The History Behind The Historic Bear House Circa 1890 Property
Each Rental here at the Historic Bear House Circa 1890 is named after former owners of the beautiful property. There has been a total of six owners for the 129 year old home.
First up is Johnson Retreat. The entire upstairs of the Bear House rental is named after Abraham Johnson, whom built the house in 1890. He was also the founder of the Historic St. Elmo district in Chattanooga, TN, which was established in 1885. Mr. Johnson never lived in the house after building was complete, instead he sold it to its first Mrs. Lilly Downs.
Lilly’s Loft is the entire upstairs of the Carriage House at The Bear House and is named after Mrs. Lilly Downs. On January 1st, 1891 Lilly bought the house from Mr. Johnson. This was a unique sell, since it was not typical for women to own houses in their own name in that era. Even more so unique is Mr. Johnson provided the mortgage for Lilly instead of a bank, which makes you wonder if she was a special family friend or relative. Lilly was married to James Downs when the house was deeded to her. James Downs graduated from Harvard Law and had a law firm with his brother and step father. Lilly and her husband lived and owned the house for 5-6 years before it was sold to its 2nd owner, Rebecca Wilson. We just became away of Miss Wilson recently and are still learning information about her.
Wheland Wing is one of two wings of the upstairs of the Bear House and is named after Edward and Minnie Wheland, the 3rd owners of The Bear House property. Edward’s father was George Wheland, the founder and owner of the Wheland Foundry. George was part of the Civil War Union Occupation of Chattanooga. After the war, George returned to Chattanooga and started Wheland Foundry about 1 mile from The Bear House; it operated in Chattanooga from 1874 to 2003. They produced a variety of cast iron products, including big gun tubes for the Navy and other arms during WWII and later on automotive parts. Edward worked for his father at the Foundry and later took over his father’s position at Wheland Foundry.
Edward bought The Bear House property in 1904. In 1927 a fire started in the basement of the house from a coal furnace. The fire burned through the center of the house to the roof and destroyed the grand staircase. The Wheland’s decided to sell the house to its next owner, John Workman, instead of renovating. Edward and Minnie Wheland are laid to rest in the St Elmo Forest Hills Cemetery.
Workman Wing is the other wing in the upstairs of the Bear House and is named after John and Viola Workman, the 4th owners of The Bear House property where they lived with their family. John Workman was the Vice President of the Wheland Foundry.
They bought the house from Edward Wheland in 1927 after the coal furnace fire burned through the center of the house to the roof and destroyed the grand staircase. The Workman’s restored and redesigned much of the house after purchasing. Instead of rebuilding the grand staircase in the front center of the house they built a staircase at the back entrance of the house and a staircase on the front porch of the house which leads to the 2nd story. They enlarged the front porch and added glass doorknobs to most of the doors throughout the house which are still seen on many of the doors at The Bear House. The Workman’s also raised the roof on the front and back of the house to increase the square footage of the 2nd story so they could create 2 apartments. Mr. Workman’s sister rented one of the apartments after the renovations were complete. Sometime in the 1950’s the house was passed down to the Workman’s daughter Margaret (Workman) Stinson.
Stinson Suite is the daylight basement apartment at the Bear House and is named after Margaret (Workman) Stinson, the 5th owner of The Bear House property. Margaret moved into the house in 1929 when she was 11 years old, after her family finished 2 years of renovations to the house due to the coal furnace fire in 1927.
In the 1950’s her parents willed her the house that she grew up in. She was married to Fred Stinson, president of the Chattanooga Gas Company, and they raised their children in the house. She enjoyed entertaining and hosting friends at her home. In 1992, after living in the house for 63 years, Mrs. Stinson, at the age of 74, sold the house to the present owners, Steve and Sharman Sherfey, in order to be closer to her son.
Sherfey Suite is the main floor of the Carriage House at the Bear House property and is named after Steve and Sharman Sherfey, the current and 6th owners of the property. When the carriage house was originally built in 1900 the downstairs was used for carriages and later on for cars; the upstairs was the servants quarters and later on an apartment.
We bought the property in 1992 from Margaret Stinson. The upstairs of the main house had not been lived in for a while and was still set up as 2 apartments. There was a kitchen in each wing of the upstairs. In one of the kitchens was an old refrigerator, running on natural gas (unusual for a house), probably installed by Mrs. Stinson’s husband, Fred, who was the president of the Chattanooga Gas Company. There were radiators throughout the house, heated with hot water coming from a gas furnace. Almost no insulation and no central heat and air existed in the house as well as no storm windows.
During the first renovations, one upstairs apartment was relocated onto the main floor and the other to the basement. Radiators were removed, insulation and central heat and air was added, and all the windows that had screens where replaced with glass. (There are over 100 windows and over 1,000 window panes in the main house.) On the main floor, the hallway in the middle of the house was converted into a shower room and two closets. During the 1927 Workman renovations, an attic was installed between the first and second floor, which is something you don’t see very often. The attic space has now been finished into a storage space.
We raised all 4 of our children in the house. Currently 3 of our children reside in St. Elmo. In 2011 part of Chattanooga, including Historic St. Elmo, was hit by tornados. Thankfully, no damage was done to the main house, but there was some slight damage to the exterior of the Carriage House, thus giving the Carriage House its newer look after renovations.
After all our children were grown and gone, we began our second renovation of the Bear House property. In 2015 we started turning our loving home into a B & B of sorts, which had been a long dream of ours. By 2017 the second renovations were complete and what you see today is the result of the love, sweat and tears that we have poured into our home.
We hope you enjoyed learning about the history of the Bear House property and look forward to your visit!