A familiar downtown Huntsville property has entered a new chapter as a gathering place for dining experiences, live music and community events.

Homegrown Huntsville officially opened Host by Homegrown on August 4, at 101 Washington Street, the former home of The Bottle. The renovated two-story venue provides a permanent space where local chefs, artists and other entrepreneurs can share their work through recurring events, classes and collaborative experiences.

For Homegrown founder Ashley Ryals, the opening fulfills a vision that has been more than a decade in the making.

“Having a brick-and-mortar place to give local makers a platform to do what they do has always been a huge dream and goal of mine. After 13 years in business, to see it coming together and actually happening is just a dream come true,” Ryals said.

Ryals founded Homegrown in 2012 as an event production company connecting Huntsville residents with local food, entertainment and businesses. Its best-known experiences include the Crush Wine Festival and Dine & Dash Trolley Tours, along with chef dinners and collaborations with area artists and entrepreneurs.

Photo: Kia & Co.

Homegrown previously held its events at various locations across the city. With Host, the company now has a dedicated venue for recurring events and partnerships throughout the year.

Katiya McKinney, who recently joined Ryals as a partner in Homegrown, said she was drawn to the project by the opportunity to showcase Huntsville’s creative community.

“I knew that I wanted to help build something in our community in Huntsville that really brought together and celebrated all of the incredible makers and creators in this area to really give our community a beautiful reason to gather in the heart of downtown. I’m excited about curating partnerships and experiences that let the best local talent shine,” she noted.

Host’s Makers/Events:

Artemis Music, Songwriter Series: 1st Wednesday every month
All Shook Up, Cocktail Omakase: 1st Thursday every month
Noella’s Flowers, Bubbles & Bouquet’s, 2nd Sunday every month
Wanna Mahj, Mahjong 101 & Themed Open Play, 2nd & 4th Tuesday every month
Southern Waygu, Chef Dinner Series: 2nd Friday every month
Hollie Beaver Beauty, Makeup classes: 3rd Tuesday every month

Other Makers include:

A Girl for All Seasons, catering
Awaken with Maria, Team Building & Wellness Coach
Chupper Time, catering
Cole Designs, event florist
Eat Thai, catering
Honeybox, catering
Kia & Co., Headshot & Event Photographer
Palmer Designs, artist

Ryals said her hope in opening Host is to add to Downtown Huntsville’s vibrant and busy atmosphere.

“We are already working with our neighbors here to do pop-ups and block parties, and we want to keep the energy alive downtown,” Ryals said.

She continued, “We want to be a place where you can go any day of the week, and you know there’s going to be something cool happening down here. Whether we have songwriter series, a chef dinner, cocktail classes, Mahjong, you name it, we’re going to have it happening.”

For McKinney, the local makers are at the heart of Host.

“We hope you’ll join us in celebrating these makers and their craft because they have poured their blood, sweat, tears, and heart into this venture,” McKinney said.

Tickets for events at Host are now on sale and can be purchased at the company’s website.