There's a new Big Man on Campus around North Texas — a really, really big man. NBA icon Shaquille O'Neal has purchased a home in Carrollton ahead of the anticipated expansion of his Big Chicken restaurants in Dallas-Fort Worth and across the state.
According to property records, O'Neal purchased the nearly 5,300-square-foot home through an LLC for an undisclosed amount. It had been on the market for $1.22 million, according to Architectural Digest.
Zac Gideo, an agent with Rogers Healy and Associates Real Estate, worked with the NBA Hall of Famer to ink the sale. While Rogers Healy declined to disclose the actual address to CultureMap, it's been reported by several outlets as this property in the exclusive Gates of Prestonwood enclave.
According to the listing, Shaq's new shack features:
- five bedrooms, five bathrooms, and two half-baths
- huge primary bedroom with a spa-like bathroom
- two fireplaces
- three living and two dining areas
- dream kitchen with top-of-the-line appliances
- gated motor court and three-car garage
- home theater with leather recliners
- backyard oasis with large pool and rock wall waterfall
Architectural Digest calls it "a stone-quoined European-inspired manor" and goes on to gush, "The front door is met with four fluted stone columns and two more Corinthian columns between the foyer and the formal dining room. A gorgeous library/office is wrapped in polished wood paneling and beige marble floors which run throughout the great room. The home features a contemporary fireplace and bright walls of windows that overlook the backyard."
Sounds fab, what time's dinner?
While O'Neal recently sold an estate in Florida, he still has homes in Los Angeles and Atlanta. Because of all his jet-setting, Gideo says, much of the house-hunting work with him was done in the most modern way possible: “I found him the perfect home and most of the process was done virtually — Facetime calls, videos of the property, etc.,” Gideo said in a statement.
O'Neal — a San Antonio native — is no stranger to Texas-sized hospitality. In fact, he's already being neighborly around Dallas.
Upon being spotted handing out cash and meals to people in need and buying a washing machine and TV for shoppers at Best Buy, the 7-foot-1 basketball legend told Page Six, "I just want to make people happy."
Shaq's new shack in Carrollton.
Facebook/Sherley Farms