Originally posted Thursday, October 31, 2019 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
TMZ reports that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has purchased a 14,000-plus square foot French country manor in Powder Springs for almost $9.5 million.
It was sold earlier this month. The home was for sale for more than a year before the Rock purchased it at a slight discount.
The Rock recently shot parts of two consecutive upcoming films in metro Atlanta: “Jumanji: The Next Level” and “Jungle Cruise.” He has also spent time in the state working on other big-budget fare such as “Baywatch,” “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” “Fast Five” and “Furious 7.”
So like A-lister Melissa McCarthy, who also shoots plenty of films here, he decided to buy a residence down in metro Atlanta. And TMZ said he paid cash because, well, he can.
Not only is real estate much cheaper in Georgia than in Los Angeles, the chances of wildfires, earthquakes and mudslides are far lower as well.
A home on less acreage but comparable size in Beverly Hills is currently on sale for $56 million.
Credit: CR: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com
Credit: CR: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com
According to real estate records, the Rock’s new mansion was built in 2003 and has eight bedrooms and nine bathrooms. It also features a 12-stall barn for horses and riding arena. Zillow says, the land is 46.3 acres.
The descriptive when it was on sale noted its “great stone fire places, old growth walnut floors, and old growth cypress coffered ceilings.” There is a separate 1867 farmhouse.
The Rock will not be living in a town with lots of comparable residences. According to realtor.com, the median sales price of a house in Powder Springs is a mere $244,000. Most of the homes surrounding his abode are in the $300,000 to $500,000 range, according to Zillow.
UPDATE at 1:40 p.m. EST: The photos of the home as of today are still all over realtor sites and on stories such as this and this and this, but the Harry Norman listing agent in question Jeff DeJarnett asked we take them down since they're his property, at the request of the buyer. So we did. TMZ used stills from a video by Creative Initiative, a company hired by DeJarnett to take said video. (The video has since been taken down from the Web.)
So I drove over to the house and took pictures legally from the public street, like the one above.
The narrow, two-lane road is surprisingly busy. There is double fencing against the property. There are plenty of smaller homes - some quite nice - surrounding the Rock’s property.
He is just a few minutes drive from a Kroger (not open 24 hours, but a still generous 5 a.m. to 1 a.m.), a CVS (7 a.m. to 10 p.m.) and a Dunkin’ Donuts (5 a.m. to 10 p.m.). A liquor store and a Marco’s Pizza are nearby as well.
Marietta Square is just eight miles away.
Assuming the Rock has a private plane, he could fly into Cobb County International Airport a mere 10 miles away.
Credit: CR: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com
Credit: CR: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com
Credit: CR Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com
Credit: CR Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com
I did get permission from an unnamed source to post photos of the horse stables:
And here’s the Marietta-based broker DeJarnett, who certainly received a very nice six-figure commission on the deal:
According to Nexis, the home was previously owned by wrongful death trial attorney Lance Cooper, whose offices are in Marietta. His father was Bill Cooper, a former Cobb County commissioner and Cobb Chamber of Commerce CEO who passed in 2015.
Bloomberg News wrote a piece the AJC ran in 2014 about Lance Cooper's role in a GM auto recall for a defect that could cause surprise shutdowns.
A photo from Cooper's public Facebook page shows what the interior of the living room looks like:
Credit: Public Facebook photo
Credit: Public Facebook photo
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