A large home with a rich history in Buckhead has been on the market for several years now

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The house at 490 West Paces Ferry Road is oversized, luxuriously finished and has appeared in blockbuster movies. It was once owned by an owner with a lion as a pet, is adorned with $2 million in gold gilding and has ties to a reality TV star - to name a few reasons why it's noteworthy.

After several years on the market, the two-acre, 25,000-square-foot estate lot was recently sold. The home, located on a 2.05-acre lot fronting Tuxedo Road near the Georgia chapter house, was purchased by a local family who already lived nearby.

Mega mansion with defiant style. The listing indicates that the home totaling nearly 25,000 square feet has nine bedrooms, 12 full bathrooms and six half-baths. It also features 19 fireplaces, a four-car garage, three grilling areas with a Hibachi grill and brick pizza oven, two owner's suites and a grand entryway with a custom staircase. Other features include a courtyard pool and spa area, a "grand salon," a movie theater with trapeze seating for 18 people, an elevator, three wine cellars, a game room and bar, a recording studio, a beauty salon and more.

Perhaps even more appealing is the eccentric style of the house, which seems to be inspired by a Mediterranean villa. Amenities include 10-karat gold ceilings, limestone and Moroccan hardwood floors, and furnishings from custom design firms such as Los Angeles-based Phyllis Morris, Maitland-Smith and others.

The home's extravagant style is the result of extensive remodeling by its former owner, Lee Najjar, known as "Big Daddy". Najjar was known as "sugar daddy" Kim Zolciak-Biermann from the famous TV show "The Real Housewives of Atlanta." The house has appeared in movies such as 2012's "Zombieland" and "Three Stooges," as well as on HGTV's "Million Dollar Rooms" and the MTV show Cribs.

The history of the house goes back more than a hundred years. The original 7,500 square foot home was built around 1910 and was renovated and expanded by the architectural firm of Hentz, Reid and Adler, which was also responsible for designing several other prominent homes in the neighborhood. The home was later renovated and expanded in 1996 by then owner and builder Jack Fowler. During the remodel, a Mediterranean design was introduced, which continues in the current home. It was named Villa Banderas in honor of Fowler's pet lion cub named Banderas.

Selling the house was no easy task.

One of the peculiarities of its sale, Milam said, was an unpleasant set of circumstances at the very last moment of the transaction process, at least while he was the sales agent. The home finally found a new buyer after it was listed for sale in September 2022 for $9.98 million, and the price later dropped to $8.995 million in March. It was sold on June 30 at a cash offer of $8.5 million. The new owners have already started making their changes and will be moving in soon. It seems that the days of drama in the house are now a thing of the past.