During a recent visit to Tennesse, Jeremy introduced me to UTC (not to be confused with UTI…totally different acronym ya’ll). Well, a certain area of the UTC campus area was called Greek Row. And it was the perfect spot for a little drive-by-shooting. Not the wacko-with-a-weapon kind of shooting…unless you count me as the wacko and the weapon my Canon camera. If so…you aren’t alone.
As we creeped along, my boyfriend told me that these were some of the oldest and most grand houses in Chattanooga. He also informed me that some of the buildings were home to sorority and faternity members throughout the school year….hence the name “Greek Row”. After seeing the architectural beauty, I had plans to move in House Bunny style. It’s true love if I am ready to don a miniskirt & a tubetop!
Just check out the amazing brickwork on the front porch of this mansion! And the arches don’t stop there. Behind them is hiding a HUMONGOUS detailed front door and some arched window. I am totally diggin the stone & the soffit woodwork. And on the lawn…err…dirt there is a cannon…that was the way they took care of frenemies…hence the term ‘blasting’ 🙂
What says charming like a pale peach colored abode and an english ivy yard? I’ll tell you…this sweet house. My favorite part is the little round-topped window above the front yard…and when I reviewed the photos, I half expected to spy Reese Witherspoon to be drinking tea on the porch.
This brick palace with the double columns whispered “you wish” in my ear. I could live on the top of the double-decker…throw in bacon, sweet tea, and Sherry & it would be heaven in a home. And the lust doesn’t stop there – look at that wrought iron fence and the huge front windows! Yes, if I owned a place like this, the door mat would say “WELCOME to Jealousy!”
This sub-lime (heehee) Queen Anne victorian style home left my jaw dropped. Seriously, if I were a little older, this would be the perfect test for Fixadent. The turret, the wraparound front porch, the gingerbread siding on it’s ‘belt’, the second story front porch (aka my tanning deck)….AMAZING. The architecture was so beautiful that it had me dreaming of a photoshopped version with crisp white trim and a warm gray exterior.
Despite an overgrown lawn, the beauty of this piece of history shined through. Fix this old gal up with a mower & some hedge clippers, and I think this home could have even Simon Cowell crying. like. a. baby.
So now that you saw these old-like-a-granny-hot-like-a-JLO-fanny homes, what is your first thought? Are you drooling? Are you calculating the amount of mockery a 43 year old sorority sister would experience? Are you contemplating yelling at the first 19 year old punk you see because they are so lucky? My first thought is…DANG GINA!
I’m thinking about how dilapidated the houses, especially the fraternities, are on the inside.
Anyone who has gone to a school with Greek life knows that the houses are always beautiful on the outside, but the insides are sometimes shockingly bad. It’s such a shame.
Am I too old to move to another country to go to college, just so I can join and ‘hang’ in one of these places…sneakyly making it over while I am there?
So beautiful!! Now if only my college had had greek life….they might have even gotten me to join with those locations!
Interesting note there Upstart – since I wasn’t a sorority sister in general, I didn’t know that the innerds of these beautiful houses wouldn’t match the outsides…I guess I may have been influenced by Hollywood…blame it on too much Legally Blonde! What a bummer!
Hi Rosie – no you are never too old to move closer to me…and if you do, I will be your partner in makeover-crime 🙂
XO – Katie
The fraternities are generally dilapidated because that is where all Greeks party…However, many of the old fraternities are starting to be rehabed on the inside by alums since many are so old and need all the work due to the decades of abuse. Many houses date back to the early parts of the century.
Sororities can not host or have alcohol on premise (their nationals regulate this) so in general, sororities due match up to your hollywood expectations. Sororities also have a cleaning staff which helps perserve the beauty of their inners. Fraternities rely on their pledges, and as you know, most 18-19 year old boys are ill equipped to clean up after 50-100 active members (depending on the size of the chapter).
Wow those are beautiful! I love old houses, especially with history. It’s really not fair that fraternities get to live in them. They don’t appreciate what they have!
I wouldn’t know the first thing about the inside of a fraternity house and the beer-stained hardwood floors, the beer-pong table where a gorgeous dining room table should be, the scratchy sofas used as “patio” furniture. Yes, I know nothing about those things, I’m a lady after all. Ha.
And Dang Gina just made my monday.
I love the last one with the overgrown college. As much as I love them, it’s totally not worth going back to college. I like my own space! =)
1) Loved sweet tea so much on our trip to N. Carolina, I swear we suffered from sugar withdrawal when we r/t home.
2) Should I put the House Bunny on my Netflix qeue? I’m looking for a thought-provoking movie….
3) Wish houses near me are as charming as these!
Lol, our Greek Row looked nothing like this. Sign me up for house bunny at a greek row in the south!
Oh, and to Anon’s point – sorority living is way too plush. Cleaning staff, cooking staff, someone to wipe me after I use the restroom.
But the fraternities blew. I took my own toilet paper to frat parties.
Wow! Love the pics!
Wow. Sounds like sorority life is worth checking out! Especially if a tush wiper is included…I’ve always wanted one of those.
Well, I am off to channel my inner Anna Faris…and yes, Freckles…I do believe that any movie that has a role for Heffner is a theatrical masterpiece 🙂
XO – Katie
I love old houses like these. The university town I live in use to have these old beautiful houses, but with lack of caring, they were torn down because of how awful they were inside. So, the rebuilt many of the old beautiful houses on Greek Row, but it isn’t the same.
gorgeous houses here… makes me miss norfolk va (where I lived for 11years) all the more. Their stately colonials were, however, not on fraternity row.
SO fun !
I actually went to school at UTC and was a member of a certain sorority on “greek row” though no one called it that. We also didn’t live there so no tush wiping either. Sorry to disappoint. Loved every minute there and on the beautiful campus.
Just saw this post the other day and was inspired to show some of the houses I admire around Rochester. If you have a minute, here it is:
http://thepurplepeach.wordpress.com/2010/05/19/ode-to-roc-city/
Thanks for the inspiration, once again, Katie!
-Emily