Treasuring the View: The Redesign of Tchefuncta Country Club
by Stacey Rase
It was a Friday night in late May and, as they say, the club was jumping. Some 200 people packed the dining room. They came not only to satisfy their hunger with a delicious meal, but also to satisfy their curiosity and feed their excitement. It was opening night at the newly constructed Tchefuncta Country Club, and no club member wanted to miss the opportunity to enjoy first-hand the completion of such a long-awaited project.
Much has changed since the Covington club’s founding in 1960. Then, only the sixty families who lived in Tchefuncta Club Estates, the subdivision in which the club is located, were members. Today, the burgeoning membership includes many who live outside the gates of the neighborhood. (It’s interesting to note that membership dues were only $6 per month in 1960. Let’s just say they’re a bit higher today.) What hasn’t changed is the unique nature of the club and its members. The “old club” had served them well, but plans to construct a new clubhouse began as far back as 2000.
Defining the Look
If you’ve ever built a house, you know how important and sometimes difficult it can be to agree with your spouse on the home’s overall style. Just imagine trying to choose a style of clubhouse that would satisfy hundreds of members with varying tastes and preferences!
That was the task of Tchefuncta’s board of directors. “We polled the members early on to find out what they wanted collectively, knowing that it’s not a subject that’s easy to be collective about,” says board president Gary Hemphill. Overall, Hemphill says that members had long enjoyed the intimate space of the original clubhouse, and they were resolute about carrying that same feel into the new club.
“There was so much thought and planning that went into this,” says board member and construction committee chairman Tommy Brennan. “All the stars sort of aligned when [Tchefuncta Club Estates] got the go ahead to develop the Slaughter tract,” he adds, referring to the portion of land just north of the Estates that was purchased in order to expand the neighborhood. The Estates pledged funds from the expected sale of new lots toward the building of a new clubhouse—an amenity long considered by Estates residents to be one of their neighborhood’s greatest assets.
The project’s architect, George Hopkins of The Hopkins Company, says he can remember the direction he was originally given by Brennan. “Tommy said that this is a country club, with an emphasis on ‘country.’ That stuck with me,” says Hopkins. “It was very important to the members that this new club not be a shrine.”
To that effect, Hopkins drew plans for a building that would have the look of A. Hays Town, one of the South’s most prominent architects, whom Hopkins had worked with previously. He then partnered with Don McMath of McMath Construction to carry out the theme with the use of old materials and design elements, such as exposed rough-wood beams overhead and brick and wood flooring under foot. The result is an impressive space that still manages to exude a warm welcoming atmosphere, an achievement credited also to the collaboration of Anne Favret, Linda Oiler and Willie Paretti of Rare Find Design Center. “I think the interior design team did a great job decorating the club. They managed to make the large areas feel so warm. That’s not easy to do,” compliments McMath.
A definite Southern feel is found throughout, most notably on the 2,600-square-foot porch that wraps around the back of the clubhouse. “One of the most delightful yet underutilized aspects of the old club was its porches,” notes Hopkins. Brennan agrees, adding that it was important that the design of the rear of the club and its porches took into account the view of the golf course and lush surrounding grounds. “We talked about sight lines from day one and realized that the proposed footprint of the new club was at almost exactly the same angle as the porch that lined the back of the original locker rooms and golf pro shop. You could sit on that porch and have a great view of the course,” Brennan points out. “The original founders knew how important this was. Now the entire club has that sight line.”
Drafting the Layout
The board of directors looked to a private club-consulting firm to assist in identifying the new building’s necessary spaces. There were new amenities to consider, such as a state-of-the-art fitness room, an intimate room for private formal dining, an expanded men’s locker room and a spacious golf pro shop. A banquet dining room large enough to seat nearly 300 was essential, as was a more informal dining room that could be used by members at the same time as a large banquet event. “Once we identified what we wanted, one of the biggest challenges was figuring out how to connect the spaces. The interior corridor was the answer,” says Hopkins, referring to the 2,000-square-foot hallway that runs the length of the clubhouse and separates the banquet dining from informal dining.
Perhaps the most impressive room is one that members and guests will never see: the kitchen. Club manager Greg Klemp says the space was designed as a dual kitchen for use in preparing meals for banquet and à la carte dining simultaneously. Satellite kitchens can be found in other areas of the clubhouse to accommodate those dining in the smaller Founders’ Room and those who wish to order food from the rear of the club as they walk in from the course.
Implementing the Interiors
The team from Rare Find Design Center was charged with the task of creating an interior that is not only functional and durable, but also warm and inviting. The designers were hands-on throughout the entire building process, choosing everything from the colors and pattern of the exterior to the colors and pattern of the dinnerware. “We wanted to pull everything together to follow the same theme of the traditional A. Hays Town design,” says Favret. “We studied the design of the original Grand Hotel in Point Clear, Ala. for inspiration. We were shooting for a Southern look that is comfortable and exudes a family feel.”
With a project so large, where did they begin? “For us, everything started with the floor and then went up,” explains Paretti. “It took hours and hours just to choose the look of the carpet. We created a unique custom design with warm colors that we carried through the entire building.” They revised the design for weeks until the carpet was just right. For other areas, 5-inch-wide maple plank flooring that resembles knotty pine was selected to achieve the desired look.
The designers searched for months to find the furniture and accessories to place throughout the club. Pieces such as olive jars and earthenware lend to the homey atmosphere, as do the many antiques found throughout. “Much of it was purchased in Covington; we wanted to shop locally as much as possible,” says Favret. “The pieces warm the space and calm the area to give the rooms a more residential feel.” Antique pieces of note in the main reception area include a camphor wood bookcase and a burled Elmwood Queen Anne piecrust coffee table, both circa 1890. Two oval watercolors, circa 1900, hang above russet-colored upholstered bergère chairs in the same room. A wool-and-silk rug frames a seating area featuring sofas covered in a royal garden floral pattern, while sconces in a walnut finish light the room in a soft glow.
Farther down the hall, a carriage light and a gorgeous antique bookcase storing leather-bound books make a handsome statement in the vestibule just outside the club’s Founders’ Room. Once inside that room, the eye is drawn up to a chandelier finished in Peruvian bronze and elegant tab-top silk drapery in bronze and moss hues.
A rich hand-woven tapestry hangs impressively in a sitting area just beyond the informal dining room where much of the club’s activity takes place. This room, also referred to as the mixed grill, features tables topped in a laminate resembling burled wood, around which alternating styles of wood and upholstered chairs rest. The space flows into the club’s main bar, where the walls are painted in a buff tone and trimmed in an almond hue. Sturdy stools covered in a playful martini pattern line the alder wood bar.
The main banquet room is elegant and spacious. The dolphin blue color of the dining room chairs echoes the hue found in the carpeting. Draperies in Lux Dupioni silk with European pleating hang from custom fluted finial hardware.
A new addition to club amenities is the fitness center. Rodney Rice of Fitness Expo worked with board member Chris Vaccari to design a state-of-the-art workout space that can accommodate the club’s many members and their diverse needs. The center is open from early morning until midnight via a passcard system.
A True Collaborative Effort
The build itself was completed in just over a year’s time—an incredible feat, considering how many parties were involved in its planning. Hopkins says the success of the entire project can be attributed largely to the cooperation among these individuals. “The job was enjoyable because everyone responsible was here all of the time, from the builder to the board of directors to the club manager to the design team.” Brennan notes that there was also much input from members themselves, who would come to offer their expertise in different areas. “Without a doubt, we have a lot of smart people out here who really care about this club.”
Those passionate members are now ardently enjoying the space they helped to create. “That’s our greatest reward—seeing everyone happy in the clubhouse,” says Hemphill. “I see older members using the club alongside new members. I see the dining room just as packed as the fitness facility. The employees are walking around with smiles on their faces.”
This enthusiasm has not waned, even as the project continues. There is much left to do, as plans are underway to renovate the pool area, and the old clubhouse still needs to be razed to make way for expanded parking. Brennan and Hopkins recently found themselves discussing the reuse of some of the leftover materials from the old building. “What if we use the old cypress beams from over there to construct a trophy case in the men’s grill to add some heart to the room?” asked Brennan. Hopkins replied in a way that sums up the friendship that has grown between the two since the project began. “Good idea,” he said with a smile. “Let’s meet out here for dinner to talk about it more and I’ll draw it up.”
