'Dreamhouse' on Market for $19.9 million

The mansion at 490 W. Paces Ferry, just down the road from the Governor’s Mansion, is gaining international popularity.

The community knows it to be an extravagant Buckhead property, and truly, it is the most expensive home for sale within 50 miles of Atlanta, at $19.9 million, according to the Sotheby real estate site. Agent Mark Bhaggan said the house (and 2 to3 acres of land) went on the market less than a year ago, starting at $25 million.

Most recently, the house made news as a set in the new Three Stooges movie by 20th Century Fox,  recently filmed in Atlanta. The house also played the part of Bill Murray’s home in the 2009 film, "Zombieland."The house was highlighted in an episode of MTV “Teen Cribs.”

The owner is Lee Najjar, better known as Big Poppa, romantic interest of Kim Zolciak on BravoTV show “Real Housewives of Atlanta.”

The estate sets itself apart from other grand houses along West Paces Ferry with its Spanish-style exterior and fenced-in lawn that sets the house more than a football field in length off  the street. Hidden from view is the 1-acre inner courtyard with multiple outdoor kitchens, and the "breath-taking courtyard  pool" (according to the Sotheby listing), which was featured on HGTV’s “Million Dollar Rooms” in January. The pool is complete with hotel-style tanning chairs and umbrellas, and stonework worth millions.

Bhaggan said the house is a completely new creation from the original building. The homeowner finished rebuilding the palatial home in 2008, keeping only the original front façade proportions, according to Bhaggan. He said everything is new ,and the house has hardly been lived in. He called the mansion “opulent.” The estate includes:

• Nine bedrooms
• 11 bathrooms
• Four half-baths
• ballroom
• recording studio
• hair and nail salon
• movie theater
• cigar room
• health and wellness center, including massage chairs
• game room with pool table
• Two gyms
• basketball court
• Seven kitchens, including a stone pizza oven and Japanese hibachi grill
• Two stories, plus terrace basement

“Every room you go into blows you away in a different way,” said Bhaggan. The interior design of the house is rich and flawless in every detail, including mosaics on the ceilings and floors. And wherever there is gold, according to Sotheby, it is real gold.

The international mortgage rates are at an all-time low and only going to increase, according to the agent. He said this quarter savvy buyers are buying real estate. But Bhaggan believes it is going to take a very unique person to buy the mansion at 490.

“I’ve got to find someone who wants a dream home and a trophy,” he said.

Many people have shown interest in seeing the house, according to Bhaggan, but few people actually have true means of buying it. He said he cannot allow the public to tour the property without proof of interest because he is wary of those with “alterior” motives, such as to replicate floor plans and interior designs, which the homeowner does not wish to release.