Atlanta Beautiful Homes category interest

The last Christmas before his death in 2020, “The Gambler” singer Kenny Rogers was surrounded by roughly 40 family and friends at his French Country-style house in the Atlanta suburbs.

Guests admired Rogers’ 14-foot Christmas tree, enjoyed a potluck supper and played corn hole and Wiffle Ball before visiting a nearby Waffle House, a family favorite, said the Grammy winner’s widow Wanda Rogers-Webb.

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Rogers, who battled several health conditions, died in March 2020 at age 81. After years in Johns Creek, Ga., he had bought the six-bedroom home in Sandy Springs for $1.705 million in 2019 to be closer to his medical team, said Rogers-Webb, who shared twin sons with her late husband.

Four years later, Rogers-Webb has remarried and is relocating, she said. The family is putting the roughly 7,600-square-foot Sandy Springs home on the market for $2.475 million, according to listing agent Thom McCorkle of Ansley Real Estate Christie’s International.

“This home, sadly, was our last home with Kenny,” said Rogers-Webb, who was married to the singer for more than 20 years. “To make the decision to move was a little bittersweet for me and the boys.”

Born in Texas, Rogers moved to Georgia in the 1980s, seeking a slower lifestyle after spending his early career in Los Angeles, said Rogers-Webb. During their brief residence in Sandy Springs, the couple renovated the castle-like house, which was built in 2003. The couple put in an elevator to help Rogers get around the house, and added a fountain surrounded by boxwood hedges out front, said Rogers-Webb. They also commissioned mosaics in the kitchen, which has a butler’s pantry, breakfast nook and coffee bar, she said.

Rogers’s office in the home was filled with awards and memorabilia, Rogers-Webb said, while his photography and platinum records were displayed in the lower-level entertainment area, which has a kitchenette, wine storage, a home theater, a ping-pong table and poker tables. Best-known for his 1978 recording of “The Gambler,” Rogers sometimes played poker for fun, she said.

The 0.6-acre estate has a pool. The singer kept a golf cart parked in the driveway and frequently rode it around the neighborhood to enjoy the scenery, said Rogers-Webb. Once an avid tennis player, “Kenny loved the outdoors,” she said.

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Rogers-Webb said she doesn’t know how much they spent renovating the house, but said Rogers flipped about 10 houses during their marriage. Over the years, he owned homes in locations such as Los Angeles, Malibu, Calif., and Las Vegas.

“His greatest passion other than music and family and friends might have been interior and landscape design,” she said. “Kenny loved taking a piece of land or a beautiful home and putting his own fingerprints on it everywhere.” Her late husband preferred high ceilings, earth tones and large windows, she said.

Rogers, who was married five times and had five children, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame 2013. In addition to his musical career, he was the co-founder of the chicken restaurant franchise “Kenny Rogers Roasters,” which now operates overseas.

Luxury home sales in the Sandy Springs area were up 15.1% in the second quarter from the same period of 2023, according to a report by Harry Norman Realtors. Atlanta’s most expensive home sale was a $19.8 million deal about 6 miles south of Rogers’ house in March.