Melissa Rushing had dreamed of a place where she could use spa treatments and a soothing atmosphere to help people feel better, inside and out.
As Rushing, an aesthetician, traveled and learned from other professionals in Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York, her dreams got even bigger.
She wanted to find a way to bring together professionals from the world of aesthetics, massage, yoga, health and nutrition, under one roof.
Before she moved her business to 118 Fifth St. N. in Columbus, she didn”t know such a place existed.
“The whole time I”ve been working in aesthetics, I”ve been dreaming of this place,” Rushing said, as she walked through the building.
A friend told her about the building, and, after months of being “too busy,” Rushing made time to visit.
“I thought I was just going to tour an old downtown building,” she recalled.
After making her way up the spiral staircase, Rushing got her first glimpse of the courtyard — a quiet escape at the top of the building, with a heated pool, fountain and an outdoor kitchen, all accented with a blue, yellow and white motif.
She thought, “Am I still in Columbus? l didn”t know a place like this existed.”
Over the centuries, the building and its neighbors have changed, from grocery stores and furniture shops to hardware stores and other retail outlets. In 1912, a businessman used the space to sell oysters; a music store was housed in adjoining storefronts. Arthur McGahey bought the building and remodeled the street-level space to be his marble showroom; upstairs, McGahey created a luxurious townhouse apartment for his young family.
“The apartment was illegal under the zoning so it caused a big flap which led to the legalization of the upper floor apartments,” said Columbus architect and historian Sam Kaye.
Now, Columbus” downtown has the most upper-level dwellings in the state.
In the mid-”90s, Frank Imes bought McGahey”s building and expanded the apartment. He also bought the building to the south and two buildings to north and installed the second-story swimming pool, steam room and sauna. Rushing now is calling the courtyard and living quarters Bella Villa (Beautiful Village.)
Other features include a chandelier room with a drop-down screen and a Moroccan room, with a color rendering of the courtyard on the walls.
Years later (after two other families had owned the building), it was those touches that made it the perfect place for Rushing”s Bella Derma Organic Skin Care Spa.
“I thought, ”It could happen here,”” Rushing remembered.
She had to find a way to make her dreams happen there.
Rushing sold her New Hope home, gave a notice to her landlord at her rental retail space on Lincoln Road, and moved her business and her residence to downtown.
And she plans to share the unique building and its accommodations with the community.
“This has always been private,” Rushing said of the upstairs room and courtyard.
By the beginning of the year, she hopes to host retreats and rent out the courtyard, Moroccan room and chandelier room for business meetings, parties and retreats.
“I feel like it”s finally going to be used to its full potential,” Rushing said of the building, which was “already perfect” for her plans.
“I couldn”t have had a blank sheet of paper and drawn it any better,” she said. “It was like it was meant to be.”
“That particular location is such a unique space, it just adds to the quality established business that Bella Derma is,” said Amber Murphree Brislin, director of Main Street Columbus Inc.
Other than painting, Rushing has had to do very little to the buildings.
The most dramatic change will be to the Moroccan room, where she plans to have black and white photos taken to preserve the courtyard rendering. She”ll hang those on the wall, which will be painted a “softer” tone, more suited to the serene spa setting.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.