Yokozuna

Our clients on this project have lived all over the world. Kevin recently retired after a 29 year career in the military. His most recent role was regional vice president for the USO Indo-Pacific in which he provided support to 360,000 military personnel assigned to the region. This position meant their home for the past decade was Okinawa, Japan. There they embraced Japanese culture, enjoying Onsen (Japanese spa/bathing/hot springs), attending Sumo events, and Jodie took on a role as a local diving instructor.

Upon retirement, they choose the Chattanooga, Tennessee region for their next and final move. They initially reached out to our company in Summer of 2020 from Japan to help them select a local property. We visited a handful of properties for them, reporting information back and forth to Okinawa. Eventually, a year after their first email, they purchased a property in the Boston Branch area of Signal Mountain, North of Chattanooga.

The home design tells the story of the site and of Kevin and Jodie. A major goal was to create a comfortable retreat within a forest setting. We debated the merits of locating the home further down the hill towards the creek, but a flatter setting in a forest of mature trees seemingly was inevitable. The trees that were removed to make room for the home were cut and milled, and then provided to a local craftsman. The resulting lumber from these trees was re-used in and around the home as the front door, foyer table, dining room table, Primary platform bed and headboard, office shelving, and both indoor and outdoor fireplace mantles.

As important as the setting was to the design, the soul of the home comes from Kevin and Jodie. In a 20 minute tour around the home, they will share a minimum of a half dozen anecdotes from their lifetime of world travel and how it influenced spaces, objects, furniture, textures, or feelings that we were able to translate from their hearts onto paper and eventually the built environment.

We often tell clients that we want to tailor our process and the design of the home to their personalities. We want the home to tell their story. This home turned into the perfect example for us. Visiting the home a few weeks ago, we were lucky enough to see how a home design that is allowed to tell that story can be such a source of pride for our clients.