André the Giant | LEFT: Wikimedia Commons; RIGHT: instagram/@andrethegiantofficial
The estate in Ellerbe covered about 46 acres and included a three-story, roughly 3,500-square-foot house, two natural streams, a barbecue building, gazebo and workshop. The property went on the auction block in November 2013, two decades after Roussimoff’s death in 1993. Roussimoff stood about 7 feet 4 inches tall and weighed roughly 500 pounds during his wrestling career. The auction divided the estate into two separate parcels The 46 acres were divided into two parcels; one containing the house and about nine acres, and another consisting of roughly 37.7 acres of woodland, and that setup gave potential buyers the option of being able to pursue different parts of the estate instead of treating the property as a single residential purchase. Florida crime writer Randy Wayne White, who participated with his uncle, Levon Wilson, was interested in the property as a potential place to write, but he had also hoped it would include a lake or pond, and stopped bidding at $260,000. The other serious bidder was Rockingham resident George Ewing, who was prepared to go as high as $270,000. His bid still fell below the owners’ undisclosed reserve, so the property did not sell during the roughly 40-minute auction, with the property reportedly being assessed at $358,000 at the time. The auction company announced in January 2014 that the property had transferred to the highest bidder from the November auction after post-sale negotiations. Ellerbe, North Carolina, where Andre’s ranch was located | Wikimedia Commons He spent his final years on the ranch North Carolina’s Department of Natural and Cultural Resources says that Roussimoff had purchased nine acres in the Ellerbe area in 1978 and expanded his holdings over the following decade to a 194-acre ranch along Big Mountain Creek. After his death in France in 1993, his ashes were returned to the North Carolina ranch. The property continued through several owners before the 2013 auction, with the auction listing describing the house as a three-story residence with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, two dens and a two-car garage, along with the separate structures on the wooded acreage. North Carolina dedicated a highway historical marker to Roussimoff in Ellerbe in April 2026, and recognised his connection to the community and the ranch where he spent much of the last 15 years of his life.
A later account from CBS Sports reported that a plumber raised the shower head so that André could use it comfortably, while the household acquired two or three oversized chairs, and according to McAuley, those were among the few specific accommodations made for him. The 46-acre property that was later offered at auction was therefore only part of the larger landholding that he was associated with. The Charlotte Observer reported that an oak tree once grew through the middle of the house and that André had a custom-built recliner. The ranch became a place where Roussimoff could spend time away from wrestling crowds, and the Charlotte Observer reported that he rode a Honda three-wheeler around the property, raised Texas longhorns and entertained wrestling friends there.
André the Giant had spent the final decade of his life in his North Carolina property before it went up for auction. André Roussimoff, the French-born wrestler known worldwide as André the Giant, had lived there during the later years of his career. The auction drew two main bidders, but neither reached the owners’ undisclosed reserve price, and the property eventually changed hands through post-auction negotiations. The house was not entirely built for a giant Stories about André’s North Carolina home often describe it as a house that was constructed entirely around his enormous size, but the reality was more specific. He also found it difficult to navigate parts of the house, with longtime ranchmate Jackie McAuley recalling that he sometimes had to turn his feet sideways to make it up a narrow staircase. His size made ordinary houses, vehicles and furniture difficult to use, but the Ellerbe property gave him privacy, which he could not easily have while traveling the world for wrestling. The auction was handled by Swicegood Group and drew five registered bidders, although the contest ultimately narrowed to two main parties. The final sale price was not disclosed, which made the transaction less notable for a headline auction price than for the way the estate finally changed hands after the public bidding failed to reach the reserve. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.
