A First Look Inside Chattanooga’s New Common House

It’s fun to stay at the former Y-M-C-A, where a new private social club opens its doors for overnight guests

“This Italian renaissance revival-style architecture is like a piece of Tuscany dropped in Chattanooga—the building resembles nothing around it,” says Derek Sieg, whose new Common House club and boutique hotel recently opened inside a circa 1929 YMCA there. “And the YMCA itself was a version of what we are now—a social club.” Sieg is a co-founder of Common House, a modern social club with locations in Charlottesville and Richmond, Virginia, that recently opened its third location in Chattanooga after working with the Tennessee-based firms Pfeffer Torode Architecture and Studio BOCA. The artistic team kept much of the original building’s architectural details, such as terra-cotta tile and massive stone fireplaces, and layered in eclectic furniture finds and pieces by local artisans. “It’s a private club that is as inclusive as a private club can be—you don’t have to know people—and we even have a program called Common Ground that offers free membership,” Sieg says. Guests of the fourth floor’s six-room hotel get a day pass to access the bar, restaurants, pool, coworking spaces, and the opportunity to chat with some of Chattanooga’s locals in a preserved historic space. Click through for an exclusive look at the club.

June 14, 2021

1 of 12

The circa 1929 YMCA building in Chattanooga’s historic Southside neighborhood.

Photo: Photo Courtesy Chattanooga Public Library

2 of 12

Original cubbies behind the concierge desk. “Every member gets one of these brass keys when they join,” Sieg says. “They open the front door.”

Photo: Ali Harper

3 of 12

Common House’s lobby is the original YMCA social space. “All architectural details, including the folk-art-painted exposed timber beams are original,” Sieg says.

Photo: Ali Harper

4 of 12

The YMCA reception desk is now a concierge desk. “The large opening is new and made to reflect the outstanding original architectural details in the other arches and doorways,” Sieg says. “The terra-cotta tile is original and runs throughout the first floor of the building.”

Photo: Ali Harper

5 of 12

A welcoming seat in the lobby, which Sieg says draws inspiration from an Italian mountain lodge.

Photo: Ali Harper

6 of 12

The second floor social hall is a Mediterranean-inspired bar and lounge. “The arched colonnade was literally cut into what was an existing terra-cotta brick wall,” Sieg says. “The ceiling lights are supposed to suggest a night sky, and the bar is sheathed in rattan. Through the arch on the left you can see a door that opens on outdoor stairs to the roof terrace.”

Photo: Ali Harper

7 of 12

“The billiards table we found on eBay and is a model from Brunswick that was made specifically for YMCAs in the 1920s,” Sieg says.

Photo: Ali Harper

8 of 12

This corridor leads from the concierge past the gym, locker rooms, and out to the pool.

Photo: Ali Harper

9 of 12

A guest room.

Photo: Ali Harper

10 of 12

The Tea Room is part of the restaurant on the second floor. Local woodworker Cabeen Originals made the furniture.

Photo: Ali Harper

11 of 12

The roof terrace opposite Ruby Hall, originally a basketball court with a viewing mezzanine that now functions as an event space.

Photo: Ali Harper

12 of 12

A terrace view to Lookout Mountain.

Photo: Ali Harper

CJ Lotz Diego is a Garden & Gun deputy editor. A staffer since 2013, she wrote G&G’s bestselling Bless Your Heart trivia game, edits the Due South travel section, and covers gardens, books, and art. Originally from Eureka, Missouri, she graduated from Indiana University and now lives in Charleston, South Carolina, where she tends a downtown pocket garden with her florist husband, Max.