Buckhead is known for its stately mansions, luxury high rises, ritzy restaurants and….shopping.

Buckhead roughly covers the interior of the “V” formed by Interstate 85 on the east and Interstate 75 on the west. Buckhead is bordered by Cumberland and Vinings in Cobb County to the northwest, the city of Sandy Springs to the north, Brookhaven and North Druid Hills in DeKalb County to the east, Midtown Atlanta to the south, and West Midtown to the west. From the map below, you can see the primary Buckhead Zip Code is 30305. But you will find homes listed in 30327, 30324 and 30309 that may say Buckhead.

The History of how Buckhead was formed is interesting in contrast to how developed the area is today!  In 1838, Henry Irby purchased around  200 acres surrounding the present intersection of Peachtree, Roswell, and West Paces Ferry roads from Daniel Johnson for $650. Irby subsequently established a general store and tavern at the northwest corner of the intersection. The name “Buckhead” comes from a story that Irby killed a large buck deer and placed the head in a prominent location. By the late 1800s, Buckhead had become a rural vacation spot for wealthy Atlantans. Keep in mind, Downtown Atlanta was a LONG way away by horse and buggy.

The Before picture on the left, and the photo showing the construction of Ten Terminus on the right, at the corner of Peachtree and Piedmont Roads!

In 1956, an estate known as Joyeuse was chosen as the site for a major shopping center to be known as Lenox Square. The mall was designed by Joe Amisano, an architect who designed many of Atlanta’s modernist buildings. When Lenox Square opened in 1959, it was one of the first malls in the country, and the largest shopping center in the south. Office development soon followed with the construction of Tower Place in 1974.

I think another part of more recent Buckhead history that has helped shape the area was the creation of, and then the removal of the night time entertainment district called the Buckhead Village. To reverse a downturn in Buckhead Village during the 1980s, minimum parking spot requirements for bars were lifted, which quickly led to it becoming the most dense concentration of bars and clubs in the city. Beginning in 2000, residents sought to eliminate the crime situation by taking measures to reduce the community’s nightlife and re-establish a more residential character. The Buckhead Coalition’s president and former Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell, along with councilwoman Mary Norwood were instrumental in persuading the Atlanta City Council to pass a local ordinance to close bars at 2:30 AM rather than 4 AM, and liquor licenses were made more difficult to obtain. Eventually, most of the Buckhead Village nightlife district was acquired for the “Buckhead Atlanta” multi-use project, and many of the former bars and clubs were torn down in 2007.

Today, Buckhead is best known for mansions (The Govenor’s Mansion is located on West Paces Ferry Road) luxury condominium buildings like Terminus, Sovereign, St Regis, Waldorf Astoria, Ritz Carlton Residences and more recent additions (2024-25) include The Dillon The Charles and Graydon Condominiums. Buckhead is also “shopping central” with Lenox Mall and Phipps Plaza (actually sister malls now owned by the same company, Simon Malls) located on opposite corners of Peachtree at Lenox Road. Buckhead has the highest concentration of upscale boutiques. The proposed Streets of Buckhead (where all the night clubs use to be) was to bring even more high end retail to the area. But the real estate market took its toll on that project, and it has sat vacant for several years, construction cranes and all. A new developer has purchased the project, and plans have been greatly scaled back to be more of an urban village feel.

Other Points of Interest or Places in Buckhead are:

• Piedmont Hospital and the private, catastrophic care hospital Shepherd Center
• Luxury hotels –The Ritz Carlton (Changed to The Whitley – A Luxury Collection Hotel in 2017), Westin Buckhead, Grand Hyatt (Once the Hotel Nikko Atlanta), Intercontinental and J.W. Marriott
• Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business
• The University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business Executive Education Center
• Local private schools include the Atlanta International School, the Atlanta Speech School, Christ the King School, the Atlanta Girls School, The Galloway School, The Heiskell School, Holy Spirit Preparatory School, Trinity School, The Lovett School, Pace Academy, and The Westminster Schools.