The "This Old House Idea Home" at Candlelight Forest in Chickamauga, GA is a beautiful and professionally designed idea home created jointly by the staff of This Old House, John Tatum, CEO of Cloudland Station and Candlelight Forest, and Nowland Design. The house sits at the head of a sweet little valley in the shadow of Lookout Mountain only 20 minutes from the heart of downtown Chattanooga.
A mountainesque craftsmen cottage, the home has a large wrap around porch and a steep roof that affords two floors plus a charming loft on the third level. The house is nestled in the shade of a ridge and is landscaped by designer Kate Karam of Monrovia.
The home was built to inspire how one can live large in a smaller home. With so many clever built-ins at every level, the house lives up to its reputation as an Idea Home.
A queen master suite is on the main, with another queen master suite on the second floor. The second floor also has a twin bunk bedroom and shares a full bath with the loft overhead that has two additional twins and a small play area. The loft is a kid's dream come true.
The details are abundant, from an extensively built-out mud room to large tapered stone columns crowned with triple caps of indigenous flagstones.
Located at The Candlelight Forest just outside of Chattanooga, it is the perfect home base for enjoying Chattanooga and all the local and regional sites. Uniquely situated, it has a backdoor entry into downtown Chattanooga only 20 minutes away. Moreover, located in the pastoral Chattanooga Valley, you are only 15 minutes to Cloudland Canyon State Park, notably one of the most beautiful state parks in the southeast, 15 minutes to Rock City and 15 minutes to Ruby Falls.