See the Only Home Jimmy Carter Has Ever Owned, as the Former President Turns 100

Not only has former president Jimmy Carter lived longer than any other American leader (he just turned 100!), but he’s kept the same simple house for more than six decades—and he reportedly built it himself.

While few details are available, Carter’s longtime Plains, GA, residence is a modest ranch-style dwelling with four bedrooms, three baths, and about 4,000 square feet inside.

Per the Library of Congress, “This is the first and only home the Carters have owned, and it has been the permanent residence of the family since 1961.”

(Here’s the Carter family on their porch at Christmas in 1978. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)

Carter returned to this spot after his reelection loss in 1980 and continued to reside there with his wife, Rosalynn Carter, who passed away in November 2023 at age 96.

Mrs. Carter is actually buried on the property, and Mr. Carter continues to live in the house while receiving hospice care.

Unlike other former presidents, who lived in and owned multimillion-dollar homes in some swanky locales, Carter was happy to stay put in his Plains home that he was recently valued at $167,000.

Plains, in Sumter County in southwest Georgia, is a tiny town with a population of just under 600 people as of the most recent census in 2020.

But small-town life suited the Carters—they’d often have dinners with nearby neighbors, where they drank inexpensive vino and ate on paper plates—and then walk home with their Secret Service detail following behind.

The 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner apparently also favors basic attire that he finds at dollar stores, flies commercial, and even used to make his own yogurt at home with Rosalynn.

But Cater has done rather well in the literary world. He’s written or co-written 32 books, 20 of which have hit the New York Times best selling list.