Not long ago I toured homes with a business owner from Shanghai.
He makes products for the carpet industry, and many of his American customers are in Calhoun, Georgia, the heart of the US carpet and flooring industry. As the business grew, he bought a warehouse in Calhoun to set up a logistics center.
With the warehouse done, the next question was a practical one: where would the family live?
He did not want to settle for just any house. Since he had decided to build his business in the US for the long run, he wanted a place where his family could truly feel at home.
An estate in Milton
So we went to an upscale community in Milton. The house sits on several wooded acres, with a stone exterior that looks like a small castle.
When he walked in, he went quiet for a moment: a soaring living room, stone walls and wood beams, a pool and forest outside the windows. The kitchen felt like a European manor, with a separate butler's kitchen next to it. Downstairs there was a wine cellar, sauna, home theater and billiards room, and out back a basketball court.
Then he said something that stayed with me: "For more than twenty years in Shanghai I made products for other people. Coming to America, it feels like the first time I am choosing a life for myself and my family."
Why so many entrepreneurs choose Atlanta
People assume buying a big house is about showing off. Often it is about the security a business owner wants to give his family.
For people who run manufacturing or distribution businesses, Atlanta has a very practical advantage: the plant or warehouse can sit in the I-75 industrial corridor in Calhoun or Dalton, and the family can live in Milton, Alpharetta or Johns Creek, about an hour's drive away.
From Shanghai to Atlanta, from a carpet supply business to a home in the woods: it is a path many entrepreneurs coming to the US are taking. If you are planning both a commercial property and a family home, I can help with both sides.
