Kenny Rogers’ Italian-Style Mansion in Atlanta
Country crooner Kenny Rogers is selling his 9,000 square-foot mansion in Atlanta, Georgia, for $7.95 million. (Should I try to make a joke here about how, when it comes to real estate, Rogers knows when to hold ‘em. . .and he knows when to fold ‘em? Um, probably not, if I want you to stick around.)
Rogers told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Every wall, every ceiling, every floor is different” from when he bought the house in 2006. “I touched every inch of this house.” He purchased the home in 2006 for $2.8 million and spent $3 million on the renovation.
He’s moving to a 150-acre ranch near Athens, where a new home is under construction. Take a look at the place he’s leaving behind:
According to the MLS listing for this 6 BR, 6.5 BA home in the Buckhead neighborhood:
Absolutely spectacular home has been painstakingly renovated from top to bottom by owner Kenny Rogers. Wonderful layout, splendid finishes and materials throughout. Comfortable yet so elegant, this home is being offered complete with furnishings. Unbelievable landscape front to back. Elevator, pool.
Wow. That’s some place, huh? Do you like this style or not? It’s a bit much for a simple girl like me, but it’s fun to look at.
His “high-end eclectic style” is heavily influenced by his world travels. “I love Chinese. I love Italian. And in almost every house I’ve had, I have an African room,” Rogers said. This home has an African-themed guest room with a zebra-skin rug and framed photos of Africa that Rogers, who is also a photographer, took himself.
This is the 10th house the singer has remodeled and put back on the market. “It’s a hobby with me,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “Once I get finished, owning it doesn’t mean anything to me.”
UPDATE: Hooked on Houses reader DaK sent me an aerial view of the house:
Rogers, 69, has been married 5 times. He and his current wife Wanda (shown below) have twin 4-year old boys named Justin and Jordan.
There’s been a lot of talk about his plastic surgery misadventures. I think this “before and after” (below) is a compelling argument for letting your face age naturally. Kinda scary. Even he has complained about the job the doctor did on him and has said that having his eyes pulled so tight is uncomfortable for him:
He gave Oprah and her viewers a tour of this house in Atlanta that he’s selling when it was all decked out for Christmas. All the decorations were giant and totally over the top, so it was highly entertaining. Did anyone else see that?
Here’s a still shot from that house tour. Kenny and his boys Justin and Jordan were in his study (go here to read more about Oprah’s interview):
Rogers told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that they plan to move into their new estate this fall, and he’s looking forward to spending less time on the road and more time with his family at home.
“When it was just Wanda and me, we didn’t care where we were,” Rogers said. “Now that the boys are here, she has to stay here and I have to go on the road by myself. And it’s a totally different feeling out there without her. You can’t pull the boys around the world…. You have to prioritize and I’d much rather be with my family.”
To watch Kenny sing a couple of his biggest hits to Oprah (”Lady” and “The Gambler”), click here.
And, finally, can I resist posting a picture of the “Gambler” album cover? No. No, I cannot:
May 28th, 2008 at 8:20 am
I love your celebrity home posts! Can you show us pictures of Brad and Angelina’s new home in the South of France? Yahoo News tells us they paid $70 million for their new 1000 acre estate with 20 fountains.
When I read what these “superstars” have to spend to get privacy, I am so glad I’m not famous. I wouldn’t mind being rich, but I don’t want to be famous.
May 28th, 2008 at 8:47 am
I saw the name on the comment above and got worried. I didn’t remember commenting already and I’m worried I was losing my mind. Whew. It’s not me.
I don’t like that the tv is on in that picture of the living room. Picky much?
I love the celebrity home posts like the first Marie. Kenny Rogers house is gigantic. 9000 sq feet? Wow.
May 28th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Wow, quite a house! A little dark and over-the-top for me…but I like looking, too - no doubt about that! Kind of fun to know that photography and renovating houses are hobbies of his. The part where he has such a young wife and little boys is the part where he gets a bit weird for me. I know it’s very common for rich and famous old men to have younger wves/families, but I guess it still just gives me the willies. To each his own, I guess? Thanks for showing us this, Julia!
May 28th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Oh, that was a fun post. I agree - the decor is too over the top. It looks like no one has actually lived in it. I didn’t see anything cozy about it all, though I did like the kitchen. I love that you add personal info about the owners when you can - it makes it even more interesting.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:15 am
I agree with you on the plastic surgery and don’t understand why people think they have to have it. Even young people. They all look alike! Kinda fits with the house, though, doesn’t it? All for show, not for really living day to day. I like something cozier in the house department and I’m not into pain from having my eyes pulled tight!
May 28th, 2008 at 10:35 am
WOW, what a fantastic face lift…I mean house lift !
I read elevator pool then I saw there was a comma.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Now we know who buys that hideous, over-sized furniture that you happened across last month when you went dining room table shopping. Yikes!
Somehow, when I hear a country singer, lamenting in song the loss of wife, job, or a card game, I always picture him in a small house with wood paneling. Who knew?
May 28th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Okay, Marie (the first Marie, not the second to comment)–you asked, you got it. I’ll get you those pictures of Brangelina’s French Chateau by the end of the week. I aim to please.
As for the rest of you–you’re keeping me highly entertained with your comments today. Too funny. -Julia
May 28th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
The DETAILS!
and his eyes make mine hurt just looking at them, ouch!
May 28th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
It’s a little over the top……ok a lot over the top. I saw pictures of his previous home in Athens, GA and i had a massive waterfall in the entrance…so I am guessing from his houses (and his face) that he likes to go to extremes. I love the celebrity postings…they are so much fun.
Jamie
http://www.jbarnesdesigns.com/
May 28th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Call me odd (many have), but I don’t care for the celebrity postings. I don’t think many celebrities have the taste, or the confidence in their taste, to decorate a home. Call me an old fashioned middle aged haufrau, if you will.
Janet
May 29th, 2008 at 1:01 am
Okay, the furniture may not be our particular speed, some of us might love antiques more, but I like the house.
I was just thinking that with 6 bedrooms, I could turn at least one of them into a large dressing room/storage room for all my historical costumes! If you don’t believe me, you can hop out to my website and/or blog to catch up on the social costuming group to which I belong to here in Seattle.
http://www.CostumingInSeattle.com
http://www.SITUSeattle.wordpress.com
Thanks for posting the photos. I’d love to see some more “castles” so keep posting and sending us notices!!!
Smiles from the lush and green NW corner of these great United States! Auntie Rita
May 29th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
I love seeing inside people’s houses like this. Fascinating!
This house seems so … heavy. Like that feeling at the end of the day when you just CAN’T WAIT to wash your makeup off.
May 29th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Wow Kenny did really well for himself! What an amazing place.
Love the pool area! Thanks for the tour. This is a very cool blog.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
As far as I can tell, the decor looks somewhat similar to his previous Buckhead estate, Lionheart. I love the decor with the dark brown tones.
The house he’s currently selling is big, but it’s not nearly as big as Lionheart.
Kenny is obviously a very talented guy and I like him, but I don’t quite understand why he’s still working long hours, personally and professionally, when he’s approaching 70. I think he should slow down a bit. Enjoy your life now and your new kids.
He has so many irons in the fire. He’s part-owner of an interior designer firm in Atlanta, and he signed a contract with Donald Trump as a design consultant for the first Trump condo tower.
I guess he’s currrently working on a record, and of course still on the road quite a bit, in addition to supervising the building of the new estate near Athens, Georgia.
What’s a little odd to me is that he seemingly can’t make up his mind where he’s going to live.
He owned Lionheart; lived for a while in a high-rise Buckhead condo; purchased this house currently for sale; purchased a tract of land in north Buckhead and stripped the lot almost barren clearing a major portion of the vegetation which angered many of the neighbors in the process; decided not to build on the barren lot and sold it, and now he’s moving to the Athens building a new estate there.
I just hope Kenny doesn’t become another Ed McMahon. I think Kenny has more money than Ed McMahon, but one of his divorces was very costly–I think somewhere between $60 and $75 million.
Kenny is very talented and what a life he’s had.
September 9th, 2008 at 10:08 am
[...] even hang it over your fireplace as the focal point of the room. That’s what country crooner Kenny Rogers did in his [...]