On July 9th, 2023 in Stockholm Sweden, Sir Elton John performed the final concert of his 53-year career. His farewell tour had spanned five years and grossed $931 million, reported to be the highest-grossing tour of all time. Meanwhile, halfway around the world, a curtain was closing on another part of the superstar’s life. Though he had called his Buckhead condo “home” since 1991, movers were quietly packing up and moving out a staggering volume of art and personal possessions from his nearly 13,000 square foot condo.
According to multiple Park Place residents, the move-out took nearly a month to complete and Sir Elton John has now left the building, Buckhead, and Atlanta for good.
“People always ask me, ‘Why do you have a place in Atlanta?’” John said in a 1998 AJC interview. “It’s because people here have always been that nice to me… I’ve always been welcomed. I feel at home.”
It all started in 1991 when John’s estate in England near Windsor became too full of memories and possessions. He gutted the residence and auctioned off many belongings while on his path to sobriety. In his search for a new home in the United States he found Los Angeles to be overwhelming and New York unsafe, and he fell in love with the Southern charm of Atlanta.
Jim Henderson, part of the development team behind the Park Place condo tower, remembers getting a call from the onsite sales agent in 1991 when he was on a sailing trip near Hilton Head: “I have Elton John here wanting to buy a condo,” she told him. The offer was $700,000, but Henderson was firm at his $950,000 asking price. “I eventually settled on $925,000 with his agent in London and by the time we were at closing 30 days later Elton had already decided to buy the unit next door. It was great PR for the building and we sold out the rest of the tower over the next couple of years. He was at a turning point in his life at the time and he ended up being great for the building. The other residents loved him and he treated our staff very well.”
After moving here in 1991 Sir Elton John quickly became ingrained into the Buckhead community and surrounding Atlanta area. He was a frequent visitor of Tower Records, dined at area restaurants (Umi Sushi and the now-shuttered Buckhead Diner were purportedly favorites), became a Braves fan, hosted a collection of his photographs at the High Museum of Art, named a 2004 album “Peachtree Road,” and became a frequent face at social functions throughout Buckhead and the Atlanta area.
John also commented that his life “in Atlanta is as normal a life as I can lead anywhere in the world,” and later said he is “an Atlanta person through and through.”
Over the years, Elton continued to purchase neighboring units to accommodate a vast art collection. Eventually it expanded to include 12,000 + square feet across seven units combined on multiple floors in Park Place. The condo above the intersection of Peachtree Road and West Wesley Rd in the heart of Buckhead is likely to hit the market soon. In a 2016 CBS Sunday Morning interview, viewers got a brief tour of his sprawling condo that was full of artwork and photography collections. The singer was generous with his artwork, loaning it out to the building for display in some common areas and elevator lobbies.
During John’s final Atlanta concert last year, he addressed his semi-hometown crowd about his time in Atlanta.
“I’ve lived here for 30 years, and I’ve loved every single minute,” the AJC reported. “So I will take you with me in my heart, in my soul, and I’ll never forget you.”
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.
