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| Common House |
From our friends at Common House...
Charlottesville Business Entrepreneurs Set to Open Common House, a Contemporary Social Club for the Creative Community
Membership-based club unites men and women who share a common bond of creativity across various professions inside a relaxed social space in historic Vinegar Hill
Three local business entrepreneurs are set to open an urban, contemporary social club in Charlottesville that will welcome creative individuals from the city’s progressive arts and commerce community. Common House will be a member-based social club and event space that provides a place to gather, dine and engage within a curated and stimulating environment. It is slated to open in Spring 2017 in the historic Vinegar Hill neighborhood, at 206 W. Market Street, the former Mentor Lodge and one of the city’s first social clubs built in 1913 that served the community for decades.
Founded by University of Virginia alumni, Josh Rogers, Derek Sieg and Ben Pfinsgraff, Common House draws on the historical role of the social club while defining its own place in the community and seeking to create a space where a diversity of people from the creative classes of art and commerce can come together to eat, drink, and thrive in a stimulating and well-curated environment. Under this guiding principle, Common House will unite individuals across diverse creative communities, including artists, authors, entrepreneurs, educators, musicians, scientists, and more, and be a meeting place for the people and ideas shaping the community of today and tomorrow.
“Common House exists to connect the men and women who comprise Charlottesville’s growing community of ‘makers’ and ‘doers’ from a variety of professions in a comfortable living space where they can work, network, socialize and relax,” said Josh Rogers, Chief Brand Officer of Common House. “We hope Common House becomes a ‘home away from home’ for members and their guests, uniting them around unique activities, programming, and Southern hospitality, all in an effort to forge fresh relationships and ideas that move our culture and community forward.”
Home Away From Home:
As something of a second home for members, Common House will be an informal, yet utterly stylish, environment that is comfortable and welcoming. The founders collaborated with the Charlottesville-based firm Wolf Ackerman to bring the club’s 7,000 square foot space to life through a design that infuses a contemporary vitality into the historical soul of the building. Common House also kept both the neighborhood and the environment as top priorities throughout planning and construction, earning the distinction of Outstanding Sustainable Development by the City of Charlottesville Planning Commission. The club’s distinct spaces will appeal to the tastes of a discerning membership, while inspiring creativity and social interaction.
Common House members will access the club using individual brass keys. The first floor features Vinegar Hall, an homage to the city’s historic neighborhood that acts as a co-work space for members during the day and a rentable venue for the local community by night. The main level also includes a full-service dining space with a chef’s counter adjacent to the club’s kitchen, serving a full menu.
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| Vinegar Hall |
Members will ascend a floating oak staircase to access the club’s second floor, a seamless conglomerate of welcoming spaces and experiences. The Social Hall, an open central space anchored by a prominent hearth, is the heart of Common House. Here, members can relax in soft contemporary club seating and banquettes, or sidle up to the room’s intimate bar where mixologists concoct handcrafted seasonal and locally-inspired cocktails. Adjacent to the space is the French-bistro-inspired, and sunbathed, Tea Room. Ideal for day or nighttime meetings, the space features a coffee station serving brews from local favorite Mudhouse.
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| Social Hall |
The Bridge Room is a cozy space where members and guests can enjoy a private game of bridge, chess, backgammon, and C-ville favorite - Chickapig - at a custom table, while ordering cocktails through a hidden service window with direct access to the bar. Members can also take in an intimate, stripped-down performance from upcoming artists as part of the Bridge Room Sessions, or spin their own tunes from a collection of vintage vinyl records, curated by Sidetracks Music.
Other Common House spaces on the second floor include a Library, with floor-to-ceiling book shelves, long communal tables and sturdy chairs fit for reading, meeting, eating and drinking in large or small groups and Billiards Room featuring a vintage pool table.
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| Library |
To top it all off, Common House’s expansive 2,000 square foot Roof Terrace is a comfortable oasis in the sky boasting 360-degree city views stretching to Lewis Mountain and Monticello.
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| Roof Terrace |
Curated Experiences and Dining:
Common House will host an assortment of experiences curated specifically for members and guests, including workshops and lectures led by leading craftsmen, artists and entrepreneurs, a stripped-down and intimate music series featuring traveling and local acts, and organized and spontaneous parlor games. As an extension of its founding principle to welcome “makers and doers,” the club’s Common Knowledge series invites a variety of professionals from the area and beyond to showcase their artistic calling with members. Common House members and guests may learn to break down and properly prepare a bone-in ribeye from a local butcher, hear the reading of an upcoming novel from a bestselling author or learn the secrets of craft brewing.
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| Chef's Table |
Common House members will also be well-fed, with access to food and drink all-day, prepared in house by an expertly trained staff. Executive Chef Antwon Brinson will bring his prestigious training and extensive experience to Common House after most recently residing in the Bay Area. With a classical French foundation, born at the Culinary Institute of America and forged at The Greenbrier, Chef Brinson will curate a rotating seasonal menu that incorporates his passion for fresh ingredients and local inspiration. Meals can be taken anytime and anywhere in the club, as determined by the member, while everything from locally-roasted coffee, specialty handmade cocktails, local beer and wine is available from the bar.
Common House: C-ville and Beyond:
The club’s three co-founders, who exited their more urban lives to return to Charlottesville, developed the concept for Common House through a common desire to meet fellow residents who share their passions for creative, entrepreneurial pursuits, and desire for rich cultural lives in this Virginia community. Upon the impending success of Common House, the founding group will look to expand its creative footprint with additional clubs across other Southern markets that share a similar profile as Charlottesville.
Men and women of all ethnicities, interests, tastes and ages over 21 years, are encouraged to learn more and explore membership at Common House.
About Common House:
Founded by three University of Virginia alumni, Common House is an urban, contemporary social club and event space in Charlottesville, Virginia that provides creative individuals from the city’s progressive arts and commerce community with a stimulating environment to gather, dine and engage. The membership-based club, located in a historic space with contemporary vibe, offers activities, programming, and Southern hospitality, all in an effort to forge fresh relationships and ideas that move culture and communities forward.
