Buckhead Home Occupied by Squatter, Neighbors Say

Neighbors in a Lenox Road community say an unwanted guest has begun living in an abandoned home illegally, despite claims from the new “resident” that he is related to the home’s most recent owner.

Anthony Smith, who now stays in the home in the 2600 block of Lenox Road, told WSB-TV that he was related somehow to Mary Wheeler, the woman who had owned the home at the time of her death. The executor of Wheeler’s estate told the station that she’d never heard of Anthony Smith and added that nobody should be living there.

According to WSB-TV, windows are smashed out of the building, others are boarded up, and no utilities seem to be in operation. Neighbors say strangers are coming and going as they please from the home, and the structure and its surrounding lawn are deteriorating rapidly. Police have been called, but neighbors say nothing has been done.

Real estate information from Zillow shows the home was sold on July 2 for $848,000. WSB-TV says the new owners are a group called Brookhaven Properties. Zillow lists the home as having 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, with 2,108 sq. ft. of space on a 0.7 acre lot. The home was built in 1940, Zillow says.