In 1955 a group of young Buckhead couples started meeting at the home of Pat and James Williams to talk about a new private club for north Atlanta. By the next year, with 21 founding members, they had leased John W. Grant's 1917 mansion on West Paces Ferry Road with an option to buy it for $200,000, according to a Fulton Neighbor history. Their first official event was a brunch before the Georgia Tech-LSU game in October 1956.
That house is still the Town Club. Add a country club with two championship courses near the Chattahoochee, and Cherokee places 11th in the Platinum Clubs of America 2025-2026 list of top country clubs. It is also the club Buckhead buyers ask about most.
Two Campuses, Twelve Miles Apart
The Town Club occupies the Grant estate at 155 West Paces Ferry Road. The house, which Grant named Craigellachie, was designed by Walter T. Downing. It is not only a dining room: the club's own guest rules include sections for fitness and for the tennis and paddle courts, and it keeps a jacket rule for men on the main floors and a no-tipping policy.
The Country Club is at 665 Hightower Trail near the Chattahoochee in Sandy Springs, about 13 miles north by road. It has two full 18-hole courses, according to Top 100 Golf Courses. The South course was built by David Gill a year after the club formed. The North course was built in stages: nine holes by Willard Byrd in 1977, nine by Joe Lee and Rocky Roquemore in 1986, and a revision by Tom Fazio in 1998. The club hosted the 1999 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur.
What It Costs, and Where the Numbers Come From
Cherokee does not publish its fees. Search for them and the number you will see most often is an initiation of roughly $200,000 with annual dues around $7,500. Follow it back and it leads to a 2022 CEOWORLD list and a handful of golf sites that cite no source. Other pages put the range anywhere from $10,000 to $350,000. None of it comes from the club.
There is one place real numbers exist. As a nonprofit social club, Cherokee files an annual return with the IRS, and it is public on ProPublica. For the year ending February 2025 it reports total revenue of about $58.9 million and about $14.4 million in initiation fees and contributions, up from about $10.6 million the year before. That is a total across all new members and gifts, so it does not tell you what any one person paid. It does tell you that a lot of people are joining.
Initiation is also only part of the cost: dues, a food and beverage minimum and possible assessments come with it. Our guide to how club costs are built explains each.
The Homes Around Each Campus
Around the Town Club. The City of Atlanta's neighborhood map places the Town Club in South Tuxedo Park, with Peachtree Heights directly south across West Paces Ferry and Buckhead Village under a mile away. The nearest part of Tuxedo Park is about a two-minute drive. Our Tuxedo Park guide puts homes there at $2 million to $20 million and up, and our Paces guide puts the surrounding estate streets at roughly $2 million to $10 million. Peachtree Heights typically runs $1.5 million to $5 million and up.
Around the Country Club. The Hightower Trail campus sits in Sandy Springs near the river, about nine minutes from Roswell across the Chattahoochee and a few miles from Dunwoody. Buyers who want to be near the courses tend to look in those three directions, and the housing there is generally newer and on larger lots than in-town Buckhead.
If the Club Is Why You Are Buying
Settle these before you commit to a house:
- Whether you know members willing to sponsor you. Cherokee does not publish its process, and Buckhead.com's 2026 overview describes it as invitation-only with a waitlist measured in years.
- Which campus you will actually use. The Town Club and the Country Club are roughly a 20-minute drive apart, and where you buy should follow the one you care about.
- The current fee schedule and assessment history, in writing, once you are in conversation with the club.
- The club's IRS filings on ProPublica, which show its reserves and debt over several years.
For the other clubs in the city, see our Atlanta country club communities guide.
The Short Version
- Two campuses: the Town Club in the 1917 Grant mansion on West Paces Ferry, and the Country Club in Sandy Springs with 36 holes.
- The $200,000 figure you see online has no source. The club publishes nothing on fees.
- The club's own IRS filing shows about $14.4 million in initiation fees and contributions in a single year. Demand is not the problem.
- The Town Club sits in Buckhead's estate district, which is why so many members live minutes from it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to join Cherokee Town and Country Club?
Cherokee does not publish its initiation fee or dues. The figure that circulates most, an initiation of about $200,000 with annual dues around $7,500, traces back to a 2022 CEOWORLD list and a few golf sites, none of which cite a source. The only hard numbers are in the club's IRS filing, which reports about $14.4 million in initiation fees and contributions for the year ending February 2025. That is a club-wide total and cannot be turned into a per-member fee. The membership office is the only reliable source of a current figure.
Where are the Cherokee Town Club and the Country Club?
The Town Club is at 155 West Paces Ferry Road in Buckhead, in the Grant estate. The City of Atlanta's neighborhood map places that address in South Tuxedo Park. The Country Club is at 665 Hightower Trail near the Chattahoochee River in Sandy Springs. The two are about 13 miles apart by road.
How many golf courses does Cherokee have?
Two 18-hole courses, 36 holes in all, at the Country Club. The South course was built by David Gill about a year after the club formed. The North course was built in stages: nine holes by Willard Byrd in 1977, nine more by Joe Lee and Rocky Roquemore in 1986, and a revision by Tom Fazio in 1998.
Is Cherokee Town and Country Club invitation only?
The club does not describe its process publicly. Buckhead.com's January 2026 overview of the area's private clubs calls Cherokee invitation-only with a waitlist measured in years, without citing a source. If you are considering it, a conversation with a current member is the realistic first step.
What is the Cherokee Town Club building?
It is Craigellachie, the house Walter T. Downing designed for John W. Grant, completed in 1917. A group of Buckhead residents led by Patricia and James Williams leased it in 1956 with an option to buy it for $200,000, and it has been the Town Club since.
Do I need to live near the club to join?
Not as a rule. But the Town Club is in the middle of Buckhead's estate district, so many members live within a few minutes of it, and the Country Club draws heavily from Sandy Springs, Dunwoody and Roswell. Buying in those areas and joining are separate decisions with separate terms.
Disclaimer: The Luxury Realtor Group is not affiliated with Cherokee Town and Country Club. Membership terms, fees, categories and waitlists are set by the club and change over time; confirm them directly with the club. History is drawn from the sources linked in the text. Home price ranges are general market observations, not appraisals.
