Monteagle Sunday School Assembly

Project Highlight
Monteagle Sunday School Assembly
Monteagle, TN

The Monteagle Sunday School Assembly is located about 40 miles northwest of Chattanooga and was established in 1882. The Assembly is one of 4 Chautauqua Assemblies to be in continuous operation since the zenith of the Cheautauqua Movement. Today about 17 Chautauqua Assemblies meet annually.

Becky and I recently visited Monteagle and were completely amazed. I have heard for a few years how incredible this place was from a architecture and planning standpoint, but never fully understood the community aspect. We only stayed one night, but after walking the grounds and visiting with a few locals we got a better understanding of the place and the community.

The Assembly sits on 96 acres and includes 165 summer cottages and bungalows, an auditorium, a chapel, a dining hall, a bell tower, a swimming pool, several tennis courts, a gatehouse, bed & breakfast, and a bandstand. Each summer families from all over come to live at the Assembly for a few weeks or months. The families can all eat together in the dining hall and the kids can play together at one of the many play areas on site. Some of the family activities include swimming, tennis, yoga, nature walks, baseball, basketball, theater, bike riding, and cookouts.

The Monteagle Sunday School Assembly is a perfect case study for what we want to do on the Habitat for Hope property. Not only is it a great place to study how hundreds of families interact with each other, but also it is a great example of design.

The two elements of design that stood out the most to me are the layout of buildings and the storm water management system. Buildings seem to be laid out in a very loose fashion even though the plan in most areas is a perfect grid. This element helps the community feel organic and free.

Next, the storm water management system is simple but it works. There is hardly any underground storm water conveyance and storage is kept to a minimum. This simplistic design is achieved by using pervious street and sidewalk surfacing. The streets have only narrow travel lanes that are paved and all other on street parking and driveways are either gravel or not paved. With so few paved areas on site, the site naturally manages its own storm water.

The Habitat for Hope Master Plan is dealing with many of the same issues that the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly has dealt with for over 100 years. If you are in the area, you must check this place out!