The Anna Safley Houston Museum of Decorative Arts will reopen in November after a $4 million restoration that made the historic home in Chattanooga’s Bluff View Arts District more accessible.
The museum at 201 High St. will host a celebration from noon-2 p.m. Nov. 14 with the Chattanooga Symphony and a ribbon-cutting at 10 a.m. Nov. 17.
The renovation lasted nearly two years and preserved the character of the Queen Anne Revival-style home from 1892, said Pam Reed, the museum’s executive director.
“The museum’s been around since the ’60s, and we were gifted the house then,” Reed said in a phone call. “We’re so happy we were able after all these years to really preserve it and save it for this community.”
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The museum houses the collection of Anna Safley Houston, including more than 15,000 pieces of glass, ceramics, metalwork, textiles and furniture.
The High Street house closed in 2024 for the renovation, but the museum continued its outreach and programming. It created a temporary pop-up museum inside the former Back Inn Cafe, the museum said in a press release.
River Street Architecture and New Blue Construction led the renovation. The project added an elevator serving each floor, Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible restrooms on each floor, five restored galleries, a glass Victorian-style conservatory classroom and upgraded infrastructure.
“We did all the inner workings to make the building last and function in today’s world. The museum’s never been accessible before to everyone in the community,” Reed said. “Making the museum accessible for everyone is something we’re really proud of with the renovation.”
The museum revamped its presentation of Houston’s large collection to display objects more thoughtfully, Reed said, including pieces that haven’t been displayed for decades. Houston, who died in 1951, amassed more than 20,000 artifacts during her lifetime, according to Chattanooga Times Free Press archives.
New galleries will tell the story of Houston’s status as a “singular collector” and the “surprising breadth of a collection unlike anything else in the world,” the museum said in the press release.
“We’re sort of peeling that back and thinking about all her accomplishments in a modern way, being able to show her collection in a fresh way,” Reed said. “We’ve taken the time to curate it and really make it shine.”
Contact business reporter Daniel Dassow at ddassow@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.
Daniel Dassow is a business reporter for the Chattanooga Times Free Press. He earned degrees in English and religious studies from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2023, where he served as editor-in-chief of The Daily Beacon. He previously worked as a tech and energy reporter for the Knoxville News Sentinel. He is the youngest of six siblings. Contact him at 423-757-6318 or ddassow@timesfreepress.com.