Expansion provides 'a taste of home'

Robert Behre
The Post and Courier

Hope Lodge started out in 1970 on the second floor of this house at Ashley Avenue and Calhoun Street. Its latest expansion means the lodge now includes that house and three others to the right.

In 1970, Charlestonian Margot Freudenberg established the nation's first Hope Lodge — a temporary residence for out-of-town cancer patients receiving treatment — on the second floor of an old home at Ashley Avenue and Calhoun Street.

She got the idea while traveling in Australia and New Zealand, and the idea proved such a good one that today there are 25 other such lodges across the country, everywhere from Tampa to Grand Rapids, Mich.

And Charleston's lodge has grown, too.

This year, it will complete its second major expansion and will occupy all four almost century-old homes along Calhoun just west of Ashley Avenue. All four originally were built around 1911 by Calhoun Securities on land previously owned by (and partly created with sawdust from) the Halsey Lumber Co.

In one sense, it's the perfect spot: a set of handsome historic homes nestled in the Harleston Village neighborhood just across the street from Charleston's major hospitals, where most guests receive their treatments.

Still, turning four homes into a large residential complex could create growing pains if not done right.

Insensitively knitting together the homes could have created a jarring look for those passing along Calhoun

Street or an unsightly appearance for the neighbors just behind it. Trying to shoehorn everyone's cars into the site could have created an even bigger problem.

Fortunately, SGM Architects and Complete Building of Atlanta found a way to unite the homes into a coherent, functional lodge while keeping their curb appeal.

What began in 1970 as a few dormitory-style rooms with shared bathrooms and kitchen space is growing into a complex with 17 private rooms with their own bathrooms (and their own thermostats) supported by a generous variety of indoor and outdoor common areas. Work is expected to conclude this month.

"There needed to be more common space," says Jerry Traino, an interim architect with SGM Architects. "That way, it feels more like a community and less like a hotel."

Those staying at Hope Lodge usually remain between four and six weeks.

Traino's design unites the houses in the rear with two-story corridors dominated by windows. Dealing with settling issues — the houses originally were built on sawdust — proved tricky, but fortunately the floor heights of the homes were within a few inches of each other, so the links don't have dramatic inclines.

Traino says the design also tried to strike a balance between all the input from the neighbors, the preservation groups and the city's Board of Architectural Review.

"We tried to give something positive to everyone who was interested in the project," he says.

Sundi Herring of Hope Lodge says that's important: The resulting Carol Grotnes Belk Campus would not be possible without donations of money and time from many in the community. "It's to our benefit to make sure the community is happy with what we're providing," she says.

For the residents, the new lodge offers a much larger dining area, several other smaller parlors, a screened porch, two outdoor courtyards and a much larger rear yard.

"We had no outdoor space before except for the front porch," Herring says. "It's so nice for them to have this (yard). It's just a taste of home."

The yard was made possible because the new lodge will have only seven on-site parking spaces — all nestled in a small lot just off Ashley Avenue. Herring says parking remains a challenge but the lodge can use spaces at a discount at a nearby garage.

If there's any drawback to the project, it's just that it might not be big enough to keep up with demand.

"That's the hardest part of my job right now," Herring says, "telling people, 'I'm sorry but we don't have room.' "

Robert Behre may be reached at 937-5771; by fax at 937-5579; by e-mail at rbehre@postandcourier.com; and by mail at 134 Columbus St., Charleston, SC 29403.