Where you live says a lot about who you are.
Fortunately, Chattanooga has enough housing stock to fit just about any lifestyle.
Urbanites and empty-nesters may land in a sleek new condo in a repurposed downtown building. Dreamers may prefer to take a 2,000-foot view of the landscape from a mountain-top escape. Adventure-seekers may want to live in a waterfront property where they're only yards away from a day filled with jet skiing on the river. Meanwhile, parents of growing families may prefer the ample square footage and open floor plan of a "barndominium."
The city's livability is apparently a secret no more. In 2022, the latest year for which such numbers are available, Hamilton County was Tennessee's fifth fastest-growing county. The county grew by 5,655 residents, or a 1.5% increase, boosting the population to 374,682, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Knox, Rutherford, Montgomery and Wilson counties were the only Tennessee counties that are growing faster.
Gloria Page, a local real estate agent who has sold about 350 houses in the last 10 years, says a home inspector recently told her that almost half his clients were out-of-towners moving to southeast Tennessee.
"We appeal to the jocks and the geeks," Page says. "The jocks because we have been voted 'Best Outdoor City in America' twice. We are also 'Gig City' for geeks, the gamers and those who work from home. We've also been voted best place to retire. We do not have a state income tax, and we don't tax your pension."
Each of those groups suggests a different checklist of needs in a home.
To showcase Chattanooga's diversity of housing styles, we knocked on some doors and toured properties across the city. Some are occupied and some are not, but all represent different architectural and lifestyle choices.
History in the Heights
Type of Home: Flatiron Heights condominiums
Where: 707 Georgia Ave.
Bedrooms/baths: 2/2
Size: 1,542 square feet
Value: $419,000 - $749,900 (asking price)
Chattanooga's Flatiron Building, built in 1911 at the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Walnut Street, is a small-scale replica of the triangular Flatiron Building on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. Its latest renovation has yielded 15 upscale condos ranging in asking price from $419,000 to $749,000. As of early last month, five of the units had been sold with 10 still available.
Pamela Fisher, a real estate agent whose family is part of the group that developed the five-story property, said the project, called Flatiron Heights, has attracted attention from empty-nesters and business up-and-comers representing several generations.
Centrally located just south of the Hamilton County Courthouse, Flatiron Heights condos offer easy walking access to theaters, restaurants and other downtown attractions, and they're about a 10-minute walk to the Walnut Street Bridge, gateway to the North Shore.
"Traffic-wise, it's more of a peaceful area," Fisher says. "And you are in walking distance of everything Chattanooga."
Fisher says that although the condos require an elevator ride (or stairs), the living spaces themselves are one-level units, as opposed to many other downtown condominiums that span up to three stories.
A two-bedroom, two-bath unit with 1,542 square feet is one of the larger — and pricier — units, at $749,900. A tour of the unit reveals views of the Memorial Auditorium and the Hamilton County Courthouse, along with other historic properties along Georgia Avenue. (A separate "apex" apartment facing south has views of Lookout Mountain and the Dome Building.)
Amenities at Flatiron Heights include an original entryway with tiger-oak trim, an exercise area, covered parking and coded security entrances. The interior design includes casement windows, quartz countertops, custom cabinetry, high ceilings, engineered hardwood floors and modern lighting.
The units are perfect for singles and couples. Many touring the properties are out-of-towners looking for second homes in the city, Fisher says.
Rooms With a View
Type of Home: Mowbray Mountain traditional
Where: Montlake subdivision
Bedrooms/Baths: 4/3
Size: 4,800 square feet
Value: $750,000 (estimate)
When real estate agent Gloria Page first opened the door of her home on the side of Mowbray Mountain, the house was for sale and she was there to make a video for a potential out-of-town buyer.
But instantly, upon entering the house, her plans changed.
"I opened the front door, and that was it. I said, 'I'm home,'" Page remembers. "I don't think I even went through the rest of the house. I went straight to the deck and called my lender."
Three years later, Page still relishes curling up on her cozy couch in the home's expansive great room and sitting in front of her stone fireplace. Meanwhile, she looks out a wall of windows at a 180-degree view of the Hixson and Soddy-Daisy areas bisected by Highway 27. In the winter, with the leaves off the trees, the view provides a nightly light show. In the summer, it's a lush mountain perch framed by a treeline.
There's something calming about the view, which is part of her daily meditation.
"This is my heaven on earth," Page says, gazing out on the valley view from her great room. "This is my sanity in a crazy world."
One of the perks of living in Southeast Tennessee is the possibility of actually purchasing a home with a view in one of our mountain communities, such as Lookout Mountain, Signal Mountain and Mowbray Mountain. Page says every time she drives home, she feels like she's on a backroad in the Smoky Mountains. After the mid-January snowfall, the brick traditional house became part of a winter wonderland.
Built in 1999, the home is a hybrid design with split living levels. Page lives on the top level with two bedrooms, a great room with vaulted ceilings and textured walls, a dining room, kitchen and expansive deck. Meanwhile, she rents out the bottom floor, which has its own kitchen and laundry room and two bedrooms. It also has an open living room area and deck.
Page said she just put a koi pound in her small backyard to make it even more relaxing. There are three entrances to the neighborhood, and residents can enjoy the nearby Montlake Golf Course.
"It's like having a mountain house in Gatlinburg without having to drive," Page says.
'Were You Raised in a Barn?'
Type of Home: Barndominium
Where: Ringgold, Georgia
Bedrooms/Baths: Open floor plan/2.5
Size: 3,200 square feet
When Cheryl Oliver envisioned her retirement home, she saw herself living in a tiny home with a large storage unit. But now, after a couple years of construction, Oliver and her partner, Jefferson Long, are saying "welcome home" to a three-story, open-concept barndominium.
A barndominium, also called a barndo, is exactly what it sounds like — a condominium-style home built and designed to resemble a barn. Whether the barndominium is built from a preexisting or prefabricated structure or from the ground up is a decision for the homeowner; Oliver and Long built from the ground up.
Long says he's been in remodeled barns where you wouldn't be able to tell what they were previously, due to modern interior design choices, but he and Oliver wanted their home to have the classic barn look.
"If you're going to have a barn, why hide it?" Long says. "We decided not to. We wanted to really let it stick out, so we're doing it."
To achieve this desired look, the couple's barndominium has barn doors on sliders for entry into the bathrooms and two other rooms. The walls and floors are wood, while the stairs, railings and beams are a mix of wood and metal — dark metal because you wouldn't see shiny metal in an old barn, Long says. On the roof, a cupola with a rooster weather vane literally tops off the classic look.
When walking into the barndominium, it's impossible to ignore how open the space is. From the first floor, you can see and hear all the way to the home's loft, and, with a hook in the ceiling in the loft area, it's possible to pass items up from the first floor by using a bucket and rope — another classic barn feature.
The land that Oliver and Long have built their home on is the same land that Oliver grew up on, she says. She would play in the barns on the land as a child and describes the barn as a magical place.
"It's just going to be a place where we can push back the furniture and turn on music and get happy," Oliver says.
Holding Down the Fort
Type of Home: Fort Wood historic
Where: Fort Wood Historic District
Bedrooms/Baths: 4/3.5
Size: 3,750 square feet
Value: $796,000 (estimate)
In its over 100-year history, Steve and Jackie Cook's home has gone from a single-family home to a halfway house to apartments and back to a single-family home again. Since 2005, the Cooks have raised their children, held holiday celebrations and hosted social gatherings in the comfort of their historic home in Chattanooga's Fort Wood neighborhood.
Fort Wood, located adjacent to the UTC campus, is one of four local historic districts in Chattanooga. Homes in the neighborhood, which saw much of its development from 1880-1920, depict a variety of architectural styles — Victorian, Queen Anne, Neoclassical Revival, Colonial Revival, among others — that reflect the trends of the time. Properties in the neighborhood, such as the Cooks', are part of the United States Department of the Interior's National Register of Historic Places.
The Cooks moved to Tennessee in 1988 for Steve's job at a chemical company in Dayton, and they lived in nearby Spring City. By the time they were looking to move to Chattanooga, Steve was running his own business, and Jackie was working as a "taxi driver," she jokes, as she was taking her children from Spring City to their school, Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts — an hour-long commute.
The Cooks looked at homes in North Chattanooga but couldn't find anything quite right, Steve says. But when they saw the Fort Wood home, they fell in love with the beautiful woodwork, high ceilings and the home's history; the location was great too, Jackie says.
"We lived in a Queen Anne house in Spring City, so we were drawn to historic houses," Jackie says.
In addition to the woodwork, the Cooks' home exhibits other features that might be uncommon in more modern homes, such as its six fireplaces, which have been converted from coal-burning to gas-burning.
The Cooks say they've changed little about the home since moving in, but they are working on taking down the house's last chimney. Making changes to the exterior of homes in the neighborhood requires approval from the Chattanooga Historic Zoning Commission, which regulates the city's historic districts.
While the historic nature of the home is a major draw, the Cooks say they also enjoy the community of Fort Wood. The neighborhood association hosts monthly parties for neighbors to meet and get to know one another. On a nice day, Steve says he likes to sit on his porch, have lunch and say hello to his neighbors as they walk by — an experience you can't always get in other neighborhoods.
River Deep, Mountain High
Type of Home: Riverfront traditional
Where: Lookout Valley
Bedrooms/Baths: 5/4
Size: 7,000 square feet
Value: $879,000 (estimate)
For Sonny and Kris Capley, the river is a lifestyle, one that directly influenced their decision to buy a waterfront home along the Tennessee River practically sight-unseen in 1997.
The Capleys had seen the house when they were cruising along in their boat and thought it would be a great place to live because of its location on the river. Fortunately (for them), the home's residents at the time got a divorce, and the home went up for sale. The Capleys cobbled together the money to purchase the home, and they've been living on the river ever since.
"We were like, 'It must be a nice house — it's big; it's pretty new' — but we wanted to be on the water, and we got it," Kris says. "We pinch ourselves every day that we were able to pull it together and get it."
With the home's direct access to the river, the Capleys and their family and friends are able to enjoy fun on the water, whether it's taking out the boat or jet skis, swimming, fishing or just relaxing on the dock. The home's location lets the Capleys witness captivating sunrises and sunsets, and from their dock, they have an exquisite view of Lookout Mountain.
Since 2018, the Capleys have opened up their riverfront home to others, thanks to a basement apartment they rent out through Airbnb. The fully licensed rental features a private entrance, living room, bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. The rental business has been lucrative, Kris says, with guests coming from all over the world. While the city of Chattanooga and its outdoor amenities are a big draw for tourists, Sonny and Kris say there's one major draw for their Airbnb: the river.
Kris admits that the riverfront lifestyle isn't without its drawbacks, however. Inconsiderate boaters, potentially dangerous currents and flooding are all issues of concern. Once, a flood caused the water to rise so high that it cut off road access to the Capley's neighborhood for several days, Kris says. She remembers dreaming of catfish swimming by the house at the time.
Ultimately, when it comes to living on the river, the important thing is to just enjoy yourself, the Capleys say. And always keep five gallons of gas on-hand for your boat, Sonny says, because you or someone else is apt to run out at some point.