Does the National Register district restrict what I can do to my house?

No. National Register listing is honorific and does not regulate private exterior work. Only locally zoned historic districts require a Certificate of Appropriateness in Chattanooga, and Highland Park was not found among them.

Generally yes under the RN and TRN districts, subject to the accessory dwelling standards, the rear setback, and the 60% coverage cap. Alley access makes it much easier.

How tall can I build?

35 ft in the RN and TRN residential districts. On these lots the coverage cap and setbacks usually bind before height does.

Highland Park · Chattanooga, TN

A former independent city of Queen Anne, Craftsman, and Tudor Revival houses

Highland Park was its own municipality before Chattanooga annexed it in 1929, and it still reads that way — a dense grid of Queen Anne, bungalow, and Tudor Revival houses two miles east of downtown. It is a National Register district, which means the architecture matters but the permit path is a straight zoning review.

Get a consultation All of Chattanooga

Rendering of a house addition with a covered porch in Green Hill, Old Hickory, Tennessee, designed by Fabl Design

History & architecture

How Highland Park was built

The neighborhood developed between the late 19th century and the mid-20th century on the streetcar corridor east of downtown, bounded roughly by Willow and Holtzclaw and by McCallie and Main.

It incorporated as its own city in 1905 and was annexed by Chattanooga in 1929, which is why it has a small-town street grid and its own civic buildings.

The Highland Park Neighborhood Historic District was listed on the National Register in 1996 for its concentration of Queen Anne, Bungalow/Craftsman, and Tudor Revival architecture, with work by architects Earnshaw & Punshon and Charles W. Nicol.

After decades of disinvestment, the neighborhood has seen sustained reinvestment and renovation over the last two decades, with the historic housing stock as the draw.

Typical era: 1890s–1940s
Dominant styles: Queen Anne, Bungalow/Craftsman, Tudor Revival
Typical lot: Small early-20th-century grid lots
Review: Permit-only; National Register district

Landmarks & shared spaces

Places that anchor Highland Park

Asbury Chapel

Individually listed on the National Register and one of the neighborhood's defining structures.

Highland Park Commons

Turf soccer complex opened in 2011 and run as a community hub by the Chattanooga FC Foundation.

Highland Park Neighborhood Historic District

The National Register residential core — the architecture itself is the shared asset.

McCallie Avenue

The historic north boundary, lined with institutional and civic buildings.

East Main Street

The southern edge, connecting the neighborhood to the Main Street district.

Businesses & districts

Where Highland Park gathers

East Main Street corridor

Restaurants, shops, and studios a short walk from the neighborhood's southwest corner.

McCallie Avenue businesses

Service and institutional uses along the northern boundary.

Neighborhood corner storefronts

Scattered legacy commercial buildings from the neighborhood's independent-city era.

Zoning & overlays

Common zoning codes in Highland Park

These are the base districts and overlays we see most often on Highland Park lots. Always confirm your parcel's district and overlays on the Metro zoning map before design decisions get expensive.

RN-1-5Residential Neighborhood Zone (5,000 sq ft)

Common on the single-unit blocks: 5,000 sq ft minimum, 50 ft width or the blockface average, 15 ft front or the average if less, 5 ft interior sides, 25 ft rear, 35 ft height, 60% coverage.

RN-2Residential Neighborhood Zone (mixed housing types)

Where duplexes and small multi-unit buildings are woven through the historic fabric — 5,500 sq ft for a two-unit lot.

TRN-1 / TRN-2Transitional Residential Neighborhood Zones

Applies near the busier corridor edges. These use a build-to zone — the average adjacent setback plus or minus 5 ft — instead of a fixed front setback, and drop the rear setback to 10 ft (5 ft on an alley).

Overlays that apply here

Highland Park Neighborhood Historic District (National Register)

Listed in 1996. National Register status is honorific and opens rehabilitation tax credits, but it does not require design review for private exterior work.

Local historic zoning — not identified

Highland Park was not among the neighborhoods with published city Historic District Guidelines. Treat it as permit-only, and confirm with the city's historic planning staff if your lender or tax-credit consultant needs it in writing.

F/H

Flood hazard overlay

Check the city's flood risk tool on low-lying lots before siting an addition.

Permitting path

1Verify the current district on the city's zoning map. Chattanooga repealed its old zoning chapter in 2024 and adopted a new Chapter 38, so the R-1 or R-2 on older paperwork no longer exists — most single-unit lots are now RN-1-5, RN-1-6, or RN-1-7.5.
2Check the front setback rule for your district. In the RN districts the required front yard is the stated number or the blockface average if that average is less; in the TRN districts it is a build-to zone set by the adjacent houses plus or minus 5 ft.
3Confirm the 60% building coverage cap and, on infill lots, the frontage rule that ties new lot widths to the smallest frontage on the block face within 300 ft.
4Run the parcel through the city's flood risk tool if it is anywhere near the Tennessee River, South Chickamauga Creek, or Lookout Creek — the flood overlays set lowest-floor elevation and can trigger substantial-improvement compliance on a large remodel.
5On sloped lots, the city's steep-slope regulations adopted in 2021 add grading, disturbance, and drainage requirements to the submittal.
6There is no design review step outside the locally zoned historic districts; the permit is a zoning and building code review through the Land Development Office.

Why it matters

Highland Park's place in Chattanooga

One of Chattanooga's largest intact collections of Queen Anne, Craftsman, and Tudor Revival housing.

A former independent city whose 1905–1929 civic identity still shapes its street grid and building stock.

A central reinvestment neighborhood, close enough to downtown and the Main Street district to draw sustained renovation.

Events & festivals

What happens in Highland Park

Highland Park Commons programming

Year-round

Youth soccer and community events at the turf complex.

Neighborhood association meetings and cleanups

Monthly

The association is the practical clearinghouse for development news on the block.

Main Street district events

Spring–fall

Adjacent Main Street festivals and markets draw the neighborhood in.

Designing here

What this means for your Highland Park project

No Certificate of Appropriateness is required, so the constraint is the zoning envelope and the block's character rather than a review board.
On a 50 ft lot with 5 ft sides, the buildable width is fixed — additions go to the rear, and a rear two-story is usually more efficient than a sprawling one-story.
The blockface-average front setback rule frequently pulls the required front yard below 15 ft on these older streets, which can open up an unexpected front-porch rebuild.
Craftsman and Queen Anne houses reward matching the eave depth, porch column proportion, and window rhythm — those three moves carry most of the compatibility.
If the parcel is TRN rather than RN, the front build-to zone and the 10 ft rear setback change the strategy completely, so confirm the district first.
National Register listing means a substantial rehab may qualify for historic tax credits on an income-producing property — worth checking before scoping the work.

FAQ

Questions about Highland Park

Keep exploring

Other Chattanooga neighborhoods

North Chattanooga St. Elmo Southside Brainerd Red Bank East Brainerd Lookout Valley

Sources

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