In this final post from the Community Design Center Tour, we’ll look at several homes: one owned and others leased. Some are newly built in old buildings and one has been around for a while. All offer excellent views and one has a roof-top deck, something not found with great frequency around downtown.
The first is above Bliss Home. I’d visited it once before and one impression that remains is that of the incredibly long staircase. It’s a third floor walk-up, so the idea that a number of steps would be involved is no surprise. What makes these striking is the fact that they run straight up the length of the climb. As if I needed another reminder of how out of shape I am.
Once at the top, a slight turn leads through an arched entryway to the unit. With bedrooms down one side, the hallway leads through to the front living space. A great view of the Market Square Stage, Market Square and the Preservation Pub Rooftop Space is visible from all along the great wall of windows along the front, sitting two floors above the entrance to Bliss Home.
But there’s a great surprise up another small set of stairs: a great, multi-level roof-top terrace. Interesting views are to be found in every direction, with the Sunsphere visible to the west, the TVA Towers looming to the north, all of Market Square and other rooftops to the east and a great view of the Arnstein Building to the south. I could see the open windows of the seventh floor, corner unit which was also featured on the tour.
Across the square at 36 Market Square sits probably the most beautiful building on the square. Dilapidated and fall apart just a few short years ago, the building has been completely re-built on the inside. The front facade also had to be replaced. Ken and Josh Mills have followed a sometimes torturous path through to the point that the bottom floor is now occupied by Orange Leaf Yogurt, while the top floors should be cleared for occupancy any day now, if that hasn’t already happened. The next thing that needs to happen is we need to have a name for this building. The program for the tour called it the “Orange Leaf Building.” We don’t need to let that take root. Suggestions?
The tour included the units on the second floor. I think I have the numbers correct on the photographs. I believe unit 201 is the unit on the Market Square side. The obvious attraction there is the birds-eye view of Market Square and particularly, the Bill Lyons Stage at Market Square.The kitchen/living space runs along the side that borders the square.
If you want to be in the building on the square, but not in the middle of the action, the units going back in the building may hold more appeal. The back unit on that floor, unit 203, has a very cute lay-out with views of Wall Avenue. The hardwood floors, granite counter tops and sleek appliances combined with the location, make it a pretty sweet spot.
The tour ended in the Arnstein Building which is technically just off Market Square, but has great views of the square as well as Krutch Park. The first unit available for viewing was 501 and, unfortunately, when I landed there I was joined by about 300 other people in an area designed for a dozen or less. I may exaggerate a bit, but it was very crowded and my photographs didn’t work out so well as a result. This unit looked out onto a lovely view of Krutch Park and, though small, offered a great spot for the new residents.
The final apartment belonged to my friends Jerry and Millie and I didn’t make them suffer through yet another photo-shoot as I thoroughly took advantage of their hospitality a few weeks ago. You can see the result in my post about the coolest apartment in the city.
A special thanks goes out to the Community Design Center for the great work they do and for organizing the tour. Also, the people who open their homes for these tours do a great service in promoting downtown by giving up a bit of their privacy. I will not stop without noting that all the people who preserve our older buildings in the city leave a great legacy for future generations. Those who destroy our history will live in ignominy. Please don’t be that person (or group).