The Fry Home
Lakeside Luxury
By Katie Faulkner
For Rogan and Diane Fry, Chattanooga was a natural choice for a place to settle down. They wanted to be closer to family and wanted their home to be an easy destination for other out-of-state family. “I grew up on Signal Mountain, and so originally, when we started looking at moving back to the Chattanooga area, we were looking at Signal Mountain. But at that time our children, Sarah and Robby, were in college, and we wanted something they could enjoy too. Sitting on the porch enjoying a bluff view didn’t seem as exciting to them as it did to us. So the lake was really a perfect location. It gives plenty of outlets to be active and is 15 minutes from everything,” Rogan shares.
After settling on lake life, they found this stunning brick home in a gated community on Chickamauga Lake. This house was a no-brainer with its immediacy to the water and striking views of the main channel.
A cobblestone drive circles around to the front of the home, which has easy street access. Peaked gables add dimension to the home’s façade, while red brick lends a traditional, timeless appearance. Arched doors, windows, and entrance porticos sprinkle in a touch of European styling to keep the exteriors elevated. Meanwhile, the back of the home opens up to the main channel of Lake Chickamauga and with it, lovely views of the waterway and mountains beyond. “This home has decades of great memories for us,” Diane shares.
As you enter the arched French doors, you are greeted by a dazzling off-white travertine tiled floor. The foyer boasts an inlaid floor design in the tile that ties into the rich wooden furniture and bronze chandelier above. To either side of the front door are alcoves with their own unique identity. The symmetry of this entrance creates a bold first impression which is enhanced by the view across from the entrance. “You can see all the way to the lake as soon as you walk in the front door,” Rogan shares. “The living room’s windows are large, and that’s the first thing you see when you walk in. It’s a great first impression.”
To the left of the front door is the home’s office. Rogan chose to keep the original wallpaper intact as the patterned brown walls went nicely with his traditional office furniture. To one side of the desk is a glass-front barrister’s bookcase which adds a nostalgic character. Further enforcing that feel are family photos and a rustic map of Signal Mountain, Rogan’s childhood home.
To the right of the front door is the Fry’s formal dining room. Another elegant tile inlay sets the stage for their well-loved dining room suite. “We’ve had that set since we were married. It’s gone everywhere with us,” Diana says. The dark wood Kindle furniture has four leaves, so it easily seats 14, which comes in handy when the Frys entertain – which they do often! “Oh we’ve had plenty of dinners, cocktail parties, hosted several Fourth of Julys and New Year’s Eves,” Rogan says. With the open concept of the main level, entertaining is easy.
Walking a bit further into the home you find the kitchen. Here, a spacious room is filled with ample work surfaces and cabinetry for storage. More seating around the palatial kitchen island flows toward the breakfast nook. “This kitchen is so large, and it opens up to the family room, which is where we spend the most time, so it’s a great place to hang out. When it’s just the immediate family, we end up spending a lot of time sitting around the island,” Diane shares. The granite counters and traditional cabinetry maintain a light color palette, while the tile floors ground the space in a slightly darker shade. “One of our favorite things about the house is the radiant heat system in the floors. It’s so nice in the colder months!” Rogan says. During the colder months another favorite item comes out – “We always put up three Christmas trees, and one of them goes in that bay of windows in the breakfast nook. From the outside, it just sparkles and looks like six trees! We always get compliments on it,” Diane says. A nearby fireplace opens to the kitchen, breakfast nook, and into the family room.
Sunken from the kitchen level, the family room focuses on the fireplace as well as the breath-taking view of the lake out of the windows. “There’s always a good show going on out there,” Rogan says in reference to the lake. Robby and Sarah enjoyed being out on their jetskis in the summer time, and often other friends and family members may be boating, skiing, tubing, wakeboarding, or just playing in the water. Views of the waterway abound from this room’s multiple arched windows. A cozy seating area, this is the room where the Frys enjoy hunkering down to watch movies or play games in the evenings.
Right next to the office, on the main level of the home, is the master suite. Designed as a serene retreat, this master bedroom boasts plenty of space for a sitting area in front of massive triple-arched windows. Plaid armchairs beckon as a space to relax and enjoy more sights of the lake. The vaulted ceiling crowns the traditional four-post mahogany bed.
In the connected master bathroom, opulent elements, such as the circular jetted bathtub, and enormous walk-through shower, make this room an indulgent get-away. Sea fossil-infused tiles create a stunning focal wall behind the bathtub, and the walk-through shower features a floor to ceiling window that allows a flood of natural light to wash the space in a glowing ambiance.
The home continues on with numerous spaces for living and entertaining. The daylight-infused lower level offers a cabana-style kitchen and bathroom for lakeside convenience and a separate full guest suite. “We were really thrilled to find out this home had an elevator, because we have a family member in a wheel chair, and that allows her to access the entire house with the rest of us,” Rogan shares. From downstairs you can walk out to the resort-worthy pool area and patio.
A T-shaped pool with resistance features offers a perfect place to relax or exercise while enjoying the scenery of Chickamauga Lake. When partnered with the U-shaped hot tub, the pool area is an alluring hang-out for the Frys as well as all of their company. The slate-style porcelain-tiled patio defines an expansive outdoor living area which the Frys and their friends and family have enjoyed for a decade. As Diane says, “We have ten years of wonderful stories and memories in this home. It has been a wonderful place to plant our roots.”