Stability Engineering – Structural Engineering Services
Stability Engineering – Structural Engineering Services
This project won First Place for Clubhouse Of The Year in the Remodeled Private Clubhouse category from Golf Inc. in 2025.
Originally opened in 1925 as the Fairlyland Inn, the Lookout Mountain Club was developed by Garnet and Frieda Carter as part of the 450-acre Fairyland community, home to Rock City Gardens. Designed by architect William Hatfield Sears, the 65-room Tudor Revival hotel featured local mountain stone, stucco, and timber, with asymmetrical massing, steep rooflines, pointed arches, bay windows, and a crenelated tower. It served as a hub for lodging, dining, and social life during the Roaring Twenties.
The recent renovation and rehabilitation restored the club’s primary dining rooms, kitchen, and “Window Box” bar, while upgrading circulation, restrooms, offices, and the kids club. Structural work included significant reinforcement of floor and roof framing, stabilization of original stone foundations, and repair of deteriorated masonry lintels. Guided by historic photographs, the team recreated the Peter Pan Room catwalk, restored exposed timber coffered ceilings, uncovered ornamental cast concrete headers, and preserved the original stone fireplace, relief panel, and wrought iron chandeliers.
Preservation of the Tudor Revival façade was paramount, requiring complex internal structural supports and custom steel framing to create a two-story dining volume without disturbing the roofline. A later phase renovated the pool facilities and rebuilt the pool house to match the historic architecture.
The project addressed severe deterioration, wood rot, shallow bedrock foundation challenges, and difficult mountain-site logistics, ultimately restoring the clubhouse’s historic character while ensuring long-term structural stability.
