Cruisin’ thru Crieve Hall

09 Apr Cruisin’ thru Crieve Hall

Tours of homes are always great ways to get inside homes and find inspiration for your own or just see how others live right?  Well, the inaugural Crieve Hall Tour of Homes did not disappoint, with everything from an antebellum home to a brand new house for a young family, and several renovated ranch style houses that had some WOW factor too.  This Timberhill Drive home was originally built in 1956 and even though work had been done to update the home, the new owner, Jonathan Shaw, wanted to put his own personal stamp on the house, and did he ever!!!

My friends and I were ooooohing and ahhhing over the foyer wall as soon as we walked in the door.  It looks like tile but it’s actually wallpaper.  This home already had a mid-century modern vibe, so Jonathan continued that design by opening up the home, taking down four walls and expanding the kitchen for a completely open floor plan.

Jonathan updated the corner fireplace by wrapping it in a porcelain tile designed to look like concrete for an edgier look.

Jonathan’s girlfriend, Whitney Gregory helped him with selecting furniture and lighting along with other accessories. The cool dining room fixture is from West Elm and much of the furniture is either from West Elm or Wayfair.

And it sure helps to know your builder.  In this case, it’s Jonathan’s father’s company, McPherson-Shaw, a longtime custom home builder. The countertops in the kitchen, master bath and laundry room are all quartz and came from Smokey Mountain Tops.

The home includes an entirely new master suite for a total of 3 bedrooms and 2 baths.

 

 

The homeowner’s favorite part of the house is the open living spaces. Just goes to show what you can do with an older home with lots of small rooms if you have ideas and a good builder to take your vision and go with it.  The back yard is fantastic too, and guess what? Jonathan’s sister and her family live in the house just next to him, which was also on the tour!

Here’s Jessica and Nathan Douglas’s back yard which looks over her brother’s.  It’s a 1955 ranch the couple bought in 2015 and right away started on a massive 4 month long renovation.

Such great curb appeal. And the weather the day of the tour was spectacular with Nashville in full bloom and grass so green. And the inside is fantastic too.

This room was added on to the original house.  The couple gutted the majority of the house and relocated the kitchen and bathrooms to create an open concept.

The master suite was also added to the existing house.

The Douglas family’s favorite feature of their renovated ranch is their beautiful covered patio where they spend the majority of their time.

So this house has a total of 1930 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. Like her brother’s home, they’ve maximized their living space so well.

Another home on the tour is a new one that was completed on one of the last few lots in Crieve Hall in December of 2017.

She’s a beauty with 4212 square feet and room for a growing family with five bedrooms and four bathrooms and a fantastic backyard with garden beds for herbs and veggies.

Inside is a beautiful kitchen and den that’s so comfortable and bright.  Homeowner Moriah Murrell isn’t a trained designer but has a great knack for interiors. She made all the selections for the home.

The Murrells built this home and since moving in added a library upstairs.

Love their choice of wall color, the sconces and art, and here’s another cool feature. There’s a secret passage.  I mention this because the homeowner is one of the the Escape Game owners who brought it to the Nashville market, which has been successful!  So fitting to add this to their home.  It’s under that desk, and it was locked when the tour was happening so I don’t know where it leads but how fun!!!

Another cool area is a casual den upstairs where I’m guessing their baby boy will soon be crawling around and hiding in the tepee!

Back downstairs is a beautiful dining room and a master suite that is a true retreat for the young couple.

Then, I saved the oldest for last.  It’s truly a treasure in Crieve Hall, built in 1835 before Tennessee was a state, making it one of the oldest homes in Nashville.

The Hill family owned the home and land that extended as far as Edmonson Pike and Hill Road.  They owned it until the Cochran family bought it in 1950. They lived here until 2000. I could write an entire piece on the history of this home and will try to do that in a future post. It really is so rich in historic detail.

The beautiful newel post was carved from a tree on the property.

There’s also a back staircase that was later added by the Cochran family when they connected the original detached kitchen to the main house.

There are wide plank floors and pretty knotty pine walls in the kitchen.

And the home has three fireplaces. The Cochrans rebuilt all three chimneys years ago.

As I walked through the house, I found out that the current owner was in the home, looking at his computer. Turns out I know him! We had worked together on a project years ago at Nashville’s Film House. In 2002, Curt Hahn, a filmmaker and founder of the Film House became the third owner of this special property. In addition to filming parts of two of his movies at the house, he undertook a complete restoration of the home, adding a screened in porch

He added the screened in porch, replaced the kitchen and all three bathrooms.

Hahn also planted 32 trees and installed solar panels, so he added beauty and efficiency to this historic home.

But it’s time for his family to move on.

They are selling the house and getting ready to build the complete opposite style; a very contemporary home on a hillside south of town.  I’m hoping to feature it when it begins to take shape!

 

Congratulations to the Crieve Hall Women’s League for what I hope is the first of many tours of homes in the future. I wish I could have featured all six of the lovely homes but ran out of time.  Special thanks to Hannah Stephenson of Hannah Stephenson Home & Co., one of the co-chairs and all the other friendly women who gave me lots of great info on the various homes.  Thanks for following Stylish Retreats!!!