Abandoned Swingers Tiki Palace – The Knock-Off Playboy Mansion In Chattanooga

Swingers Tiki Palace once stood atop a ridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The property began as the dream home and a party location of strip club mogul Billy Hull.

The property centered around a Playboy bunny styled swimming pool, which had swim tunnels leading to separate bedrooms. The 12 feet deep pool was 20 x 40 in size and featured a faux rock waterfall and diving board. There was also a full bar, palm trees, and tiki-style bamboo walls.

Unfortunately, photographs of the club during its heyday in 1972 appear to be impossible to find.

THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE

After a couple of years of planning, architect Ed Ball began building the most unusual property in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Commissioned by strip club owner Billy Hull, the property took 14-months to finish. After completion in 1972, Billy had an open house to celebrate, in which close to 10,000 people attended.

The property features two large Tiki’s flanking the front doors of the house. Step inside, and you find hallways and bathrooms covered in marble, bedrooms covered in mirrors and numerous bars. Then, of course, is that large swimming pool where many of the guests would party.

Over the next year, the 5,600 square foot home would play host to dozens of parties. However, just 12 months later, Hull was charged with hiring a hitman to murder his wife Gloria’s lover.

Hull was jailed for 20 years for hiring Larry Parker to kill Roland Hargis (23 years-old), as he left the Tradewinds nightclub in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Larry later testified that although he shot and killed the victim, he did not intend to do so. Larry shot Roland in the face as he got into a car. He claimed the bullet was supposed to miss, and hopefully scare Roland Hargis off. Parker was convicted of manslaughter. Hull fought against his conviction; however, the Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed it four years later.

In April 1979, 32-year-old James Corvin’s body was discovered in the trunk of a stolen car at a Chattanooga hospital. Corvin had been shot, and the body had likely been in the car for several months.

Sixteen years later, a Crime Stoppers program led to the arrest of James Steven Turner of Ringgold, GA. Turner was charged with Corvin’s murder. Years earlier, Corvin had been a defense witness in Billy Hull’s murder trial.

The 80s were no better for Billy Hull, tax evasion charges on his nightclubs while incarcerated led him to bankruptcy.

At one point, Hull told the court that he made a substantial amount of money from helping his grandmother with her whiskey bootlegging business. He claimed she gave him a lot of money and extravagant gifts, explaining why his lifestyle did not add up to what he told the IRS he was making.

Hull also claimed that on his grandmother’s deathbed, she had the presence of mind to tell him where she had buried jars containing large amounts of money.

It is unclear if Billy and Gloria remained together or divorced after he was imprisoned for hiring a hitman. Billy died in 2008 from an illness; what happened to Gloria Hull, we don’t know. If she is alive, she would be well into her 80s by now.

THE HOUSE TODAY

It is unclear who, if anyone, lived in the property after Billy Hull. Some sources have claimed nobody lived in the property after Billy, yet I find that hard to believe. Some items in the property are far too new to have been from 1972. The TV in the master bedroom, for instance, looks more 2002 than 1972. Columns also appear to have been added to the entrance at some point.

In 2014 the house was listed for sale; however, by 2015, it had been severely vandalized (as seen in previous photos) and was now in foreclosure. On September 7, 2017, the Swingers Tiki Palace was finally demolished, just 45 years after it was built.