When I first visited Jane and Billy's home four years ago, it was for my interview to join the Stray Dog team. Given the circumstances of 2020, we decided to meet on their porch to chat responsibly.
Visiting the Gray-Pritchard home is an experience from start to finish. The drive up Lookout Mountain, with its winding, somewhat confusing roads, is a journey in itself. Yet, once you arrive, it's as if you've stepped into a storybook.
Their home embodies everything Stray Dog stands for – it's colorful, whimsical, and incredibly homey. It's like a museum where the more you look, the more you see. There's something very alive about it, never stale. It's the kind of home I envied as a child – a place where everyone is welcome, sacred somehow in its non-sacredness.
As you explore, you'll encounter plenty of Stray Dog pieces, epic vintage finds, and handmade elements abound. You'll find that Jane and Billy are particularly humble about their abode. They'll tell you there's nothing special about it, but I'll let you read, look, and decide for yourself.
Pictured here: Jane and Billy's dining area featuring the Celeste Sphere
The Journey to Homeownership
Q: When did you purchase your home? What did life look like then?
Billy: We purchased this house in 2003, becoming the third owners in the house’s 140-year history. The house was in poor condition when we took over – roof issues, the porch falling in, rat problems, no HVAC, only one wall heater, no insulation. The yard was a jungle of honeysuckle, and the stone-stacked walls were caving in. We had just had our third child and had used what little money we had for a down payment on another project – a warehouse in downtown Chattanooga in similar condition. It was a stressful but exciting time. We rewired, replumbed, reroofed, reglazed, removed a porch and added a room, made a kitchen, insulated, painted – everything had to be done.
It’s not a house that makes you go “wow.” It’s a country house, really. There is some nice stonework, and it sits funny on the lot. But it’s the kind of house that if you love it, you really love it. It was kind of like an abused stray dog – it was going to take some time.
Jane: We bought the house in early fall of 2003, but it wasn’t habitable until May of 2004, and even then, it was still a chaotic construction zone when we moved in. Life was insane. We had two businesses (Mary Jane Bags was thriving), two kids under five, two stray dogs (one was a biter), a cat, and I realized I was pregnant with Franny the week we closed on the house. Oh, and as Billy mentioned, we bought a new warehouse/office that year as well. Basically, we were juggling four of the “major stressful life events” in 2003/2004. Can’t believe it’s been 20 years, nor can I believe we all made it out alive.
Pictured right: Our Funky Berry Finial
The Community and Surroundings
Q: What’s the community around you like? Tell us more about the surroundings.
Billy: Jane and I were smitten by the area and still are. There are seven homes in the neighborhood, all surrounded by the national park, which includes the Craven’s House, the oldest surviving structure on Lookout Mountain and a major focal point in the Civil War’s “Battle Above the Clouds.” Our property is bordered by the national park on three sides. The houses here were constructed between 1850 and 1920. The barn to our house was updated into a house in the 1940s. The neighborhood is somewhat hidden on the side of Lookout Mountain, just a few miles from downtown Chattanooga and a mile from the town of Lookout Mountain. Houses here rarely go up for sale. The house behind us, Wideview, has been in the same family since the 1880s. Gray Rocks just had its second owner move in six years ago. Things don’t change here much.
Jane: In 2004, Military Road was even more secluded than it is today. That was before the advent of TomToms, Google Maps, RootsRated, etc., so no one ever used that road. I was born and raised on Lookout and knew of the “Cravens Terrace” pocket of houses, but I had no clue that our house was tucked back there because I had never driven that far down the road. It’s not heavily trafficked now, but back then it was really off the beaten path. Which is its charm, of course – you feel completely cloistered and removed from both the Lookout Mountain community and the city of Chattanooga, yet you are just five minutes from both.
Our area is a sort of “no man's land.” We are right on the line between the city and the county, but mostly ignored by both. And while that might be an inconvenience to many, I am enchanted with the neglected, narrow, pot-holed roads leading to our house. The overgrown vegetation brushes your car as you pass, and the tree canopy filters out most of the light, making the approach feel eerie and other-worldly, almost as if you’ve stepped back in time.
Inspirations for Home Design
Q: What designers or artists inspire the design of your home?
Billy: I defer to Jane here.
Jane: Design of our home? Really? Does our house look designed and/or decorated? Maybe designed by a blender... kind of like how I “style” my hair. I am inspired by, captivated with, and wildly jealous of many designers. I could easily name ten that slay me with their skills and another hundred if I thought about it. But I’d be embarrassed to associate any of them with our house’s design – I’m sure they’d be insulted.
While I find it easy and fun to design products, I struggle with interior decoration. This is probably due to my lack of organizational skills and difficulty with project completion (ADHD). Combine that with a bit of schizophrenia (Gemini, you know), and you’ve got yourself a deplorable decorator. Oh, and I’m also wildly cheap when it comes to buying furniture, which doesn’t help. The cheapness comes from my lifelong love of junk shopping, but a bargain isn’t a bargain if it doesn’t work.
So, my house’s design is mostly an ever-rotating, eternally incomplete mish-mash of junk store finds and hand-me-down pieces, sprinkled with textiles and what-nots from our travels, Stray Dog samples, and the occasional interesting picture cheek-to-jowl with thrift art and elementary school masterpieces. It’s colorful, I hope it’s comfortable, lively, and has its charms, but I’d never call it decorated.
Now, I can happily name my five very favorite iconic decorators/designers who continually gobsmack me with their brilliant style and creativity (and as they are all deceased, they can’t accuse me of defamation for mentioning their names in association with my house):
- Frederico Forquet
- Tony Duquette
- Sister Parish
- Albert Hadley
- Elsie de Wolfe
Pictured here: Jane and Billy's kitchen space featuring the Vincent Lantern
The Home's Current State and Future Plans
Q: What does ‘home’ look like now? The kids have moved out… any plans for redesign or renovation?
Billy: For me, it’s all about the yard now. A race against time. We have about 1400 square feet of covered wrap-around porch, and a good part of it overlooks the “pit of despair” – an invasive bramble of a backyard. We are slowly reclaiming that area, but there’s just so much. How does Charlie McCormick do it?
Jane: We are about to have a 15-year-old move in with us. Our goddaughter, Mariana, is coming up from Mexico to go to school for the year. So our nest won’t be empty this year. We are delighted.
But yes, there are always plans, hopes, goals, hindered by my aforementioned issues with follow-through. Our bathroom needs some tweaking. I need a new tub, the walls need painting, and we need new vanity lights. It could probably use a complete overhaul, but I don’t know if we have the stomach or pocketbook for that now.
I have a pandemic art project in the downstairs hallway that I have yet to complete, so that’s always on the list. And as Billy said, the yard needs are always at the forefront of our thoughts. For the last couple of years, we’ve considered incorporating a natural pool. That would take a lot of research, planning, and money, so who knows if we’ll get around to it. But I do spend some time perusing pool images on Pinterest.
Pictured here: Left - Franny's (the youngest Pritchard) bedroom featuring a Ric Rac Chandelier shade | Right - The wraparound porch featuring Gray Landry Pendants
The Garden
Q: Tell us about your garden.
Billy: The yard and gardens have been a very, very slow work in progress. For the longest time, it was simply a battle against the invasives. But trees and bushes we planted 20 years ago are getting big. We are totally ADHD and work on one area one month, then move to another, then go back to the one from last year. This past year we put in a small orchard. It’s never-ending but is finally starting to take shape. Jane and I spend a good bit of time working in the yard. Jane is a wonderfully untrained flower arranger, so we have flowers all about. She doesn’t know it, but I love how the flowers in the house reflect what’s going on outside – in about the same way, a riot of chaos that has a thread of direction if you look hard enough.
Jane: We definitely bit off more than we can chew. Taming two and a half acres of weeds and reshaping it into the gorgeously groomed landscape of one’s dreams is laughably beyond our abilities. But we try, as Billy said, bit by bit. I pretty much never met a flower I didn’t like and happily buy them by the dozen every Spring, plopping them in assorted beds and scattering seeds here and there. I diligently pull weeds early in the season and watch with glee as my seedlings sprout, but by the time things start heating up, I am over it. The dahlias, zinnias, cosmos, and nasturtiums are left to fend for themselves against the heat, slugs, and invasives. Thankfully, Billy is better at keeping up with garden chores in mid-summer, and this year he is being rewarded with a bounty of tomatoes and squash. For the most part, we try to incorporate only native plants, but I can’t resist a beautiful bloom, no matter its origin.
Pictured left: A secondary dining space featuring the Olive Chandelier | Right: The stairwell gallery wall featuring a Scalloped Chandelier Shade
Home Sweet Home
Q: What’s your favorite thing about your home?
Billy: For me, it’s the location. We are in the middle of everything and nowhere. I love what Jane has done inside as it reflects us, our family. It’s never fussy, always casual, and like those flower arrangements, a riot of chaos that has a thread of direction if you look hard enough.
Jane: I also love the location and its inherent access to nature. Some of the best hiking trails in the city are just up the hill. Our yard and neighborhood host all sorts of wildlife. We see deer, foxes, and coyotes regularly. We’ve had a bobcat visit, turkeys trot through, hawks overhead, and owls hoot at night. That’s pretty lovely. The wrap-around porch offers quiet sitting areas to enjoy the critter parade. The city view is decent too. My favorite spot in the summer is the screened porch. I retreat there every morning with my coffee and the NYT puzzles. I’m sitting on it now, watching baby birds from the nest in the eaves learn to fly. The deck is ideal for a cookout or small drinks party in warmer months.
Weekend Life at the Gray-Pritchard House
Q: What do weekends look like at the Gray-Pritchard house?
Billy: I feel like we live a quiet life. We travel a good bit, but when we are home, we are home. Jane is a good cook, I’m a kitchen cleaner, and we are in the yard. Sometimes we have friends over or throw a good party a couple of times a year. Our house is our base.
Jane: Billy summed that up. It’s not very glamorous, but it’s definitely homey. And that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Despite what all those slick, drool-inducing magazines would lead you to believe. Or perhaps I’m just trying to legitimize our kingdom of clutter. Ha!
This peek into Jane and Billy's home is a testament to the magic they create in their life and work. Their home is a living, breathing reflection of their journey, filled with color, warmth, and a touch of whimsical chaos – just like Stray Dog.
