How One Family Turned a Love for Design Into a WestSide Staple

Those who frequent Cookeville’s historic WestSide are familiar with the idyllic shop, Hillsdale Home. In this edition of Cookeville Lifestyle Magazine, we wanted to feature the “Stars Hollow-esque” storefront, and I sat down with owner AJ Vaughn to discuss its inception and impact.

“What started my whole journey really is my time at Lamp and Lighthouse, where I worked for 12 years. There, I was introduced to design, and it never left me. Before that, my mom was always changing the look in our house, and she had me help her plan and rearrange and take wallpaper down and put wallpaper up – all of those things. So it’s always been in me,” Vaughn stated. “And then the time came when we (my wife Melina and I) said, ‘Let’s open up a store!’ And the funny thing is, we actually started out just wanting to do furniture. I love old furniture because most new items are poorly made. I love getting the old pieces and redoing them. And so that really is what birthed Hillsdale Home. As far as the name, the street I grew up on was Hillsdale Drive, and I knew immediately what I wanted to call the shop. Thankfully, Melina was on board!” 

Though now recognized as a staple of the WestSide, Hillsdale Home spent several years operating on Stevens Street in a standalone retail space. I asked AJ how the move to Broad Street had impacted his business.

“It’s so different here than it was at Steven Street, because before, we felt like we were by ourselves. When we moved here to Broad, it felt like a neighborhood. You know, it’s just a community of people that are really there for each other. It doesn’t feel like a competition over here. It really feels like family. It feels like a neighborhood. It’s great,” he said.

With those who haven’t visited the store yet in mind, AJ shared the mission behind Hillsdale and what items visitors can expect to find inside.

“I would say we specialize in making you feel good in your own style – in your personal and everyday life. We help make you feel good at home by finding and displaying pieces that you actually love. When people come into our store, I want them to be like, ‘I love this.’” He added, “We offer new clothing, and we do carry some newer items for your home, but for the majority of it, it’s all vintage. These are vintage pieces that I go and collect from estate sales, antique stores, etc. That includes decor, furniture, and art.”

For AJ, Melina, and their children, Anderson and Naomi, Hillsdale Home has created familial connections that extend beyond the bonds of blood.

“My favorite thing is being able to have a spot that people can see and it be something different than what the community already has – we’re different. I love being able to do it with my family, but we’ve also created a family. Of course, Melissa (Eldrdige) is Melina’s identical twin. And she helps us. And then Holly (Gordon), who runs our shop, has been a huge blessing. When we called her to offer the position, she immediately said yes, and has been with us since day one. We couldn’t do this without Holly and without Melissa. It’s so special.”

AJ’s love for the community is undeniable. It’s obvious to anyone who takes the time to get to know him that Hillsdale Home is so much more than a business to the Vaughns; it’s their way of serving the people around them using design as a vessel, regardless of age or taste.

“For me, with design, I hate it whenever somebody’s designing a place and they go to Hobby Lobby or they go to Home Goods and they just get everything in one location and they do it based on trend or theme only. ‘I’m only mid-century modern.  I’m only farmhouse, etc.’ Your design and your style should be everything that you love.  You should be saying, ‘I love this, and I love this.’ And then, you take all of these pieces and you marry them together to create your own style. At that point, you’ve really created a style instead of what you think people like or what you think you should do. Whenever I’m finding the pieces for Hillsdale, I don’t have the style in mind. Whenever I’m picking, I’m just finding pieces that I personally love. And then, it’s my job to make it look good in the store.” He concluded, “Our goal is not to attract one demographic. We may have a 20-year-old buy an item and later that day have a 70-year-old purchase it as well. We want to serve Cookeville and beyond by finding items that resonate with anyone and everyone who walks through the doors of Hillsdale Home.”