It’s a beautiful fall day at the Camp House. The metal barn doors are flung open and a languid breeze filters past the wooden slat tables and soft leather couches. Natural light pours in through the clearstory windows, filling the old brick warehouse with soft, diffuse light. Naked filament light bulbs hang from the ceiling, under which creative types gather to work, meet and socialize; attracted to the coffeehouse like the proverbial moth.
“I preserved as much of the cobalt glass windows as I could,” says Cessna Decosimo, the renowned painter and sculptor who renovated the 19th century building in the late ’90s when the Southside was still considered dangerous. “If you look at the way light reflects through these windows, the shapes and colors – it’s like a moving painting.” He’s working in the back of the building – his new studio – sanding and brushing a small canvas. Occasionally he steps back, turns sideways and holds a piece of mirror between his eyes. “DaVinci talks about using a mirror,” he explains. “It reverses the image and allows you to see it with a fresh eye.”
In late 2009, the artist was convinced to see something else from a new perspective – the idea of renting the front half of his beloved studio. Decosimo had merely floated the idea among friends when Chris Sorensen, an Anglican priest from New York, showed up on his doorstep. Led to Chattanooga by a dream his wife Angie had, the couple decided to pick up and move after a brief fact-finding trip. Jason and Satoya Foster, and Tim and Michelle Newton joined the Sorensens in Chattanooga sight unseen as modern-day missionaries. When they arrived they weren’t certain of their purpose, but they knew they’d need a building. They stumbled upon Decosimo’s studio and, true to form, the space inspired the concept.
Camp House Espresso (the coffeehouse) and Mission Chattanooga (the church) emerged from a late-night brainstorm Chris had. Barista Aaron Rauch moved from New York shortly after to head up the coffee bar. The Camp House is the name of the building that encompasses both. It also houses a thrift store in the back, Mission Exchange, and serves as an event space. “Camp House was born out of the idea that culture cannot be refined; it has to be created,” explains Sorensen. “We believe that part of our mission is to bring goodness, truth and beauty into the city, and The Camp House is the mechanism to do that.”
Today CH inspires all walks of life: entrepreneurs, business leaders, politicians, artists, designers, writers, musicians, college students, moms, grandparents and children. Venture capitalist Charlie Brock regularly holds meetings here as does David Belitz from The Lupton Company. The head of Barack Obama’s reelection campaign in Tennessee always stops by when in town. So does the occasional homeless person. Everyone’s welcome.