French Baroque Palace of Pilgrim’s Pride Founder Offers Privacy and Peace
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The palatial French Baroque that locals in Pittsburg, Texas once dubbed Cluckingham Palace is back on the market, and for just under $5 million this impressive 18,327-square-foot home on nearly 44 acres can be your next family compound.
The home at 800 S. Greer Blvd. was built by Bo and Patty Pilgrim, the renowned founders of prolific chicken producer Pilgrim’s Pride. Grandson Clayton Pilgrim of Century 21 Harvey Properties is the listing agent for the home located in Pittsburg, a quaint East Texas town north of Longview — just two hours outside of Dallas.
“People no longer think Pittsburg is far away from Dallas,” Pilgrim says. “Our ranches are more popular than ever. East Texas ranch sales are ticking upwards. With modern technology and private air travel, being 120 miles from the heart of Dallas is now nothing.”
The estate built in 1992 was designed by architect Richard Drummond Davis, a Princeton-trained architect who has designed homes for a number of Texas notables and built by Steve Thornton for an estimated $15 million.
The home, being sold completely furnished, has six bedrooms, ten and a half baths, an exercise room, formal living and dining rooms, and media room. It features a 2,450-square-foot property manager’s home, three powered shops, and a greenhouse.
There’s a huge indoor swimming pool and spa that was patterned after the famous Greenbrier Spa in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. As the story goes, Mrs. Pilgrim visited the Greenbrier and phoned Richard Drummond Davis from the spa that she wanted their indoor pool to look just like the Greenbrier’s.
The impeccably manicured grounds designed by landscape architect Naud Burnett consist of multiple native species of trees, three ponds and streams, a deep water well with crisp fresh water, and a plethora of strikingly beautiful azalea gardens that fill you with peace.
Back in 2019, site founder Candy Evans was invited to tour the Chateau de Pilgrim before it was slated for luxury auction, where it was valued at $8 million and sold for an undisclosed amount — at least $3 million, set as the home’s reserve. The new owners listed the home in February 2021.
Clayton Pilgrim has listed 800 S. Greer Blvd. for $4.995 million. Give him a call at 903-785-8484 to set up a showing.
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I remember reading a Dallas Observer article about Pilgrim’s Pride around 1995 or so explaining how they were clogging up local rivers with chicken parts. I could not purchase their products after that. This home may be beautiful but it’s marred by the owner’s dark history, for me anyway.
Can you dive into the reasoning behind a home devaluing so much? I mean I know it’s gaudy and in the middlle of nowhere so that might be all the reason it needs, but 1/3 of the orginal price to build? Which I’m assuming doesn’t include land costs sounds ridiculous.
Pittsburg is my hometown, please don’t say it’s nowhere!!
But it is in the middle of nowhere.
I feel like that’s a selling point!