Home & location

Coalmont is about 1 hour northwest of Chattanooga and two hours south of Nashville. A quiet community of less than 1000 residents, it is a great country locations within an hour or two of big city amenities. My home (previously a church) is located on one acre, which is surrounded by fields with horses, deer, goats, local stray dogs (some of whom I have already rescued and will be taking to their forever homes in July), on two sides, belonging to one neighbor, and a sweeping lawn with fields beyond on the third side, belonging to another neighbor. The front of the building faces the road which, due to the history of stray dogs in the area, is called Dogtown Road. The property is surrounded have a purrfect cat-containment fence surrounding the acre of the property where they can play and run. The main living area is what used to be the main chapel of the church. It is 2500 square feet, with a breath-taking knotty pine cathedral ceiling (which is why I bought the building) and knotty pine floors which I had installed. There are tall narrow glass windows and I have added 8 glass doors so there is lots of light. There are also 10 chandeliers that light up the space so much that I have disabled the bulbs in some of them but any house-sitter who wanted more light could enable them all. The main hall is divided into different functional areas using only furniture. That is, I have not added any interior walls. There is a living "room", a "bedroom", a meditation/yoga "room", a dressing "room", a dining "room", a kitty play "room". There is a big wood stove in the main hall that heats the whole space. A huge kitchen spans the entire width of the building at the back of the building. I have a vast collection of international cookbooks, an 8-burner gas range, and a grill out on the deck, and lots of countertop so if you like to cook, you'll be well-equipped. There is an entry hall at the front of the building, with one room on each side, each converted from two smaller rooms that the church used for various purposes. One is now a combined bathroom and laundry room, with a Bowflex tredclimber, sauna, colon hydrotherapy equipment, and a large pet-washing tub. The other is a guest room and office. This area brings the total square footage of the building up to 2800. It is a very spacious place to live. What was previously the baptismal area has been converted into a storage area. I will store all my breakables, as well as clothing from some of the closets and dressers there, so you can store your belongings safely in the furniture in the main hall. Some of the kitties think open suitcases are litter boxes. The guilty parties must have been cleaners in a previous lifetime; they do not like things that have not been put away! The only other building on the property is a 20x10 foot shed, apparently a must-have in rural Tennessee because you will see them everywhere, and my neighbors to the right have half a dozen or so of out buildings of various sizes. My closest neighbors, Ronnie (80) and Mabel (79) will be your go-to people for local history. The house they live in is the one Mabel grew up in. Mabel loves knickknacks and it is fun to look at her ever-growing plethora of indoor and outdoor treasures lovingly culled from auctions and flea markets. Mabel and Ronnie are always ready for a chat; she will be happy to see you any time you come by. I have added a 480 square foot deck on one side, with a cat cage under it for litter boxes and garden supplies. Although all the main renovations are completed, certain cosmetic features are incomplete, and unlikely to be done before the fall sit: painting in the two newly renovated front rooms and wainscoting throughout the building. The main hall also will eventually be repainted but that is down the road, I am afraid, along with the installation of a vegetable garden which I hope to eventually have. As a result, there are panels of wood for the wainscotting stored in certain corners of the building, out-of-the-way. The original signage for the church is still out in front, mainly because I haven't yet found someone to remove it, but it makes it easy to find and another sign for the church is at the corner of Dogtown Road and Highway 56, where you will be driving in from: Way of the Cross church. There are many lovely well-maintained hiking trails nearby and, should you happen to own an ATV, a large OHV park is just down the road, and you can drive to it in your ATV. There is a large parking area, so if you have a trailer with an ATV, there is plenty of room to park.