Custom built for the late billionaire Lonnie “Bo” Pilgrim, founder of Pilgrim’s Pride poultry products, the opulent French style chateau before you, known as the “Cluckingham Palace” by locals, is looking for a new owner. The sprawling Texas estate will be auctioned this month through Concierge Auctions by Pilgrim’s son, Ken.
The property sits on 43 landscaped acres and includes a posh 18,300 square feet mansion in Pittsburg, East Texas, only an hour and a half away from Dallas. Until the start of the auction on October 15th, the estate is also on the market through local agents for a humble $8.95 million.
Back in 1992 when it was built, the construction of this massive estate costed a whooping $15 million. Designed as a “French Renaissance dream home” by Dallas architect Richard Drummond Davis, it comprises of two levels full of opulent interior decor like marble pillars and staircase, delicate crown moldings and wrought-iron balustrades.
The layout includes six bedrooms, ten full bathrooms and as many half baths, formal and informal reception and dining areas, home offices, a screening room and a large craft/hobby room. It gives you the feeling of being in a hotel rather than a “usual” home.
Among the other luxury amenities, there’s a large heated indoor pool, complete with glass domed drinks bar, seating areas, sauna and hot tub and the ubiquitous fitness room. Outdoors, the property boasts incredible gardens, with neatly manicured hedges, a wide variety of trees and shrubs, three ponds and a meandering creek.
