Each unit contains luxurious amenities and hardwood floors Developer Greg Vital The Brownstone Townhomes offer panoramic views and a neighborhood steeped in Civil War history Architecture, inside and out, complements the historic setting
Few residential developments boast panoramic views, a neighborhood steeped in Civil War history, and a national park in the front yard.
But with their newest residential project, developers Greg Vital and Franklin Farrow are offering all of that and more. The Brownstone Townhomes of Bragg Point will ultimately include 12 brownstone units and six carriage houses, all of which will be adjacent to Bragg Reservation on Missionary Ridge, part of the 9,100-acre Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.
The park was set aside in the 1890s by Civil War veterans of both armies to preserve the site where the campaign for Chattanooga was fought during the Civil War, says Kay Parish, executive director of Friends of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.
“Bragg Reservation is where the Confederates actually lost control of the city of Chattanooga and got pushed back toward Atlanta, opening the Deep South to the Union army,” notes Parish.
The Bragg Point townhomes occupy the former site of the Missionary Ridge Elementary School. The school, closed in the 1970s, sat across from Bragg Reservation.Attended by children who lived in homes built just afer the turn of the century, it burned in the early 1990s.
Park land and neighborhoods exist together on the ridge. On their way to work and school, residents drive past monuments and cannons placed there by the Civil War veterans to show where battles took place. Some of the residents even have historic plaques in their yards. “It’s an organic mix of park and neighborhood,” adds Parish. “There are not that many cities where you can have a piece of a national park in your backyard.”
The land sat empty for years until Vital and Farrow decided to develop the property. The $8 million project is being constructed on 3.5 acres on the east slope of the ridge by Vital and Farrow of Independent Healthcare Properties LLC. Based in Chattanooga, Independent Healthcare Properties develops healthcare-related and commercial real estate and owns a portfolio of 16 assisted living facilities in five southern states.
“Missionary Ridge is one of the most historic and unique neighborhoods in the city,” says Vital. “When this site became available we saw it as an excellent opportunity to provide Chattanoogans with a very exclusive site for a quality housing development. We’ve used material, fixtures and fencing that all complement the national park monuments and signage.”
To that end, the homes are distinctive and exclusive, and nothing short of luxurious. The brownstones contain luxury features with 10-foot ceilings on main doors, and nine-foot ceilings elsewhere. Each has hardwood floors with extravagances such as built-in flat screen television sets and built-in coffee makers in master baths.
The developers “are making a real effort to complement the historic setting,” Parish says. “It’s a nice way for the neighborhood to be knit back together after the school disappeared.” The e Friends of the Park worked closely with the developers throughout the planning of Bragg Point, making sure to include architecture, stone and brick to complement the monuments inside the park.
Four townhomes are still available. Construction on the second phase is set to begin in the next year, and two of those units have been sold. Buyers say they like the convenience of the neighborhood to downtown as well as shopping at Hamilton Place, notes Vital.
Townhomes range from $675,000 to $950,000, and buyers can expect the kind of amenities that would come with that price tag. Each 4,000-plus square foot brownstone has five bathrooms, private stair tread lighting and an 8-foot wood door with transoms and side lights. Units include a 25-by 22-foot panoramic roof deck to enjoy magnificent views of Chattanooga and the surrounding mountains.
“There is no other place where you go out your front steps and you are in a national park,” says Vital. “You look out your back porch and you’re looking out 60 miles to White Oak Mountain, the Tennessee River and Big Frog Mountain to the east.”