Coca-Cola heir's 1922 zoo-estate that became Georgia's first alcohol clinic, then a psychiatric hospital, now vacant
1256 Briarcliff Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30306
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Grounds accessible as part of Emory Briarcliff Campus; interior closed
Access
Limited Access
Paved campus roads; mansion interior inaccessible
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1922 · Private zoo and Coca-Cola family estate · Georgia's first alcohol treatment facility (1953) · Georgia Mental Health Institute (1965–1997) · Film location: Stranger Things, Doom Patrol
Asa Griggs Candler Jr., known as "Buddie," built his estate on a 42-acre parcel along what is now Briarcliff Road NE between 1920 and 1922, enlisting architects for a mansion expanded again in 1925. Candler Jr. was the son of the man who bought the Coca-Cola formula from John Pemberton and built it into a global business, and he spent liberally on the estate. His most notorious indulgence was a private menagerie that included, at various points, a Bengal tiger, four lions, a black leopard, a gorilla, baboons, and six elephants—the latter given Coca-Cola brand names. Neighbors occasionally found baboons on their property. In 1935, facing serious financial pressure, Candler Jr. donated the entire collection to Grant Park Zoo, now Zoo Atlanta.
The state of Georgia acquired the property in 1948. Five years later, the Georgian Clinic opened on the grounds as the first alcohol treatment facility in the state, a use that continued until the late 1950s. The Georgia Mental Health Institute (GMHI) then occupied the campus from 1965 until 1997, operating in a multi-story tower connected by underground tunnels to a web of cottages spread across the property. The tunnels and institutional scale gave the complex a physical character that proved useful to film crews.
Emory University purchased the Briarcliff Campus in 1998. For decades the property sat largely unused, with the mansion deteriorating inside and the GMHI buildings serving occasionally as film locations. In 2022, Emory announced a partnership with Galerie Living to develop the campus into a senior living community, with the mansion itself scheduled for renovation into a public events venue. Demolition of the GMHI hospital structures began in 2026, while the mansion's restoration was under development.
Sources
The Briarcliff Campus's haunted reputation draws on two distinct layers of history. The first is the eccentricity of the Candler era: a private zoo on a residential estate, a magician who died by suicide on the property's golf course, and decades of deliberate withdrawal from Atlanta society. The second layer is institutional: thirty-two years of psychiatric treatment at GMHI, with underground tunnel networks connecting the buildings in ways that disorient visitors even on daylight walks.
Media coverage—including pieces in Architectural Digest and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution—has framed the campus as haunted, though the paranormal claims are diffuse rather than specific. People who worked on film productions there cite a persistent unease in the tunnels and in the mansion's empty interior rooms. No named entity or documented incident drives the legend; instead, the compound's combination of physical decay, psychiatric history, and isolation has generated a sustained atmospheric reputation.
The campus has been used for Stranger Things (Season 3) and Doom Patrol (Season 1), both of which leaned on the institutional architecture for their fictional settings. This media exposure has made the site a destination for film-location tourists as much as paranormal enthusiasts.
Media Appearances
The exterior of the 1922 Candler mansion is visible from the Emory Briarcliff Campus grounds. The mansion and the adjacent former Georgia Mental Health Institute buildings have served as filming locations for Stranger Things (Season 3) and Doom Patrol (Season 1). Interior access is not permitted.
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