplace, full kitchen, and access to a lovely brick patio and back yard.
A full bedroom suite is adjacent to the rec room, and down the hall you’ll find the dance studio, home gym, and multiple storage rooms.
The detached garage is referred to as the “guest house”, and it’s easy to see why. The driveway level has a large storage room and a full garden workshop with a utility sink and direct access to the garden.
The upper level centers around a large main studio bedroom, with a separate office area, kitchen, and full ensuite bath. The guest house also makes the perfect headquarters for your home-based business.
There are many reasons why Sandy Springs addresses inside the perimeter are highly desirable, attracting business magnates and international superstars. The beautiful estates offer privacy and tranquility, but the quiet neighborhoods are a stone’s throw from the restaurants, shopping, great schools, and activities that make Buckhead and Sandy Springs such great places to live.
Buckhead’s best hiking and recreation is right around the corner. The Chattahoochee River National Park includes 400 acres of pristine wildlife with 10+ miles of hiking trails, stunning views, and opportunities for water sports such as rafting, kayaking, tubing, and fishing on the Chattahoochee River. Chastain Park offers golf, team sports, a horse park, and much more.
Is it possible for a real estate market to be too good for its own good?
Interest rate increases have done little to dampen the Buckhead housing market during the first quarter of 2022. Instead, demand has continued to be stronger than the supply of available homes. The top 10 homes sold during the first three months of this year start at $4.5 million and increase from there! Buyers from western and northeastern states continue to add to robust local demand, resulting in an increasing number of bidding wars over homes that have the right features and are properly priced. I have seen several situations where prices have been bid up $300,000 to $500,000 above the asking price…these are the stories we used to hear about the market in NYC or San Francisco, but now it is here in Buckhead.
So back to the original question: Is it possible for a real estate market to be too good for its own good? I do not have the answer and I am not able to predict the direction of a market being driven by unprecedented circumstances. Only time and hindsight can tell, but from where we stand today, there is no end in sight.
164 single family homes were sold in Buckhead in the first quarter of 2022. The top of the market was a $9.3 million home, while the average Buckhead home sale closed at $1.5 million.
The condo market in Buckhead is strong, with 352 sold in Q1. Condo sale prices ranged from $107,000 to $4.5 million. The average condo sold in Buckhead was a 1,439 square foot unit for $455,7167.
Buckhead’s Atlanta Police Department precinct is seeing a changing of the guard as its current commander has received a promotion to deputy chief.
Andrew Senzer, who has led the Zone 2 precinct since November 2019 with the rank of major, will head APD’s Strategy and Special Projects Division, he announced at an April 7 meeting of the Buckhead Public Safety Task Force.
Major Ailen Mitchell, who has served as Senzer’s assistant since 2020, will be the new Zone 2 commander, Deputy Chief Timothy Peek said in the meeting.
The transition will happen on April 14, according to APD. The current head of the Strategy and Special Projects Division, Deputy Chief Darin Schierbaum, is being promoted to the vacant position of assistant chief of police.
Senzer was Buckhead’s police commander through the historic COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying crime spike, including the May 2020 rioting and looting in local business areas that spun out of Black Lives Matter protests about the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd.
He also led through the beginning of the Buckhead cityhood movement that based itself on crime concerns. While crime spiked, Senzer took a zero-tolerance approach and Buckhead continues to have the city’s lowest crime rate.
“It really has been an honor to serve as the commander of Zone 2,” Senzer said in the task force meeting. “In my 26 years [in policing], this has probably been the most challenging assignment I’ve had.”
He said his new role will be “a little behind the scenes” but that he will “not be a stranger” in Buckhead.
Peek said APD is “ecstatic” about Senzer taking on the deputy chief role.
Mitchell, according to his APD biography, has been with the department since 2006. He previously commanded the SWAT team and, like Senzer, once served on the Red Dog unit, an anti-drug squad disbanded in 2011 after controversial incidents like an illegal raid on the Atlanta Eagle gay bar. Among his other work was the Gang Unit and the Auto Theft Task Force.
Mitchell became Zone 2’s Criminal Investigations Unit commander in 2018 and its assistant commander in 2020.
Zone 2 is headquartered at 3120 Maple Drive in Buckhead Village.
Update: This story has been updated with information from APD about the transition.
Nearly eight years have passed since an incurable killer of a beloved garden plant was first found in Georgia, lurking in a Buckhead lawn. Now boxwood blight has spread to devastate historic gardens and local landscapes across the country, while science is starting to catch up to the tricks of the fungal infection behind it.
Chris Hastings, owner of the Chamblee-based tree care firm Arbormedics, has been battling the blight in Buckhead gardens from Day One. He summed up the current state of affairs: “Is it bad? Yes. Has it gotten worse? Yes. Is it now commonplace on almost every street in Buckhead? Yes.”
However, Hastings adds, it also has not wiped out the plants as was originally feared. “But over all that time… it comes in waves,” he says, noting a particular blight-battling hint in its link to rainfall and moisture. “And really we’re still trying to figure out, what are those key moments? Because it’s not always as clear as you would expect.”
“The boxwood is such a beloved plant. It’s the aristocrat of the Southern garden.”
Chris Hastings, owner, Arbormedics
Jean Williams-Woodward is a University of Georgia Extension plant pathologist who was on the team that first identified the blight on boxwoods on that Buckhead property back in 2014. She says that “we’re still finding out things about this disease.”
The future she sees taking shape — much like the famously sculpture-friendly boxwood itself — is one where improved practices, disease-resistant breeds and a shift to other types of landscape plants will contain the blight.
Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) is a type of small-leafed, evergreen plant native to Asia that for centuries has been popular nearly worldwide as an ornamental. In tree form, it makes for stately, pillar-like entrance ornaments. It also takes well to being shaped with trimmers and is hugely popular for rectangular hedges — which is how the plant got the “box” name. The English and American varieties are wildly popular cornerstones of the traditional Southern aristocratic garden.
“In the South… it’s a plant that tugs on your heart,” says Williams-Woodward. And on your purse-strings, too — for nurseries and landscapers, “It’s a huge economic impact.”
“The boxwood is such a beloved plant. It’s the aristocrat of the Southern garden,” said Hastings, adding that’s why homeowners are willing to battle the blight instead of just getting replacement plants. “It’s been used for hundreds of years here. It’s been tied in people’s minds and their sensibilities to what a gorgeous Southern garden looks like. So it’s very hard to contemplate having a holly instead.”
This pretty picture started going bad with the original discovery of boxwood blight in the United Kingdom in the 1990s. An American infection was just a matter of time, and in 2011, the first U.S. cases were found in Connecticut and North Carolina nurseries. A Virginia nursery was the likely source of infected plants that led to that first known Georgia case in Buckhead in July 2014, on a private property that the experts won’t publicly identify for privacy reasons. The blight may well have been elsewhere in Georgia already.
The blight has continued to spread around the country and has become a major pest in historic gardens. Colonial Williamsburg, the famous historic area in Virginia, has been battling the blight for over five years in its collection of more than 8,000 boxwoods, many dating back a century or more, according to media reports. In the past year, major boxwood culling was carried out at the historic homes of poet and author Carl Sandburg in North Carolina and 19th-century politician Henry Clay in Kentucky.
“I’ve seen very historic gardens where every single plant has been lost… They just look like bare stems,” said Williams-Woodward.
The blight is a species from a genus of plant-infecting fungi. It kills boxwoods by causing their leaves to die, and can infect the stems as well. The blight can also infect other plants in the same family, including pachysandra and sweet box, according to Williams-Woodward, but is often not so lethal to those species. Some varieties of boxwoods have a degree of resistance, but the beloved dwarf English and American cultivars are not among them.
The fungus spreads by sticky spores that spew off the plant into the environment. Once it infects a plant, there is no known cure.
Williams-Woodward says the fungus has probably been around for hundreds of years, but was less prone to kill boxwoods in their original native areas of today’s Asia and Turkey, where the climate is drier. Wetter conditions are among the factors that make the fungus thrive.
In the first decade of battling the U.S. blight, tactics have shifted along with research and field practice, and even now there is some disagreement among experts about how the fungus spreads and should be fought.
Hastings notes that the early U.S. discoveries were inside mid-Atlantic nurseries and greenhouses, with plants packed closely together. That led to some assumptions about how transmissible the fungus was and that the air might be a major transmission method for its spores.
“So I do think there was a little bit of a misunderstanding in the early days about how contagious it, how lethal it is,” said Hastings. “So a lot of the original reports that came out and still linger were like, ‘If you have boxwood blight on your property, tear them all up and run screaming for the hills.'”
Yet today, he says, some original boxwoods continue to survive on the original Buckhead property that was the first known to have the blight. He said a second Buckhead property where the blight was found in backyard plants at virtually the same time still has boxwoods, too, including some within 100 feet of those with the outbreak.
What everyone agrees on at the moment is that moisture is key to the blight’s spread and that the disease can be managed with multi-pronged tactics. The situation can be illustrated with imperfect analogies to more familiar human diseases. Think of the blight as a lethal version of athlete’s foot that, like that fungus, infects and spreads explosively in wet environments. And like the coronavirus behind COVID-19, experts can’t currently cure or eliminate the blight, but can contain and manage the disease through a combination of treatment, built-up resistances, avoidance and new, safer cultural practices.
The blight erupts when the weather is wet and temperatures are moderate, said Williams-Woodward. The symptoms may retreat in hotter and drier months, she said, giving plant-owners a false sense of relief while the incurable infection remains.
Water is also now believed to be one major way the fungus spreads, as splash-back from rain or irrigation droplets hits other nearby plants. “Spores produced [by the fungus] are very sticky and they cluster together,” said Williams-Woodward. “So this pathogen or disease is not something that blows around in the wind. It’s mostly water-splashed.”
Hastings agrees that water is a major factor, saying that the earlier wind-spreading explanation never matched what he saw in the field. “We do not see it marching through a garden,” he said, explaining that the blight is almost always paired with heavy moisture from the environment. He said he often finds it tied to a broken rain gutter or — especially in lawns of well-to-do Buckhead homeowners — irrigation systems that are overused when rainfall is perfectly adequate.
“Irrigation, irrigation, irrigation is the number one reason that people have [boxwood blight] problems in Buckhead,” he said. He won’t even take on a boxwood client who won’t properly manage an irrigation system.
“I think we will end up in some kind of combination of planting less-susceptible varieties, plus some cultural practices … So we can manage this disease.”
Jean Williams-Woodward, University of Georgia Extension plant pathologist
Research shows that animals and humans may also be carriers of the spores, says Williams-Woodward. Boxwoods “actually smell like cat pee,” she said, and so may attract cats and dogs to mark them, resulting in spores getting on their fur to be spread to other plants. She said she saw one garden where boxwoods were blighted at the same level as the cushion on a patio chair that a cat slept on. Squirrels, rabbits and turkeys are other suspected spreaders.
Landscape workers may also spread the spores on their hands and equipment, Williams-Woodward said. She is currently conducting experiments on easy ways for landscapers to disinfect their gear before traveling to another property. Regular Lysol spray is looking highly effective, she said.
Hastings doesn’t buy it. He says animals and humans pale in comparison to water and another form of Buckhead lawn epidemic — the use of high-powered leaf-blowers that could blast spores all over surrounding properties. “I don’t think we need to be caging our cats and spraying down our landscapers,” he said.
What about spraying the plants themselves? After all, you can knock out athlete’s foot pretty fast with a can of fungicide from the drug store. Turns out it’s not that simple for boxwood blight, and Hastings and Williams-Woodward agree it’s no main solution.
There are fungicide sprays that can effectively reduce blight symptoms in a plant, said Williams-Woodward. But it requires regularly repeated application that few landscapers or arborists will perform, and that can be cost-prohibitive and raises issues of environmental pollution. Overuse of the sprays also could lead to the evolution of fungicide-resistance strains of the blight, she said.
Hastings said he’s one of the few local arborists who will spray for boxwood blight, but only as part of an integrated approach, as he also has environmental and best-practices concerns.
“Do we put every boxwood in town on a chemical crutch? Absolutely not,” he said, again emphasizing moisture as the main problem. “The key to getting ahead of this is thinking about your basement getting mold or mildew… You don’t run in there and start spraying Clorox everywhere. … You get rid of the water source.”
Another option is blight-resistant varieties of boxwood. Some already exist and others are being cultivated. But a note of caution on some of those, such as Japanese and Korean varieties: Williams-Woodward said they may be less able to catch and die from the blight, but can still carry and spread it, making them “sort of a Trojan horse.”
Her preferred tactic is to simply replace smaller boxwoods with a totally different species, like Japanese holly, and to prune the lower branches of larger ones to avoid the water-splash effect that may spread the spores.
Hastings says he’s hopeful the boxwood blight battle eventually will take a similar course as brown patch, a different fungal infection that affects fescue grass lawns. He said that landscaping veterans have told him about the brown patch plague in the 1980s, which coincided with a boom in lawn irrigation systems. Initially, he says, there was similar advice to landscapers about attempting to disinfect mower blades and the like. Today, he said, brown patch is manageable in a coordinated program of lawn management techniques that continues to allow fescue to be planted.
Williams-Woodward also looks to a future of containment and management. She said research continues on exactly how the blight spreads, the environmental conditions that favor it, how its biology works, and arborist techniques. “I think we will end up in some kind of combination of planting less-susceptible varieties, plus some cultural practices … So we can manage this disease,” she said.
For more details about boxwood blight, see the websites of the UGA Extension and the Georgia Department of Agriculture.
2021 was another fantastic year for Buckhead real estate! Not only was a new record set for the highest-priced home sale ever (more on that below), but the overall demand has remained strong and steady. The overall inflation story in the economy and demand driven by the Covid-induced “Great Relocation” are the top two driving forces.
Here is a look at average sale prices and total number of sales over the last 4 years:
| Year | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| Number of Homes Sold | 1,048 | 1,137 | 1,244 | 1,437 |
| Average Single Family Home Sale Price | $1,127,676.17 | $1,156,070.17 | $1,211,784.08 | $1,358,109.42 |
| Average Condo/Townhome Price | $364,608.50 | $404,225.33 | $373,275.00 | $407,598.42 |
Not only did the average single family home price in Buckhead jump to $1,350,000, but the total number of sales also saw a substantial increase. Meanwhile, Buckhead condo prices made a full recovery from their 2021 dip.
Are you thinking about buying or selling in Buckhead? Now, more than ever, you need the top Buckhead Realtor in your corner to help navigate this market. The expertise, marketing, and personalized service that I provide led me to over $115,000,000 in Buckhead home sales during 2021. I also sold four of the top ten sales for the year, no agent sold more. Contact me directly HERE.
Enough statistics, you probably came here to see the top home sales! Without further ado:
This home set the record for the most expensive home sale in Atlanta history! It sold off-market, having never been listed publicly. More details here.
Valley Road in Tuxedo Park ranks among the most beautiful streets anywhere, so no surprise that #1 AND #2 on our list share the same street. This home at 165 Valley Road closed at $8,375,000
You may have toured this 4.5 acre Mediterranean estate when it was the 2020 Showhouse. It landed #3 on our list at $7,150,000
This home in Historic Brookhaven is a one-of-a-kind design, offering some truly unique features. Click the photo below to see for yourself! Closed at $7,107,531
Some lucky buyers that I was fortunate to represent were able to snag this home in an off-market transaction. The home features a dream yard on a double lot just a block or two from the Buckhead Village. Closed at $6,800,000
Arguably one of the most beautiful homes in the Paces neighborhood. I sold this home in record price territory, not once, but TWICE in 2021. Closed at $6,700,000
This home had all of the bells and whistles needed to break into the top 10, having been extensivly upgraded since it was built in 2017. Closed at $6,500,000
This new home on Knollwood was sold before completion, making it the third home in Tuxedo Park to make our list this year. Closed at $6,400,000
This home, designed by William T Baker 20 years ago, still pulls off a timeless English manor look with a stone beautiful exterior that won a buyer’s heart at $6,375,000
The St Regis residences continue to reign supreme among Buckhead condo sales.
The Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods is heading into a new year with a new leader who is ready to focus on issues like neighborhood security — while not choosing sides in the cityhood battle.
Debra Wathen, an Atlanta native and Paces resident, is chairing the influential coalition of neighborhood and condo associations after over a decade of involvement, including as vice-chairman. She replaces Mary Norwood, who this month began service as the new District 8 Atlanta City Council member.
“I’m a strong believer in the Buckhead Council because I believe all of the neighborhoods need a voice,” said Wathen in a recent interview. “I feel ready and prepared. … I just feel like the organization is on good, solid ground at this point in time.”
Wathen was born in Luckie Street public housing while her father attended Georgia Tech; he went on to become an architect specializing in public housing. She grew up in Brookwood Hills at a time when the area called Buckhead was smaller, not yet enlarged by neighborhood identity and real estate marketing. “Growing up, I was not allowed to say I lived in Buckhead,” she said with a laugh.
After attending Northside (now North Atlanta) High, she became a certified public accountant, working at a large firm and then a post-production studio. Then she had four children — including triplets — and worked from home with her husband’s mortgage business.
Her neighborhood association involvement began in 2010, when the Paces Civic Association was looking for a new president and not finding takers.
“Really I just raised my hand like so many people do, and I enjoyed every bit of it,” said Wathen. She says she learned a lot about issues like private security patrols and local zoning. Much of Paces is large-lot, single-family zoning, and that “requires a major defense to prevent it being taken over by the developers,” she says.
She became the Paces representative on the BCN, which was two years old at the time, and remained involved up to the present.
Wathen was poised to be the BCN chair in 2018 when, partly at Wathen’s suggestion, Norwood took the position in part as a political comeback from her loss in the 2017 mayoral election. Norwood was a well-known political figure, having served as an at-large City Council member and making two unsuccessful but extremely close runs for mayor.
Wathen said she knows she has big shoes to fill after Norwood. “She was awesome for the whole organization,” she said. “… I think we were respected. We just didn’t have the clout that she brought to the organization.”
One of Norwood’s innovations was running the BCN much like the City Council, with committee-like “interest area groups” focused on such policy topics as traffic and trees. Wathen said she intends to keep that committee structure — “and I’ve even added one, which is going to be our ‘neighborhood security’ area of interest … because I really think in this day and time that is really first and foremost in everybody’s mind.”
Part of the motive is looking at expanded and better-coordinated private security patrols that are funded by businesses and neighborhood associations. That was a major part of the “Buckhead Security Plan,” a crime-fighting program privately created by such organizations as the Buckhead Coalition, the Buckhead Community Improvement District and the Atlanta Police Foundation in late 2020. But it seems that little work in that regard has been done, at least in the residential neighborhoods.
Wathen noted that some neighborhoods don’t have such patrols to improve. “There’s neighborhoods like Paces and Mt. Paran and Chastain that can afford to do this … and there are smaller neighborhoods that can’t afford to have a security patrol in their neighborhood, and they really need some help,” she said.
Down in City Hall, Norwood is already proposing that the City Council create a “Buckhead Public Safety Task Force” that would include a member from BCN.
Of course, some residents are proposing another solution to crime: Buckhead cityhood. It’s an increasingly bitter political battle that is about to go before the Georgia General Assembly for consideration, possibly followed by a November referendum. Wathen says the BCN is staying out of that fray except to provide any information sought by its members — which could include holding special meetings on such open questions as the status of Atlanta Public Schools if the cityhood movement progresses.
“My aim is to really and truly protect the quality of life in all neighborhoods. And I don’t care if it’s the City of Buckhead or the City of Atlanta,” said Wathen. “Right now, I feel like the Buckhead Council needs to press forward on dealing with the issues. And we’re not going to take a position on whether we’re for or against the [cityhood] issue because it’s such a personal decision.”
“But we feel like there are so many questions to answer [about cityhood], and we want to work to answer those questions for neighborhod residents,” Wathen added. “I personally couldn’t even take a position right now if I wanted to because I don’t have the information….”
Wathen did say she empathizes with the unhappiness behind cityhood support. “I understand 100% where they’re coming from and feel like Buckhead has definitely not gotten what we should get in a lot of different circumstances,” she said. “We have 12 [City] Council districts, and two of them make up the vast majority of Buckhead, and if we got two-twelfths of Renew Atlanta [infrastructure improvement bond funding], I think people would be happier. But I don’t think it always works that way.”
She says the City has flubbed other issues like commuter traffic through neighborhoods. “And so for that reason, I feel like we just need to be heard,” she said. “The City needs to take a step back and listen to Buckhead residents. I think we just need someone to stop and listen to what we have to say.”
Newly elected Mayor Andre Dickens has promised to do that kind of listening as part of his battle against Buckhead cityhood and a generally more inclusive approach to governing. Wathen said she has invited Dickens to speak to the BCN, but so recently that she is not surprised he has yet to respond. “I would love to have him come out and do a town hall in Buckhead,” she said, adding he also will need time to gather answers to questions Buckhead might ask.
“My general feeling is, he is going to make a difference,” Wathen said of Dickens. “He’s trying. I have a positive attitude. … Personally, I think he is a great person. I think he cares about the city and loves the city.”
Meanwhile, the BCN has plenty of other topics on its plate as the new administration and City Council gear up to address such policies as zoning code changes and rewrites and a new Tree Protection Ordinance.
“I think zoning is always going to be an issue, of course,” said Wathen. “We still need to be vigilant and protect that [single-family] zoning, though I feel the mayor has sort of said he is not looking to intrude on single-family zoning to be the answer to affordable housing. But that will always be something we need to protect.
“And road improvements and infrastructure improvements are going to be an important issue,” she added. “We have so much traffic coming through Buckhead neighborhoods, our roads are destroyed.”
Another area of concern is stormwater management issues, where Wathen said budget problems seem to be chronic and could be something the BCN advocates to increase.
The BCN’s meetings have remained virtual since the start of the pandemic. Wathen said she hopes to move soon to a hybrid model, with at least board members meeting in-person, but permanently maintaining a virtual option “so people can tune in from their living rooms.” The Zoom era has boosted engagement in some ways, she said.
The BCN’s next meeting is scheduled for Jan. 13, with an agenda topped by City Public Works Commissioner Al Wiggins Jr. talking about chronic problems with trash collection in the pandemic. Elected officials scheduled to speak including Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat, Norwood, and at-large City Councilmembers Keisha Sean Waites and Matt Westmoreland. For more information, see the BCN website.
The spirit of Buckhead heads forward. This is the way it has been, and perhaps this is the way it will always be. The spirit of Buckhead points forward. You see it in the way we work, and you see it in the way we play. The reach is always extending further. The search is for excellence and beauty and grace and vibrancy.
We are a community of individuals. We are diverse, we are dynamic, and we are discerning. We are builders. We are connected to one another with a common bond. A common dream. A common quest. Pointing life in one direction. Forward.
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