a set of stairs with a carpet runner.

KTI REIMAGINES HISTORIC SEQUOYAH COUNTRY CLUB

We love seeing a space truly transform in any project. Realizing the potential for a fresh design in a well-loved and sometimes well-worn space is immensely motivating for us as designers. The way we see it, if these walls could talk, we love helping them start a new chapter in their story. It’s not often the walls we are talking about have gathered stories for over a century.  When it comes to the Sequoyah Country Club in Oakland, CA, what’s old is new again.

For more than 100 years, the Sequoyah Country Club has been celebrated as a social haven and captured the spirit of the Bay Area. The original clubhouse was completed in 1915. Small changes were made to the clubhouse between 1915-192, and a 1928 remodel was the last major redesign of the clubhouse before our Hospitality design studio started this exciting recent project.

The club, which is one of the oldest private golf clubs west of the Mississippi, is undergoing a transformation that includes more than just the clubhouse. The sweeping KTI-inspired interior design touches are just some of the exciting changes at Sequoyah County Club since nearby Bay Area native Bryan Richardson took over as Sequoyah’s new chief operating officer/general manager.

In the nine months since Sequoyah’s board hired Richardson as the club’s new day-to-day leader, Sequoyah is undergoing a dynamic new membership marketing campaign fueled in part by some of the club’s new dining and fitness amenities and overall reimagined clubhouse. Club Resources, a Membership Marketing and Club Management company was contracted to help reimagine the club. They also managed a membership marketing push that added 150 new members. 

“We’re fortunate to have a leader like Bryan Richardson steer us through this exciting time,” Sequoyah member Steve Callaway was quoted as saying last August when he was serving as the club’s then-board president. “Sequoyah is on the move, with the fitness center and other improvements and community partnerships planned.”

Sequoyah Country Club’s ongoing three-year facilities and renovation masterplan started with the highly anticipated 4,000-square-foot fitness room and golf performance center. An aerobics studio and high-definition golf simulator were also part of the club’s phase one additions.

“There’s a buzz at the club around the new fitness center, which is a prominent example of Sequoyah’s mission to offer its members a variety of activities and experiences they have asked for, Richardson said in last year’s Bay News Group report. “I’m proud to be part of the team as Sequoyah navigates its second century.”

It’s not often  we have the opportunity to touch up a piece of hospitality history. Wendy McTague acted as our senior designer tasked with the assignment of reimagining Sequoyah’s stately clubhouse with some modern flair. Striking a balance between the expectations of a dynamic and changing membership base while not straying too far from the history of the space was essential.

“The challenge was keeping this early 20th century, Spanish Colonial architecture but updating it with reimagined finishes and color palette,” McTague points out. “The club was a bit dated. Now, the style is geared toward that younger country club member.”

Our design team focused on giving Sequoyah a more contemporary look by introducing deep blues, grays and rich brown wood flooring throughout the club’s main floor social areas, and adding custom Spanish tiles sourced as a nod to Sequoyah’s design heritage.

One area where the active colors are dominant is the fitness enter, which incorporates lime-green and turquoise carpeting.

“One thing we did is pulled the turquoise out of the fitness center palette, and used it out in front in the reception/check-in area with traditional Spanish tiles,” McTague says, “So again, these tiles we tie back into the club’s Spanish Colonial feel with some of the existing older tiles from the 1920s. The newer colors give it a refreshing new look. ”

We couldn’t be more pleased with the results of the project.

“The board and members were so great to work with,” McTague says. “And they now have color-wise and style-wise, a timeless design that should last for years to come.”

“That’s what was so enjoyable about this project. It’s easy for anyone to go in and just do a complete new interior design and add design elements that don’t match anything that is going on. Our design not only had to be compatible with the existing club’s interior and its architectural heritage, but the overall membership as well.”

BEFORE

AFTER

KTI would like to thank HGHB Architectural, Planning Urban Design out of Monterey, CA. HGHB acted as the architect on this project.