Community Spotlight: Bainbridge

While sometimes there are some fun questions from Chatta-newcomers about how to pronounce “Ool-te-wah”, one thing there’s never uncertainty about is that it’s a great place to live!

Just 15 minutes from the TN/GA split, according to the TDOT signs, it’s been a convenient place to call “home” for many Pratt customers throughout the years. With convenience to our mid-size city of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Ooltewah still offers a charm of its own. Just 10 minutes from Hamilton Place mall, the local shopping mecca, Ooltewah itself boasts a nice Publix shopping center and the ever-popular Cambridge Square, a local town square featuring local restaurants and boutiques. Many of our best-loved communities throughout the last five years have been tucked away just across the interstate for little more rural lifestyle that doesn’t sacrifice style or convenience.

The Pratt Home Builders Ooltewah community-to-watch in 2024 is Bainbridge. Just 5 minutes from Interstate access, Bainbridge is nestled between I-75 and Ooltewah-Georgetown Road for ultimate convenience. Nice and level, it’s a great place for walking with sidewalks lining both sides of the streets. The pool area will feature a pool house and plenty of lounge chairs to enjoy time with family and friends. Bainbridge offers spacious homesites that accomodate many of Pratt’s best loved home plans, thoughtfully designed by our in-house team of construction and design experts.

At this stage, Pratt customers can enjoy choosing between two options: Pre-sales, which give the opportunity to select homesite, home plan and all the finishes of your beautiful new construction home OR designer market homes, which are thoughtfully-designed by our in-house team so they offer stylish finishes without the longer timeline or having to make all the decisions.

When it comes to Pre-Sales, here are some of our beloved home plans we expect to be popular in this community in 2024:

Some of our favorite plans include The Emory, which can be built on many homesites at Bainbridge. The Emory is a spacious ranch home with an open kitchen and living room, with plenty of natural light along the back of the home. For customers who are looking to have everything on one level, but who still may need some extra space, this home plan is a great blend of features.
Another popular favorite home plan that can be built in Bainbridge is the Peachtree. The Peachtree is a two-story home with great curb appeal, offering a dining area we’ve seen many customers use as a library, office, or sitting room. It also has a spacious guest room on the main with a full bath, perfect for a teenage suite or giving visiting parents a place of their own on the first floor. A beautiful staircase brings residents to a showstopping main bedroom and spacious bathroom, complete with two additional bedrooms and the option of adding a bonus room.
Another great option to build at Bainbridge is the Waterford home plan, which is a main bedroom down home plan with remaining bedrooms upstairs. With a dedicated home office, dining room, and open kitchen and living room, this home plan offers style and space on the main level, with cozy additional bedrooms tucked upstairs.

For customers who prefer to leave the details to the experts, our designer market homes are a great option to for a less-involved experience for customers who need a quick-move-in or who may prefer to leave details to our experts. Below are the finishes of some homes currently available at Bainbridge. *Please note: Call to verify availability of current homes.

Community Spotlight: Bainbridgegmwebservices2025-11-25T13:31:29+00:00

Stop Thinking Trendy and Start Thinking Timeless

Timeless design has staying power- it was not meant to be temporary.

When designing a space that’s geared toward trends, odds are it will already be outdated once the project is finished. My job is to share a few tips and tricks that will save you from hating your trendy home in 3 years.

Think “Classic.”

When designing your home, the best route to go is “classic.” Have you ever entered a space and just thought, “Wow, this is beautiful”? Most of the time that occurs when the space is classic and elegant, rather than decorated from the trend of the year. To achieve this classic style, you may want to draw inspiration from Greek Architecture: Moldings, columns, stripes or bold solid colors.

Your timeless home will play upon these details. Also, incorporate natural resources and fibers such as woods, stones, brick. Mixing materials and colors is what brings interest in.

Think Color.

Neutrals are key to a timeless design. They set a perfect backdrop for art and furniture, without overdoing it. Beiges, grays, and soft blues have a strong presence in timeless homes, often accented by crisp, bright whites of moldings in ceilings, arches, and doorways. But not all timeless homes are painted in neutrals. You can try classic colors such as black, navy blues, and dark greens that are often complemented by these neutrals. My word of advice: When in doubt, aim for simplicity, maturity, and elegance.

Think Accents.

If you can’t get over a particular trendy accent, however, use it! After all, this is your home and you’re going to have to love it. But with that being said, trendy patterned furniture may be a risky move. Accents are much more suitable to design with, for they are easily replaceable as trends change. It’s all about balance.

Stop Thinking Trendy and Start Thinking Timelessgmwebservices2025-11-25T13:29:51+00:00

Design Spotlight: Sharon Chase, Director of Design

Sharon Chase is the Director of Design at Pratt Home Builders! Our design team is growing as the company expands to more residential communities and into commercial real estate. In 2018, we will be sharing design trends and tips from our design team, so we wanted to get started by introducing the woman who oversees the many details of designing hundreds of homes per year with ease, grace and high-level organization skills! (Maybe we will do a separate post to see what we can glean from her organizational skills in the future!) Today, we’re getting to know the designer behind step two of the Pratt Process: personalize!

BN: Sharon, what initially inspired you to get into the design world?

SC: I knew when I was 5 years old that I wanted to design houses. I was sketching out my dream house on graph paper and wanted to build models of my dream home. I have always loved architecture (all styles!) and interiors so interior design was a perfect fit for me.

BN: How long have you been with the team at Pratt Home Builders?

SC: I have been with the Pratt family for 8 years.

BN: How have the styles changed since you first joined the Pratt brand?

SC: I’ve seen so many trends over the years and have been lucky enough to design homes from contemporary to traditional and everything in between! I’ve seen the trends go from formal to now more informal and from warmer pallets to cooler pallets. But the rule book has been thrown out the window, so now anything goes and it’s so much fun!

BN: What do you see as the biggest design trends for 2018?

SC: The biggest trend I see coming would be pops of vibrant color and lots of texture. I expect to see more fun colorful cabinets, front doors and furniture gaining popularity. We have seen some of this trend coming on line over the past couple of years, but I expect that to get really popular in the upcoming year. I expect to see these colors mixed in with those traditional colors we are used to seeing so the accent color really stands out. I also expect to see more millwork trim details on walls (this is where texture steps in). The shiplap trend has really kicked this off in the past couple of years, but now I see people getting more creative with those types of details. I think the worn / rustic trend will continue in lighting and furniture as well as in flooring. The surfaces that really get used are more forgiving when they are distressed and adds great texture and softness to a home, so I see that trend to continuing through 2018.

BN: When customers purchase with Pratt, what do they receive in terms of design services?

SC: When a client purchases a Pratt home, they will meet with a professional interior designer that can guide them through the entire home to make sure it functions well for them as well as reflects their personal style. All of the Pratt designers hold degrees in interior design and are well versed in not just the fun pretty side of design but the nuts and bolts of a home like electrical and structural options. A well designed home should marry form and function for each individual family; our goal is to do just that.

BN: What’s a snapshot of your life outside of your work at Pratt?

SC: In one word “crazy”; but in such a beautiful way. Luckily I have a very supportive husband to help me! We have a 10 year old son who is very active in sports, so much of our time is spent in a gym or on a ball field. We also have 3 sweet fur babies that are like family to us. I am also extremely involved in my church as a member of our administrative council over education as well as volunteer with our youth ministry. So, there is just never a dull moment in my life!

BN: Just for fun – what is a structure or feature in Chattanooga that you consider your favorite or most inspirational design?

SC: My very favorite place to go is on lookout mountain. I love the architecture there and my husband and I love to just go riding around and looking at all the houses in that area. Architecture is just my thing, no matter where I go, I love to ride around in the car with the top down and just look at homes and soak in the sun and all the details of those beautiful homes!

Design Spotlight: Sharon Chase, Director of Designgmwebservices2025-11-25T13:23:38+00:00

Magnolia Farms

The Farms at Creekside

The Trails at Freewill

Nestledown

Engel Park

Cottages at Brow Wood

The Fields at Huntley Meadows

Bainbridge

Retreat at Oakbrook

The Sanctuary at Signal Forest

The Inlet