Members of Dapper Barber now have their own 'speakeasy'-style club

There are no doors to get inside The Hepburn.

Secret passageways and thumbprint-activated panels? Yes. Doors, no.

The new private social club launched Jan. 7. The product of a $400,000 investment, it comes complete with a code of conduct members must sign.

The Hepburn is owned by Sean Brownfield, who also owns Dapper Barber. Both establishments are located in the Sterling Building, 312 Park Central East, with the barbershop on the first floor, while the members-only club is in a basement that fits about 65 people at a time.

The Hepburn's mission? To be an exclusive space for the "Dapper Membership."

"I've always felt that first and foremost, we provide a wholesome place for people to come to enhance their relationships, personally and professionally, in a way that will flourish," Brownfield said. "Iron sharpens iron."

You don't have to be a member to get a haircut or a shoe shine from Dapper Barber, but to get access to The Hepburn and other benefits, you need a "Dapper Membership."

Members — 186 of them as of early this week — come from many walks of life and range widely in age, he said. Some are students who turned off their wireless internet service at home to be able to afford the $89-per-month membership fee. Others are business professionals, though "position is not something we look for, in job title," Brownfield said. The oldest member is a man of 82.

Brownfield said the membership fee includes access to The Hepburn, as well as a slate of optional Dapper Barber services such as a full haircut each month, a straight-razor shave, unlimited cleanups, two shoe shines and ear/nostril waxing. Members are also invited to discussion-style classes on topics like etiquette (which salad fork is the right one?) and fly-fishing. They also each get a drawer to store their favorite bottled alcohol.

The Hepburn is open to members Monday through Saturday beginning at 9 a.m., the same time as the barbershop. During the day, members work from the space, network or stop in for a card game. Drinks service starts at 4 p.m. and lasts through 1:05 a.m. Brownfield said. Members may bring up to six guests per month to join them at The Hepburn.

Despite Dapper's manly trappings — its motto is "Springfield's Only Gentlemen's Barber Club" and it has a men's "Haberdasher" retail area next to the barbershop — membership is open to both women and men, single or married, Brownfield said.

"Yeah, absolutely," he said. He cited a woman who signed up for membership Saturday night. "She came in and absolutely loved it, was there for hours," he said. "She probably won't absorb our barbering services, but she wants to be a part of (the club) for her professional career."

Barbering services are often a key aspect of Dapper/Hepburn membership. To become a member, "generally you come in for your first haircut," Brownfield said, and start paying the membership fee. "We don't have any strict requirements. We have a code of ethics and a moral code-type thing, an agreement you sign."

The Dapper Code of Conduct is a 159-word document outlining nine ways in which "a Dapper Gentleman" is respectful, principled, engaged, groomed and confident.

For example, a member promises to:

• "Practice proper etiquette towards his fellow members and the community."
• "Adopt his own code to live by, respect others' and never apologize for his own."
• "Keep an inviting and personable attitude towards fellow members and the community."
• "Maintain a polished appearance as a matter of respect for himself and those around him."

Peter Dawson, president of the Dapper Membership's eight-member board, provided a copy of the "Dapper Code of Conduct" at the News-Leader's request.

"The board intends to develop this and several items over the coming year, but this is the foundation of the societal feel we are striving for," Dawson said in an email.

Brownfield said a few would-be members have been rejected for making "racial" or "sexist" comments that didn't line up with the Dapper Membership's values.

Established in 2013, Brownfield's Dapper Barber made news the following year when a woman was reportedly denied service for a "masculine" hair cut.

Interviewed this week, Brownfield said, "We don’t really do many women’s haircuts, unless they want a really short, clean cut. We absolutely want to invite the female patron into our establishment."

When asked whether The Hepburn could run afoul of state law's Chapter 213, which allows private clubs but also prohibits discrimination in places of public accommodation, Brownfield said, "It’s just like a private room at Highland Springs (Country Club). You don't get to use that space if you don't pay for it."

He also emphasized that The Hepburn's services are available in the upstairs Dapper Barber space, in order to cater to members with disabilities that might keep them from the basement, which has no elevator access.

Still, a degree of exclusivity is part of the experience, beginning with the "secret" entrances.

"You'd never be able to tell that there was a door into the lounge," owner Sean Brownfield said. "There are no doors to it. There's two secret passageways (opening) on thumbprint activation."

There are also rules governing mobile devices. After a couple weeks of getting the word out, "we’re going to be very, very closed off about no pictures or social media taken down there," Brownfield said.

"We wanted to go for a strong speakeasy feel," Brownfield said, mimicking the hidden clubs where alcohol was served during the Prohibition era, down to the decoration.

"All the conduits and plumbing — that shows," Brownfield said, "but then we wanted to hit a really refined touch also. Speakeasies always had really fancy furniture. All of our furniture is pre-1900 pieces."

The Hepburn blends chipped concrete basement ceilings and support columns with 48-inch Spanish oak wainscoting on the walls, vintage furniture with patterned upholstery, heavily textured wallpaper and a 13-inch old oak bar rail, polished to a shine.

He said renovations to the 2,600-square-foot space for The Hepburn cost about $400,000. In an email, Brownfield said he was sole owner, financing the project through Bancorp South.

The drinks menu features craft cocktails that were the object of research and study going back 200 years, Brownfield said. Priced about $9 to $12 apiece, they're served in old glassware sourced from six states.

"In-house, we make all of our syrups, bitters, all of our own tinctures, shrubs, and then one of the biggest things that we do is we freeze our own ice blocks."

The Hepburn has an "industrial machine" that freezes 200- to 300-pound ice blocks, which are broken down using a Japanese ice saw for cubed or cracked ice, depending on the cocktail, Brownfield said.

By mid-March, Brownfield plans to set up an arrangement to order food in for Hepburn members from nearby downtown eateries including the Hotel Vandivort restaurant, Civil Kitchen & Tap, Dublin's Pass and Big Whiskey's. Orders would be placed once each hour, delivered in containers similar to a Japanese bento box to keep food hot.

In addition to The Hepburn's recent opening night, Dapper Barber had a grand opening event Dec. 10 to celebrate its relocation from the east side of Park Central Square to the first floor of the Sterling Building.

First open to the public in 1911 as the Hotel Sansone, the Sterling now houses studio apartments in its upper floors, marketed to students. Springfield-based Vecino Group owns the building.