Surber Barber Choate & Hertlein

Capital City Club at Crabapple

Crabapple, Georgia

From the moment one descends the hill and crosses the bridge, it is evident that the Capital City Club's Crabapple site is a special piece of land, evoking the feeling of property from a bygone era. It is the kind of place one would imagine existed a century ago: generous in space, mature in foliage, and uncluttered by neighboring development. As a venue for a clubhouse, the site offered a design opportunity that rarely exists today, namely, to place a building atop a hill overlooking hundreds of acres of manicured landscape amidst mature trees, with no visible neighbors. This type of building project hearkens back to commissions of clubhouses or great country houses in the 19th and early 20th century, and rarely occurs in our current times. As unique as the land is, however, it seems perfectly appropriate as a venue for such an institution as the Capital City Club, with its own particularly long and rich history.

In keeping with the special opportunity offered by the site, Surber Barber Choate & Hertlein Architects strove to create a new clubhouse that instantly appeared and, more importantly, "felt" as if it was nearly a century old on the day it opened. To do so, we employed materials consistent with historical architecture, such as dry-stacked North Carolina fieldstone, Vermont slate roofing, Kentucky bluestone pavers, bleached cedar shingle siding, antique heartpine from Virginia, and so on. Additionally, we utilized rich architectural detailing for both the interior and exterior that is both substantial in scale, appropriate in proportion, and historically correct in composition.

Important to the overall feeling of the architecture is the blending of somewhat rustic natural materials with the more formal and refined architectural details and decor. We believe this combination results in a setting that is informal and comfortable, yet sophisticated and elegant at the same time. We believe that combination captures the feeling of what a rural golf clubhouse might have been had it been commissioned in 1908 at the same time the design of the City Club was undertaken on Harris Street.

We believe this new clubhouse will always be a place for members to enjoy themselves and interact with one another in comfort while feeling close to the rich histories of the Capital City Club and the game of golf.

Client: Capital City Club

Completion: 2002

Publications:
   Club Management 2003 Design Showcase

Awards:
   Club Management, December 2003

All Images © Rion Rizzo, Creative Sources Photography