Step Inside the Most Expensive Home Ever Sold in Georgia

In the 1980s, Georgia architect John Portman, renowned for his futuristic hotels and iconic buildings like the Peachtree Center in Atlanta, set about building his own family retreat on Sea Island. He gave it the same lofty name he gave to his home in Atlanta: “Entelechy,” from the Greek word “entelékheia” coined by Aristotle as a term for the realization of potential. Now, a half century later, the 12,500-square-foot, seven-bedroom home has just sold for thirty million dollars, making it the most expensive private home sale Georgia has ever seen. 

Though The Wall Street Journal reported that the home’s listing agent, Chase Mizell of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, wasn’t disclosing the name of the buyer, he did share that they have strong Georgia ties. They also admire Portman’s work—and the three-level home is a showcase of his hallmarks, down to its sweeping white atria. “Entelechy I and Entelechy II are shocking, but somehow perfect renditions of Portman’s largesse,” a 2017 Architectural Digest story on Portman said of the Atlanta and Sea Island homes. “Both indicate, to all intents and purposes, that one might live best within a giant hotel lobby, or at least test one’s capacity to do so.” 

Even if the mansion does give hotel lobby vibes, it does so very beautifully—especially when taken alongside the curving modern sculptures dotting the property, the graceful suspended bridges, and plants that cascade over railings and down stairways.

Below, peek inside this one-of-a-kind beach house. 

The home’s atrium, one of Portman’s signature designs. 

A large terrace overlooks the ocean. 

The home’s formal dining room, encased by glass. 

The library features a view of the garden and the ocean beyond it. 

The house’s formal living room.

The oceanfront garden is dotted with colorful, modern sculptures. 

A view of the mansion at night.