Membership Details
Membership is intentionally limited to approximately thirty individuals, families, or organizations. Members reserve exclusive use of the entire residence for overnight stays, entertaining family and friends, executive retreats, client hospitality, and intimate gatherings. Unlike traditional lodging, members enjoy complete privacy and the feeling of staying in their own historic home rather than a commercial accommodation.
The Chighizola House also serves as a setting for thoughtfully curated experiences that celebrate the history, architecture, food, and culture of Mobile. Small dinners, educational programs, preservation tours, and other member events foster meaningful connections while reinforcing the property's role as a living part of the city's heritage. Every aspect of the operation is designed to provide an atmosphere of quiet elegance, authenticity, and exceptional personal service.
More than the restoration of a remarkable house, the Chighizola House Membership Residence Club represents an innovative approach to historic preservation. It demonstrates how private investment, responsible management, and a carefully curated membership experience can preserve an irreplaceable landmark while enriching the cultural life of Mobile. By treating the house as both a cherished residence and a community asset, the Club ensures that one of the city's architectural treasures will continue to be lived in, appreciated, and protected for generations to come.
Members Enjoy:
Exclusive access to a fully restored 1850's residence
Private overnight stays in a one-of-a-kind setting
Curated gatherings, dinners, and Member Experiences
A Place for Meaningful Conversation & Connection
Our Approach
The Chighizola House exists for one purpose above all others: to preserve one of Mobile's most significant antebellum homes and ensure that it remains a vibrant part of the city's architectural and cultural landscape for generations to come.
Historic buildings cannot survive on admiration alone. They require continual care, thoughtful stewardship, and sustainable financial support. Too often, important properties are beautifully restored only to face years of deferred maintenance as the cost of ownership exceeds the resources available to preserve them. The Chighizola House was created to demonstrate another path.
The Membership Residence Club provides the economic engine that allows the house to remain not only beautifully restored, but beautifully maintained. Membership dues are not simply payment for the privilege of using an extraordinary home. They are an investment in the continued preservation of an irreplaceable piece of Mobile's history.
Every membership directly contributes to the care of the house—its historic fabric, its furnishings, its gardens, its collections, and the countless details that distinguish an authentic historic residence from a reproduction. Members become partners in preserving something that will endure far beyond their own lifetimes.
The philosophy of the Chighizola House is rooted in a simple belief: the best way to preserve a historic home is to allow it to remain a home.
Rather than becoming a museum viewed from behind ropes or a commercial venue driven by constant activity, the house continues to fulfill its original purpose. Friends gather around the dining table. Families celebrate important milestones. Conversations linger in the parlors and on the galleries. Guests experience the warmth, comfort, and gracious hospitality that have always defined great homes.
This intentional use gives the house life while protecting its character. The objective is never to maximize occupancy or revenue. Instead, the Club seeks to balance thoughtful use with responsible stewardship, ensuring that every decision strengthens the long-term preservation of the property.
The Chighizola House also represents something larger than a single building. It serves as a demonstration that historic preservation and financial sustainability are not competing objectives. Properly conceived, they become partners. By creating a sustainable operating model, the Club offers a blueprint that may one day inspire the preservation of other architecturally significant properties throughout Mobile and beyond.
Members therefore join something greater than a private residence club. They become stewards of a legacy. Their participation helps protect the craftsmanship of nineteenth-century builders, supports the continued vitality of historic downtown Mobile, and demonstrates that private investment can play a meaningful role in preserving our shared heritage.
One hundred years from now, success will not be measured by the number of memberships sold or the number of nights reserved. Success will be measured by whether future generations can still walk through the front door of the Chighizola House and experience it much as it exists today—beautifully maintained, thoughtfully lived in, and still contributing to the beauty, character, and history of Mobile.
Membership is kept intentionally limited, allowing members to experience the house as if it were their own; overnight stays, family celebrations, and life’s most meaningful occasions could all be remembered within the house’s walls.
Throughout the year, the Chighizola House will host carefully curated gatherings that advance the efforts towards preserving Mobile, giving way for meetings about civic leadership, as well as the support of education and the arts of the town.
The restoration of the Chighizola House represents confidence in Mobile. It reflects a belief that beautiful places matter, that craftsmanship deserves to be celebrated, and that historic preservation is not simply about protecting old buildings.
The Chighizola House exists to preserve a remarkable home. Its greater purpose is to inspire stewardship, strengthen community, and remind each generation that the future of a city is shaped by what its citizens choose to preserve.