Step Inside: The Sylvan Park Boarding House Welcomes Locals and Tourists

When Sylvan Park residents Erin and Alex Tolbert decided to renovate the historic home at 4511 Elkins Ave., reimaging it with eight guest suites for visitors and locals alike, it was a challenge to categorize what they were creating. 

While not as large or elaborate as a boutique hotel, but with amenities like Frette linens, plush LaBottega robes, Dyson hair dryers and staff on site, the newly opened Sylvan Park Boarding House doesn’t feel like a typical bed and breakfast. Erin now refers to it as an inn. Regardless of what it’s called, as the Shakespearean saying goes, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Built in 1911 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the stately home at the corner of 46th and Elkins is impossible to miss. Guests enter through stone columns, then follow a pathway through a beautifully landscaped front lawn to a porch dotted with blooming greenery and contemporary outdoor chairs. An oversized glass door with a transom window flanked by copper Bevolo lanterns previews the understated luxury inside. 

In the front room, plush velvet tobacco club chairs, a rich hunter-green leather sofa and a burled walnut coffee table sit atop a printed rug. “We wanted it to be warm and welcoming — a cozy place for guests to sit and chat and have coffee — and still have a wow factor,” says Erin. 

A large abstract painting by local artist Caitlin Shirock — commissioned for the space — hangs above a modern console table. Framed black-and-white photos of Sylvan Park dot the walls, and custom wallpaper created by designer Christina Coldiron adds to the inn’s peaceful feel. Architecture firm L I N E S oversaw the restoration in collaboration with interior designer Erika Thompson. 

The building itself has a storied past. It was an actual boarding house from the ’30s until the ’80s, hence the inspiration for the name. 

In 2021, the Tolberts had recently purchased a home on nearby Nebraska Avenue. But it needed significant work, so they were looking for a place to live with their three children during the renovations. As they were driving through the neighborhood one day, they noticed someone hammering a “For Sale” sign in front of the Elkins house. “So we pulled over and said, ‘Can we look at it?’” Erin says. The idea for the Sylvan Park Boarding House came later.

The property included the commercial building next door, which now houses Latin American café Tantisimo. The restaurant serves a continental breakfast in the mornings for guests of the inn.

To Name a Few

The inn’s eight suites are named after prominent families with West Nashville ties, such as The Robertson, named for James Robertson — considered the Father of Middle Tennessee — and his wife, Charlotte Reeves Robertson. (Nearby Charlotte Avenue bears her name.) 

That suite boasts one king bed, two rose-colored velvet club chairs, a pink marble side table and coordinating luxe floor-to-ceiling draperies. Like all the suites, it has a Smeg mini-refrigerator — plus Grown Alchemist bath products and a rainfall showerhead in the bathroom. 

Home Away from Home

Every room has a king bed — except for the whimsical Geny, located on the third floor and named for the family who founded Geny’s Flowers on Charlotte Avenue. The suite, which has two queen beds, is a 400-square-foot jewel box in shades of peach, green and ivory. 

The Geny is a master class in detail, with wainscoted walls and floral wallpaper on the ceiling. It can accommodate up to four guests — perfect for families. Depending on the season, all eight suites average $300 nightly. 

The Guest House

Erin sees the inn being ideal for Nashvillians hosting out-of-town family. Locals have already booked staycations, some celebrating a special occasion. 

Compared to being in the thick of downtown, she says the inn offers a lower-key, more authentic Nashville experience. “We’re close to downtown, but we’re not in it,” says Erin. “So you can come to the boarding house, enjoy coffee in the front yard, on the porch, with a view of some trees, and then go out and be a tourist later.”