The author of nearly 100 crime-thriller and romance novels, bestselling scribe Iris Johansen has put her 126-acre Sundance Estate in the Northwest Georgia countryside up for auction.
Previously listed for $8.5 million in 2015, the luxury home will be auctioned on Aug. 29 with a published minimum price of $4.6 million.
"I built my dream home with hopes to share it with my family. But dreams and plans change," Ms. Johansen, 79, said in a statement to Mansion Global. "My family had their own dreams and I decided to move closer to be with them."
Target Auction Co. president Dewey Jacobs explained how Ms. Johansen lived on the property during construction of the main house, which took six years and was completed in 2014. "It was her vision [that it would serve] as a family retreat" and she designed it accordingly. In 2004 Ms. Johansen paid $2.5 million to acquire the property, according to the Bartow County Appraiser’s office.
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Located between Atlanta, Georgia, and Chattanooga, Tennessee—it is approximately a 45-minute drive to both cities—and built on a rise overlooking I-75, the estate totals 47,000 square feet that includes the main house, pool, cabana, a three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath guest house, a three-bedroom, two-bath caretaker’s house, stables and equestrian facilities.
The main house has five bedrooms, seven full and four-and-a-half half baths, two kitchens and a fully equipped catering center for entertaining, an authentic looking 21-seat theater, 14 fireplaces, an elevator to all four floors and an impressive two story office/library, which can’t be surprising given that a novelist conceived the place.
The library includes a spiral staircase to the second level, with two balconies "where you can take a break and enjoy the view," reads the detailed description. The library has a sitting area with a fireplace and a wet bar.
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Three levels of the main house include round "turret" sun rooms, all of which look out on the surrounding mountains. Meanwhile, in front of the theater you’ll find "movie posters and a glamorous lighted cinema sign lead to a piano theater foyer and set the stage for a true box office experience," the auction house description reads. From the upper floors, "windows along the back [of the house] give you views of the lake, woods, and surrounding mountains," according to the auction description. There is an exercise room and several bedrooms and spaces on the upper floors that can be tailored to the future owners’ taste and preferences. The house is being sold with much of the furnishings included.
Outdoor spaces and amenities include an al fresco kitchen, an unfinished area for a six-car garage, and a generator that can power the entire house in the event of power outage. The stables have room for up to 14 stalls, a bathing stall, and an attached riding ring. There’s a stable office with a bathroom, shower, laundry and kitchen areas. There are multiple fenced pastures and beside the riding ring, there is room for five outside stalls with a wall and roof.
"This home is brand new, never lived in by its owner," Mr. Jacobs said. Buying the estate, Ms. Johansen said, is an "opportunity for someone else to have their own phenomenal dream estate located so close to both Atlanta and Chattanooga."
More than a dozen of Ms. Johansen’s books, including Bonnie and Pandora’s Daughter, have appeared on The New York Times Best Sellers List.