Across a career that spanned more than seven decades, Atlanta’s John C. Portman Jr. established himself as one of America’s “most innovative” architects, expanding the boundaries of hotel architecture and dotting the world with immense, often memorable buildings. A glimpse at the late legend’s seaside Georgia escape provides further proof as to why Portman’s legacy endures.
A year after listing, the strikingly modern, beachfront estate on Sea Island—dubbed Entelechy II, a nod to a Greek philosophical word meaning realized potential—has sold for an even $30 million.
The home sale marks an all-time record price for Georgia, according to sales agents Chase Mizell of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, and Susan Imhoff and Ann Harrell of DeLoach Sotheby’s International Realty. (Also on Sea Island, a private resort island in Georgia’s Golden Isles, this seven-bedroom oceanside palace that fetched $28.8 million in summer 2024 held the previous record.)
Design elements found in Portman's downtown Atlanta landmarks, including monumental pillars and cascading plants, are echoed on Sea Island's Entelechy II. Photos by Bartolotti Media; courtesy of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty
Photos by Bartolotti Media; courtesy of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty
Some aspects of the 12,500-square-foot Sea Island dwelling, such as abundant water features, recall Entelechy I, Portman’s main home on 30 woodsy Buckhead acres. It’s a bright-white, complex habitat of concrete, bridges, pavilions, cylindrical columns, and huge expanses of glass that blurs the line between interiors and the sweeping oceanside landscape.
Portman, also a real estate developer and owner, built Entelechy II in 1986, and its buzz ratcheted up the following year when a home feature published in Architectural Digest. Prior to November 2024, when the home listed for $40 million, it had never before been offered for sale.
Counting seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms in the main structure, the property spread across 2.3 acres was marketed as being “enlightened,” a “holistic experience,” and “the very essence of coastal modernism.”
“[It] transcends the conventional, standing as a harmonious interplay between architectural form and… natural grandeur,” reads the listing. “Portman’s genius is evident in the meticulous orchestration of space, light, and materiality.”
Photos by Bartolotti Media; courtesy of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty
Photos by Bartolotti Media; courtesy of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty
Beyond the main residence, a more traditional guest cottage was included in the sale. Its four bedrooms and more than 3,400 square feet aren’t reflected in the property’s tally.
Portman died in December 2017 at age 93, having created a “whole new genre of architecture” and establishing himself as a quiet champion of civil rights.
Find a tour of the family beach house, a testament to the Portman aesthetic, in the gallery above. The buyer hasn’t been identified.
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