Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Rivet House guestroom Mali Azima Athens, Georgia offers an intriguing mix of college co-eds and bohemian hipsters, cool culinary offerings and great live music—but one missing ingredient in this iconic university town has been luxury. Enter Rivet House —a refined, very cool, hotel offering that raises the bar for luxury in the Classic City. Defined by soaring light-filled spaces and industrial chic style, the hotel occupies an historic century-old textile mill that once made denim jeans for women.
After the manufacturing ceased operations, the building sat unoccupied for 30 years until local Athens couple Jessica and James Whitley (co-founder and COO of Landmark Properties ) purchased the abandoned property and considered their options. The Whitley’s opted for the path of greatest resistance — resurrecting the massive timeworn industrial relic into a stylish boutique hotel with southern sensibilities. Says Jessica Whitley, who is the hotel’s creative director and responsible for hotel’s interior design, “I lost more than a few nights sleep over this.
We knew we were pushing the envelope of what has been the standard here in Athens. The design was a challenge because the bones were so raw but I really wanted to keep the building’s history alive.” Whitley can take a bow, and get some sleep, having successfully repurposed a graffiti-covered rusted industrial shell into a warm and inviting triumph of craftsman.