Addison Conley
Writer and Artist
On the corner of Walden Avenue and Clinton Street in the quiet town of Harriman, Tennessee sits a run-down brick building known to many as the Walden Hotel. Practically abandoned for years, the building has slowly been deteriorating from the inside out. Don and Elizabeth Conley, however, saw the potential in the building and managed to purchase it in an auction in 2021. Like many other historic buildings in Harriman, the Walden Hotel has a rich history that deserves to be remembered and revitalized.
The brick sidewalk surrounding the right side of the building marks the end of Cornstalk Heights, a district in Harriman that has been part of the National Register of Historic Places since 1990. The Cornstalk Heights community has managed to preserve the majority of the original sidewalk, which was built in 1891. Because it was sourced from local brickyards, even the sidewalk has historical significance to the town of Harriman.
Since its construction in 1891, the building has been home to many different businesses. Recent businesses include a cell phone repair store, a tanning salon, and an antique store. The form submitted to get the Cornstalk Heights district approved as a historic place refers to the building as "Bob Tanner's Paint Store," but notes that the "building was originally a hotel" (p. 34). The Conleys hope to restore the building back to its roots and keep the hotel layout on the upstairs floor.
The windows in historic buildings like the Walden Hotel are not easily replaceable, as they would need to be custom built. Even then, the possibility of damage to the structure of the building is extremely high. Because of this, the Conleys hope to keep as many of the original windows as they can, only replacing windows that are completely broken. Old windows like these have a certain distortion when peered through, which adds to the historic feel of a building such as this one.
When it was in operation as a boarding house, the Walden Hotel had 13 rooms. Some were made for just one traveler, while others were built to house an entire family comfortably.
Elizabeth Conley has a very hopeful future in mind when it comes to the Walden Hotel. She has always dreamed of an oppurtunity to renovate and breathe life back into a building such as this one, and although it is grueling work that requires lots of hard phsyical labor, she said she finds it calming. Elizabeth is a very creative woman, and she has already found ways to get her friends and community involved in the restoration project. She hosted a "painting party," where her friends gathered to help repaint the upper apartment.
Don Conley, Elizabeth's husband, also enjoys spending his time working on projects. This building in particular is the project of a lifetime, and Don's mind is already racing with the possibilities of what will come down the road. This restoration project is a great way to put his engineering skills to use while also excercising his creative muscles.
Michael does the landscaping and yard work to help get the exterior of the building looking beautiful again. Thanks to him, what was once equivalent to a jungle is now a nicely maintained yard.
The interior of the Walden is where most of the damage is visible. Leaks in the roof have led to water damage over time, and unpatched holes in the windows have not helped when it comes to the decay. Amazingly, however, the original screen doors to the hotel rooms are still mostly intact. These screen doors were put in place to act as an air conditioner before air conditioners existed, helping improve the airflow throughout the building in its hotel era.
When standing at the top of the stairs leading up from the entrance of the hotel, it is easy to imagine how busy and bustling it must have been at one point. Just thinking about how many travelers walked up and down these six-foot-wide steps in Harriman's temperance era is enough to get anyone excited about this restoration project.
The decay and water damage mentioned earlier is more promient in some rooms than others. This room in particular looked to have especially bad water leakage coming in from the ceiling. The Conleys said that their highest priority at the moment is getting the roof replaced on the building, as that is what is causing the most damage.
Because of the time period it was built in, the Conleys were concerned about the possibility of lead paint in the building. They were extremely cautious at first, but after having multiple tests done they determined that none of the paint used in the building contained lead.
The plumbing structures in the hotel are also in surprisingly good condition. Antique sinks such as the one pictured, as well as multiple clawfoot tubs, are all in great repairable condition. The Conleys hope to be able to fully restore these sinks and tubs instead of replacing them to help maintain the historical integrity of the building.
Despite the condition of the rest of the building, it actually contains a fully functional apartment on the second floor. Although it is in need of some repairs and an air conditioning unit, the upper apartment certainly shows what the rest of the building can look like with time, patience, and a lot of elbow grease.
.jpg)