A historic Victorian mansion listed on the National Register of Historic Places is for sale on Peachtree Street – again.
The Rufus M. Rose House is a late Victorian/Queen Anne-style house listed for $2.58 million. Located at 537 Peachtree Street, the house was built in 1901 for Dr. Rufus Mathewson Rose, a prominent Atlanta physician, entrepreneur, distiller and real estate investor.
Rose created R.M. Rose Co. distillery in the 1890s. It is believed that Rose, his son Randolph, and his brother Origen were connected to the well-known Four Roses bourbon in Kentucky, where production and prohibition laws were less stringent.
For more than 50 years, the house was owned by James H. Elliot Sr., who bought the house in 1945 and used it as an antique store and museum.
J.H. Elliot’s Antiques and the Atlanta Museum contained all sorts of oddities and pieces of history, including furniture from novelist Margaret Mitchell’s apartment, items belonging to golf great Bobby Jones, and Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie’s throne. The museum and shop closed in 1998.
More recently, Gholam Bakhtiari, the father of Atlanta City Council member Liliana Bakhtiari, purchased the property at auction in 2011. In a 2015 interview, Liliana said she wanted to redesign the house into an arts space and an entrepreneurial startup. She planned to completely renovate the property, repairing decades of structural damage while highlighting the architectural and historic elements that make the building so unique.
The arts space never got off the ground, and the Bakhtiari family sold the house for $1 million in 2019. The Atlanta Preservation Center was located there until 2001, but has been vacant ever since.
On the market since November 2025, the home is currently being promoted by real estate agent and former Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore. Unoccupied and ready for renovation, the house no longer fits in the current owners’ real estate portfolio, according to Moore. The home also qualifies for federal and state historic tax credits.
The formerly grand home is one of only two Victorian mansions remaining on Peachtree Street. It’s across the street from Emory University Hospital and within blocks of the Fox Theatre, Bank of America Plaza, and the Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse.
Moore told the Atlanta Business Chronicle the house needs $1 million-plus in renovations.
“This is a rare opportunity to own a piece of Atlanta history and become the steward of one of Peachtree Street’s most extraordinary survivors,” Moore said. “The right buyer will see not only the beauty and significance of the Rufus M. Rose House, but also its potential to serve Atlanta again – as a place where people gather, celebrate, advance important causes and build community.”
Collin Kelley contributed to this story.
