John Shearer: Pioneering And Unique Southside Art Studio/Residence For Sale For First Time

Before the Southside and Main Street area became popular for urban living and restaurants, it was initially in its modern rejuvenation a burgeoning area for local artists.

That included Daud Akhriev and Melissa Hefferlin, who moved there in the early 2000s at the encouragement of fellow artist and sculptor Cessna Decosimo. They did not move into an older building with then-cheaper rent as might have been typical but found a vacant lot with only a metal shed on it for sale.

What resulted with the help of architect and longtime friend Craig Kronenberg was the area’s own large piece of art for these artistically inclined people – a new construction featuring a unique studio, courtyard and art gallery.

While Mr. Akhriev and Ms. Hefferlin moved out a few years later and have rented the property amid their work and lives that now include living part-time in Spain, they have decided to sell the multi-purpose building at 1405 Williams St.

The property is currently listed for sale by Fletcher Bright Realty Co. for $2.75 million, evidence to how popular and desirable the Southside has become since they built the structure. While the total amount of space is 3,726 square feet and includes two bedrooms and four bathrooms, describing the structure influenced by two accomplished artists and an also recognized architect that way might only hint of the structure’s seemingly creative offerings.

According to listing agent and Realtor Bethany Patten, the property – which received a prestigious American Institute of Architects’ Architecture Excellence Award in 2005 -- is definitely unique. “The facade has an industrial feel with a limestone and zinc exterior, and the inside has a European-inspired courtyard and Parisian art studio,” she said. “The south wall of the courtyard is a mosaic mural created by Daud. And Melissa and Daud lived in the penthouse above their gallery.”

The gallery space is on the first floor facing Williams Street, with an office space and separate entrance for residents. Above it are two areas for living that can be combined.

In the middle is the open courtyard, while in the back is a large studio space with a Louvre museum-like slanted clear covering that allows plenty of natural light. Parking for two vehicles is in the rear.

Although the couple often had open-house galleries in the early years, a recent open house for perspective buyers brought back some memories for the couple. That was because many visitors were seeing it for the first time and reacted just like the previous visitors had, they said.

“To be in here and watch people come in and see their faces light up” was nice, said Ms. Hefferlin as she and Mr. Akhriev and Mr. Kronenberg sat in the courtyard with Ms. Patten recently before giving me a tour.

Both before and since living in the residence, the couple has had a life as detailed and full as some of their paintings and mosaics.

Ms. Hefferlin, who was born in 1968, had grown up in Apison attending Collegedale Academy and UTC before finding herself studying at the Russian Academy in what is now St. Petersburg in 1990. That is when she met Soviet Union native Mr. Akhriev, who was born in 1959.

They moved to Apison in 1991 and lived there for several years before coming to the Southside when it was in its early period of revival and not so trendy. Mr. Akhriev even remembers buying some bread from the now-popular Niedlov’s Bakery by knocking on the door of another building where they were located when the operation was just getting started.

He also remembers coming to the Southside Grill when it was almost a business island unto itself and at another time realizing the Main Street area was in the last vestiges of being known as a local hangout for the prostitution trade.

Architect Mr. Kronenberg once wrote a white paper, or informational research sheet, about the Southside and cited such factors as the help of the Lyndhurst Foundation, Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise and River City Company in its revival. He and his fellow architect wife, Heidi, also became active in the area both through work and personally as residents.

He had grown up in the historic architectural mecca of Chicago and worked for a period for the large firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, including in Los Angeles. He also helped design some of the Manila skyline while working in Asia. He came here in 1996, and he and his wife opened their own firm in 1999. He had met Heidi, the sister of Melissa, while working in Los Angeles.

Besides the Williams Street studio, he has also received personal recognition in recent years for the Southern Surgical Arts Building at 1405 Cowart Street and the stone and modernist-style Ravens Crest home overlooking the Sequatchie Valley. His now-large firm of which he is now a partner emeritus was also involved in the redesign of Miller Park, among numerous other projects.

Melissa Hefferlin’s work includes a lot of still life and figurative painting done in oil and through lino-style prints. Reaching back to her Collegedale roots, she also has a couple of Little Debbie and McKee family murals at Erlanger Hospital’s Kennedy Children’s Outpatient Center.

Mr. Akhriev is known as a sought-after instructor in figurative and landscape painting and has created a variety of paintings. The eclectic artisan is also known for his four nine-foot feminine bronze figures placed by the city of Chattanooga in different places around town and representing the four seasons.

He has also done several mosaics at places such as the Erlanger Hospital chapel, the Ireland Fine Arts Building at Baylor School, Collegedale Seventh-day Adventist Church and St. Peter’s Episcopal Church off Ashland Terrace.

He also did a mosaic at the Williams Street studio building on the market, and that might be like artistic icing on the cake for a buyer.

Other unique features inside the listed property include some limestone quarried near Winchester that Mr. Akhriev installed himself on a courtyard wall. Some fossils were in them but later washed out.

Some wood was salvaged from the Rock-Tenn Building that was taken down when Finley Stadium was built, and it was incorporated into the building, too. “Heidi asked to salvage the heart pine, and it was put on the floor of the studio,” said Mr. Kronenberg. Tommy Hobbs and Scott Kelley had also helped with some of the lumber and woodwork.

Mr. Kronenberg said the interior courtyard was inspired by the Algerian-style courtyards with which he was familiar. The home also has a tall door to carry large pieces of art in and out, and a stoop outside the front door for gathering during special events.

The whole residential, gallery and studio facility gives the feel of perhaps being in another place, including Europe or maybe a larger American city. Melissa Hefferlin admits that they once did have a view of the entire Chattanooga Choo Choo train station terminal, although the iconic sign at the top is still visible amid all the new construction as the area evolves.

But views inwardly are still uniquely the same.

As the couple and Mr. Kronenberg continued to talk with Ms. Patten in the courtyard during the recent tour, it was like an art and architectural history lecture with facts and anecdotal stories about the building and how it came to be. But all three possessed an easily approachable manner as the Greenwich Village-like artsy discussion continued.

One reason Ms. Hefferlin and Mr. Akhriev are selling the property is that they are moving into the old Hamilton National Bank building in the historic Rossville downtown district near the state line. Mr. Kronenberg and his wife are also following them down there as that area revives.

But as the conversation concluded in the courtyard, the focus on the past was on the Williams Street building now on the market.

The couple say selling it is definitely bittersweet, and that came to mind after the recent open house. “I sent a text to Craig saying it was an emotional evening for me because we haven’t lived here in a decade or so,” she said.

But she added that the reaction was timeless and brought back warm memories. “They (visitors) saw the courtyard and their cares just dropped away and they sort of entered a magical space. I sort of remembered what it was like when we were here and that happened all the time.”

Mr. Akhriev is also feeling some emotion. “When it is sold, it will be bittersweet. But when we’re driving by, I will remember all of those great times we had with all the family and friends, and that we did something for the city.”

For Mr. Kronenberg, glancing at the building that is now for sale brings both memories of an award-winning project of which he is proud and the deeper connection with his in-laws who are also dear friends.

“Yes, I am proud of the work we did on this building. And this building is just one of many projects in our lifetime of collaboration with Daud and Melissa,” he said, adding that he first knew Melissa when she was living with her sister and going to school in Los Angeles, and they collaborated on different projects.

Now the building has a new and different future waiting on it. For those looking for a unique multi-purpose building in this price range, Ms. Patten feels it is appealing. The daughter of Lee Weigel Patten and the late Cartter Patten, she understands a little about the multiregional influences on the property as well.

That is because she was gone from Chattanooga for 35 years before moving back to the Chattanooga area from San Francisco during the COVID-19 pandemic with her husband, Kenneth Neal, and daughter, Annabel, who is graduating from St. Nicholas School and will attend Girls Preparatory School in the fall.

As a result, this self-admitted lover of historic properties and Chattanooga history has a little history behind her when she adds of the new historic landmark of sorts, “It’s a bright star in Chattanooga’s architectural scene.”

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Jcshearer2@comcast.net