‘The Walking Dead’ Finale Is Over, But You Can Still Visit Alexandria
In Sunday night’s The Walking Dead finale, Rick Grimes almost got himself — bloodied from head to toe once again — kicked out of the pristine sanctuary of Alexandria. But you could actually weasel your way into Alexandria in real life, sans zombies… and sans bloody Rick.
That’s because Alexandria is an ritzy, purposefully picturesque and historic-looking planned property in Senoia, Georgia, called The Gin Property, Entertainment Weekly reported ahead of the finale.
Though the neighbors – who peak behind curtains and get their mail while Carol strolls down the street with her sympathy casserole – aren’t really too happy about the wall that surrounds their community, you can join them. You just have a few terms and conditions to abide by (and they don’t include making sure the gate is closed or keeping your ammunition locked in the armory).
The Gin Property touts itself as a “step back to a simpler time,” which obviously isn’t referring to the zombie-infested wasteland that Rick and Company inhabit on the Walking Dead. It covers 11 acres within Senoia’s historic district, and boasts circa 1900s lofts, townhomes, brownstones, and single family homes that “seamlessly with Senoia’s existing architecture.”
But the neighborhood wasn’t just built for leisure and peaceful city dwelling. It was designed in conjunction with Raleigh Studios Atlanta — The Walking Dead’s Senoia homebase — to be a “live back lot” for TV and film, including The Walking Dead. It’s versatile enough, apparently, to look like New York City, Philly, the Windy City, Savannah, or Charleston.
And, of course, post-apocalyptic America swarming with Walkers.
But The Walking Dead isn’t the only show to have filmed on the Gin Property: Fried Green Tomatoes, Driving Miss Daisy, Pet Semetary II, and Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns have called “Alexandria” home.
And right around the corner, oddly enough, is Woodbury – the faux-utopia ruled over by the villainous Governor in the third season of The Walking Dead, EW added.
But evidently The Gin Property isn’t full of Dead fans. A resident named Kathleen Sullivan told the local paper, the Times Herald, last summer that she hated the the rusty corrugated metal 15-foot-high wall that surrounds her quaint community.
“I said that the wall would be ugly. None of us had seen it yet. But, OMG, it is uglier than I could ever imagine.”
There is a special permit in place for the wall through November this year, and it can be renewed every year until 2019. And The Walking Dead comics, at least, are still in Alexandria, so hopefully that means the ugly wall can stay up a bit longer.
As for The Walking Dead show, AMC teased a companion series, Fear of the Walking Dead, during the Sunday finale if you can’t wait for the Season 6 premiere – or if Gin Property decides to vote you out of the neighborhood.
[Photo Courtesy AMC]
