The Franklin Street entrance to The Olde Bartley House has undergone a complete makeover, including a patio and an American Disability Act-compliant ramp that Wolter said was much needed.
Abigail Youmans | The Democrat
The Franklin Street entrance to The Olde Bartley House has undergone a complete makeover. It will soon become the patio for the coffee shop to open in the building sometime in the next year.
Abigail Youmans | The Democrat
Phil Wolter stands in the northeast room of The Olde Bartley House, which holds the original poplar flooring to the 136-year old building. The panels will be repurposed and placed throughout the house, tying the old to the new, Wolter said.
Abigail Youmans | The Democrat
Among the changes made in renovations, the entire plumbing in The Olde Bartley House has been redone and the floor joists replaced.
Abigail Youmans | The Democrat
Blueprints for The Olde Bartley House, which is currently being completely renovated and will open sometime in the next year as a coffee shop.
Abigail Youmans | The Democrat
Many have been asking Phil Wolter what’s happening at his property at the corner of Franklin and Van Buren Streets.
Wolter said that locals and tourists alike can be on the lookout for a new coffee shop to open in The Olde Bartley House sometime in the next year.
For now, construction is underway.
The historic building was built in 1886 as a residential home and for the last several decades was the site of a retail space that sold kitchen-related items and gifts.
In January the business closed and Wolter began renovations.
Wolter had been coming to Nashville for 55 years and about 25 years ago had bought a piece of stained glass by Anne Ryan Miller hanging in The Olde Bartley House.
He and his wife Donna were remodeling their home in Evansville at the time and had been looking for an art piece to replicate the view they were losing from their kitchen window.
He told the Democrat in 2019 when they sold that home and started to build a new one, it was written in the purchase agreement that they’d be taking the window with them.
It was incorporated into their new home in Darmstadt.
About a year later they became the property owners of The Olde Bartley House after purchasing it in the auction of Andy Rogers’ properties in 2019.
Sometime in May, Wolter said the front rooms will be a satellite shop for Brown County Bikes, owned by his daughter Danielle Nolan and her wife Kate.
The Olde Bartley House will act as a space for e-bike rental, Wolter said. Brown County Bikes’ main storefront is on South Jefferson Street in the Brown County Barn Burner building.
Most notably from the outside is the American Disability Act-compliant ramp up to the Franklin Street entrance of the building.
The ramp leads to a patio that will feature outdoor seating for the soon-to-be coffee shop.
Entering through the door on the patio, customers will order at the counter, which will be laid out much like a Starbucks Wolter said.
The two front rooms will be cafe seating. Upstairs will be an office, storage and retail space.
The original poplar floors have been removed, but will be repurposed and added back into the building in different ways.
Photographer Frank Hohenberger lived there at one point Wolter said, which is an element they want to bring out in the decor of the cafe.
The old will be mixed with the new, with original poplar floor panels being laid in a border around rooms surrounding new acacia wood flooring.
The ultimate goal is to make it a “grandiose” coffee shop and “very comfortable rest stop,” Wolter said. Guests will be able to come in, use the restroom, rest a minute and “go on their way,” he said.
The coffee shop is a long way off, because Wolter said he doesn’t want to put anything together quickly, but do it “the right way.”
When asking what they could do to renovate, Wolter said he developed a 17-point plan to set the building up for 40 years.
Three of those points were to restore, renovate and preserve.
With other places along Franklin Street to eat like The Bird’s Nest and Ferguson House Bistro, Wolter said they will only compliment the other businesses.
After purchasing the building in 2019, Wolter said they have a “great respect” for the town and the Bartley House itself, not wanting to do anything unusual to it. They merely want to restore its natural beauty.
