McAfee House outside Atlanta is sold for $1 to couple who own a wedding venue. They will move Civil War site to Cherokee County and make it a private residence

The McAfee house was built around 1840, when Cobb County was mostly farms (Cobb Landmarks)

An Atlanta-area home that was caught in the middle of Civil War cavalry clashes and briefly served as headquarters for a Union general has been sold for $1 and stipulations to a couple who will relocate the residence to a neighboring county.

Lee and Brittani Lusk, who operate The Wheeler House wedding and events venue, purchased the 1840s Robert McAfee House -- situated in a congested corridor -- for $1 from Cobb Landmarks

The nonprofit group had long worked with the owner of the historic house and developers to save it from the wrecking ball, but things did not work out until now.

While Cobb Landmarks had hoped the McAfee House would stay in Cobb County, the proposal put forward by the Lusks -- who live in Ball Ground in Cherokee County -- was a clear choice for a committee looking at nearly 40 proposals to relocate the empty dwelling.

“There were a couple (proposals) from Cobb (but) they were not fleshed-out applications,” Cobb Landmarks executive director Trevor Beemon told the Picket. “We needed to get to someone who already knows what they are doing.” The house must be removed by May 15 to Ball Ground, about 25 miles to the north.

Click to enlarge map of several Civil War clashes in Cobb County (ABPP)

The Robert and Eliza McAfee House served a few weeks in June and early July 1864 as the headquarters for Brig. Gen. Kenner Garrard and his three brigades during the Atlanta Campaign. The Federal troopers clashed almost daily near Noonday Creek with Confederates led by Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler. The house is said also to have been used as a field hospital.

Cobb County was the scene of significant combat action and troop movement as the Confederates tried to stall Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s relentless campaign on Atlanta, which began in May 1864 in North Georgia.

After the seizure of Big Shanty (Kennesaw) by Federal forces on June 9, Garrard’s cavalry division was posted on the left flank during operations on the Kennesaw Mountain front. While there were some small towns, including Marietta and Big Shanty, most citizens lived on farms. The farm was believed to have been occupied by Confederates, too, during the action around Kennesaw Mountain.

Buyers reportedly renovated many historic structures

The Wheeler House website says CEO and owner Lee Lusk, a native of Canton in Cherokee County, purchased and renovated his first home at age 18. “Since, he has remodeled multiple historic homes in the North GA. He has also bought, sold and developed land in Cobb and Cherokee counties.”

His wife Brittani Lusk serves as operations and marketing director at The Wheeler House, which was built in 1906 by a local lumber businessman.

The Picket was in touch Thursday with the Lusks, who said they may comment Friday.

No one has lived in the home for more than a decade (Photos, Cobb Landmarks)

Beemon said they expect to have the house out by the end of April. “They are anxious to get in there," he said. “They are excited about it.”

Beemon’s understanding is the house will be in downtown Ball Ground, a short distance from The Wheeler House, and serve as a private residence for a member of the Lusk family.

He said the Lusks have moved a couple properties in the past and have the knowledge and wherewithal to make the deal happen. It could cost up to $150,000 to move the dwelling up Highway 5 and another $200,000-$250,000 for renovations.

Lee Lusk said in a 2021 interview he was 25 when he bought The Wheeler House. The couple built a barn for events a couple years later, in 2012. He recalls finding two old photos in a hidden compartment in the house.

This old house was well-built but needed protection

A deal to turn the McAfee House property at Bells Ferry Road and Barrett Parkway into a car wash (even if the house stayed) fell apart in 2023. Preservationists used the time to come up with something else with the property owner, who decided to donate the home to Cobb Landmarks so it could be moved and make way for a commercial venture.

The developer purchasing the land lived in the home as a child and is expected to build a multi-tenant development, Beemon said.

The home and outbuildings were vulnerable to development because the property owner did not seek historic protection from Cobb County. Beemon said the Lusks will be required to obtain a preservation easement and adhere to Department of the Interior standards for the home exterior while they may renovate the interior as they please.

This state marker did not provide protection (Photo by Michael Cruce / HMdb.org)

The house is built of pine timbers joined with wooden pegs. It has original heart pine floors (currently under carpet) and plank walls and ceilings beneath modern additions. The residence features a central hallway. It has not been occupied for many years, said Beemon.

“When you walk through it the floorboards don’t creak. The timbers are two feet thick under this thing. It is sitting on stone piers. It is really a solid structure.”

The couple may have to separate the structure into two or three pieces for the move.

“As serial restorers, they are putting a lot of passion into these things,” said Beemon.

The home is the last remaining pre-Civil War structure in the busy Town Center corridor of the county. Cobb Landmarks has worked for about five years to save it. Previous plans and deals fell through, Beemon told the Picket.

“I won’t believe it until it is up on a trailer. It has been such a roller coaster over the years," he said.

Carol Brown, co-founder of Canton Road Neighbors, a nonprofit that keeps a close eye on zoning issues in the area, told the Picket she had hoped the house would have remained in Cobb County. “But I am glad the house will be preserved.”

“I wish that Cobb County could have recognized the value to the community by acquiring the two-acre historic property and restoring the house onsite," Brown said Thursday. “It presented a unique opportunity, now lost in an area that becomes more impervious, less livable and less pedestrian friendly every year.”

Beemon said the cost for the three acres in a highly desirable area was likely too expensive for the county.