The cliché says: Everything old is new again.
Cliché it might be, but it’s especially true when it comes to buildings in Chattanooga. From the South Broad District to downtown to the North Shore, older buildings — some 100 years old or more — have been rehabbed into something totally different from their original purpose.
Renovating and revamping old spaces into new isn’t cheap, but doing so keeps alive the heart of Chattanooga’s history and its future.
Something in Common
A look inside Common House
Photo contributed by Shawn Ryan / The back of a bathroom door in Common HouseThe heavy wooden door opens into a small bathroom that, when the building was first constructed, was meant for boys to use. Perhaps that’s why — boys being boys — the back of the door is carved with more than a dozen initials, names and words: “C.A.” “Lee.” “R.S.” “Love.” “Flop” (whatever that means).
Leaving the door with its historical carvings is one of the ways that Common House has prevented itself from feeling sterile after a renovation that led to its opening in July 2021.
Once a YMCA that opened in 1929, the 36,000-square-foot building located just off East Main Street in Southside is now a members-only “social club,” a term little-used today but one that defines Common House’s reason for being.
“I think people have to feel it,” says Director of Operations Kelly Skinner. “So I think our goal is getting people into the space to allow them to envision themselves here, because people use this space for different things.”
One of four Common Houses in the country — the others are in Charlottesville and Richmond in Virginia, and in New Orleans — the Chattanooga location needed some restorations and updates, but a lot of discussion went into deciding what to keep and what to replace on its four floors. A lot was kept.
Roe Elam of Walk2Town, which owns and renovated the building, says he was stunned by the feel of the space even before it was restored.
“The moment you walk in, you realize you’ve got something that’s extremely unique,” he says.
Inside, almost all of its original wood is still intact: massive ceiling beams. Door frames. The front desk where members check in. Even the wooden floor of what used to be a basketball court has been left in its well-trodden state. It and the stage — also original to the building — are now used for private events.
Staff file photo / Event space at Common House that was formerly a gymThroughout the building, many of the ceramic floor tiles — squares, rectangles, octagons and other shapes — are original. Cast-iron handrails from the ’20s remain along the staircases.
A dining room — with an extensive wine selection plus high-end cuisine focused on ingredients from local sources — has been added, as well as a huge saltwater swimming pool. A well-equipped gym was built over the former YMCA’s swimming pool (now drained, of course).
There is a room for making podcasts, several conference rooms and a floor dedicated to workspaces and social networking.
Although Common House is a membership club, the public can rent its six single hotel rooms and one suite. Its garden area also can be rented for weddings, anniversary celebrations and other private events.
Dedicated to the true meaning of “social,” Common House hosts near-daily events: wine- and whiskey-tastings. Book clubs. Trivia nights. Yoga classes. Films. Live music. Business networking get-togethers. Drag Singo (like bingo but with songs and hosted by local drag queens Hormona Lisa and Anastasia Amour).
Or sometimes, members just like to sit in one of the large, open rooms and read a book.
“How you want to use the house is really up to every individual member,” Skinner says.
Find out more at commonhouse.com/chattanooga.