Home Tour 2025
Welcome to Old North Knoxville!
North Knoxville, originally farms and estates, became a streetcar suburb of in 1889, featuring modern amenities like waterlines, paved streets, and a school. Its homes, late 1800s to early 1920s architecture, include Victorian, Neoclassical, Craftsman, andungalow styles. Many interiors have been restored, maintaining original features, while some homes blend traditional and modern elements. The neighborhood, defined by Central Street, Broadway, and Avenue, is actively preserved by residents, with many houses protected by a historic overlay for future generations.
Special Thanks to our 2025 Headline Sponsors
Don't forget to check in!
See volunteers at either parking lot or the First Lutheran ticket booth to get your wristband and calendar. Wristbands are required to tour open homes.
First Lutheran Church
1207 North Broadway
In 1888, when Broad Street north of town transitioned quickly into a county road to Tazewell, this site was occupied by the suburban home of Cornelius E. Lucky, an attorney who later was president of Knoxville Brick Co. and vice president of Peoples' Telephone and Telegraph Co.
This is the third location for First Lutheran Church, which made a northern migration similar to the growth of this part of Knoxville. Organized in 1869, the church was first located near the present corner of Broadway and Western Ave. and then at Broadway and Fifth Ave. The school building on this location was completed in 1947 and the current Gothic-style sanctuary was dedicated on May 15, 1955. Another school wing was completed in 1979. The church continues to be involved in its now inner-city neighborhood, both physically and spiritually. One of the main attractions of the church building is its series of stained-glass Memorial Windows. The organ was built in Hamburg, Germany by Rudolf von Beckerath in 1974.
Mays House
1235 Armstrong Avenue
This one-and-a-half-story Craftsman home was built in 1915 and was first occupied by Dr. Glenn A. Metcalf and his family. Dr. Metcalf was a well-known veterinary surgeon and president of the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners who passed away at the relatively young age of 56 just over the hill at St. Mary’s Hospital.
The house had several owners over the next 40 years until Richard Mays purchased the home in 1954. Over the next 70 years three generations of the Mays family lived in the house until it was sold in November 2024.
Sean Bolen and Trevor Stafford have spent the last year restoring this 3 bed, 3 1/2 bathroom home while preserving the rare 1¼-inch oak flooring on the first floor, wonderful Craftsman staircase, original octagonal doorknobs, unpainted oak trim, heart pine flooring upstairs, and clawfoot tub. Take special note of the reproduction push button hardware, and the large closets and primary bath upstairs. Those two rooms didn't exist when they bought the house; they were simply found spaces behind sealed walls.
Beth Ann Booker Park
416 East Oklahoma Avenue
From ice cream socials to musical gatherings to birthday parties, Beth Ann Booker Park is a spot to build friendships.
This small, friendly pocket park was planned by Old North Knoxville residents in the early 2000's primarily to create a safe place, off the street, for their children to play. The property at 416 E. Oklahoma Ave. was at that time an empty, abandoned, overgrown lot. Neighbors planned clean up days to clear debris, took turns mowing the grass, and petitioned the city to take ownership and create a pocket park. Over years of work and leadership from many neighbors, the vision slowly became a reality with help from a $50,000 grant from Dow Chemical and a number of volunteer days with HGTV employees. The addition of the playground equipment, gazebo, pathways, and flower beds resulted in a beloved neighborhood meeting spot that serves neighbors of all ages.
Formerly named Old North Knoxville Park, this great space was renamed Beth Ann Booker Park on March 18, 2023, to honor an extraordinary neighbor and person. Beth Booker lived in Old North Knoxville from the 1990s until she passed away in January 2022, and together with her husband, David, she played an important role in the neighborhood's renaissance. The Booker family played a strong role in bringing life to the park and planting the gardens there. Quick to share her gifts as a gardener and baker, Beth also served as a member of the Old North Knoxville board, organized countless cleanups of the neighborhood and First Creek Greenway, and helped produce the neighborhood newsletter for many years, among many other acts of service.
Keith House
209 E. Anderson
The current home on this property was constructed in 2016. While the lot sat empty for many years following the demolition of a previous two-story dwelling (which appeared on 1917 Sanborn Maps), the new construction filled the gap while respecting the neighborhood’s size and scale.
The structure is an excellent example of thoughtful infill, designed as a Craftsman Revival that utilizes Folk Victorian massing. Key architectural elements, including the steep, front-facing gable and the two-story form, match the scale of surrounding historic homes. The wide, full-width front porch and square column supports are hallmarks of the Craftsman style, helping the new construction blend seamlessly into the streetscape.
The Keith House stands as a testament that new construction can uphold architectural integrity of the historic district.
Brooks House
120 East Woodland Avenue
This unique residence began its history as a place of worship. The lot was acquired in March 1923 for $499 by the Sanders Chapel Primitive Baptist Church. For nearly a century, the building served a range of community functions. Its usage shifted in 1959 when the property became the headquarters for the Knoxville Local No. 90 United Glass Ceramic Workers of America union. It returned to religious use in 1961 as the Oakwood Primitive Baptist Church, and later as Living Faith Church until 2022.
​
The structure was purchased in 2022 and underwent the significant process of conversion into a private home featuring vaulted ceilings and the original pulpit/stage area. Christy and Scott Brooks acquired the property in 2023 and have continued the work to transition this building into a home.
Hattar House
217 East Scott Avenue
This two-story frame Queen Anne house (circa 1904) has a fascinating, if sometimes challenging, history. It even includes a dramatic mid-century transfer of title via a 1957 Knox County court decree involving former owner Elizabeth Hiscock, whom the court labeled as a “widow and incompetent”.
After years of subsequent neglect, this house entered its most significant chapter of renewal.
Purchased in 2023 by the Hattars, this historic property is currently undergoing an extensive rehabilitation. What you see today is a house in the process of being meticulously restored. The Hattars are passionately working to stabilize and restore this century-old structure, ensuring that its character endures.
Flynn House
236 East Scott Avenue
This one-and-a-half story Queen Anne home began with Alice Dean West purchasing a vacant lot in 1905 for $650. The house was completed in 1906 for Alice and her husband Thomas, an East Tennessee Lath Co. employee. In 1909, they sold the house to John W. Hall, who in turn sold it in 1911 to Mrs. Mary B. Evans, a widow with five children. Her second daughter, Annie Lucille, never married and remained in the house until her death in 1970. Miss Lucille Evans graduated from Knoxville High School in 1914, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from UT in 1918, and a master’s degree from Columbia University in 1928. She taught at Knoxville High School from 1918 until it closed in 1951. She then taught algebra and Latin at West High School until 1966.
​
After 1972, the house entered a different chapter, being partitioned into six individual rental apartments by owner Claude Crawford. In 1984, Vaughn Nave purchased the property and embarked on a multi-year mission of transitioning the structure back into a single-family dwelling, a goal he achieved in 1997. Mr. Nave continued his stewardship, culminating in a complete restoration that earned the home a “Fantastic 15 Award” from Knox Heritage in 2012.
​
Jacob Flynn, the present owner, purchased the home in May 2024 and began renovations throughout the property
Bertha Clark House
523 East Oklahoma Avenue
A remarkable transformation has occurred since this house was on tour in 2023 (when it was raining inside the house). The staircase has been lovingly restored, duplicating the spindles, newels, and balusters that were removed when the house was converted to a triplex. All stained-glass windows have been removed and repaired, the rounded walls have been retained, all Eastlake hardware is still present, and all trim, clawfoot tubs, mantels, and doors have been saved and reused.
​
This stunning Eastlake Victorian was built in 1889 for Thomas and Helen Peed. Though this home has long been thought of as a George Barber design, it was recently confirmed that the house was designed and built by the Baumann Brothers, who also left a lasting imprint on Knoxville. The stunning tilework in the current dining room was designed by Herman Carl Mueller, whose work is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The history of the house is rich and layered, with ties to Mark Twain, George Barber, the YWCA, and the most famous gunfight in downtown Knoxville.
​
The current owners have changed the name of the house from the original owners, who lived here only a handful of years, to the Bertha Clark House. Ms. Clark lived here from the 1930s through the ’50s. She is celebrated as the founder and first conductor of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra—a tremendous feat in 1930.
​
Having completed the restoration with Sean Bolen over the past two years, Alison Hardy is delighted to now call this house her home.
Davis-Sahms House
226 West Glenwood Avenue
This two-story Craftsman home, completed circa 1916, was built for attorney J. Alvin Johnson and his wife, Rose Keller Johnson. Rose was a second cousin of Helen Keller, who visited family in Knoxville from time to time. Another second cousin, Lizzie Crozier French, is one of the women memorialized in the suffragette statue on Knoxville’s Market Square. Rose and J. Alvin divorced in 1932, and Rose remained in the house until 1938, when she died at the age of 47. Joe and Beulah Duff bought the house shortly afterwards. Beulah remained in the house after her husband’s death in 1943 until her death in 1976 at the age of 89.
​
The architecture is a strong representation of the classic 20th-century style. Key features include the side-gable roof, exposed rafters, and the distinctive king post detail in the front gable. The house also features a one-story wrap-around porch, supported by square brick posts set upon a robust brick balustrade. Large casement windows on the porch integrate the interior with the outdoors. The entry is further detailed with divided light transom and sidelights.
​
The current owners have lovingly restored the home after discovering Old North Knoxville in 1999. Most recently, the house has undergone repair of the siding and received a coat of new paint. The kitchen has been updated with cabinetry chosen to mimic the retained original built-ins.
Rose Funeral and Cremation
1421 North Broadway
Founded in 1932 by Frank L. Rose, the funeral home was originally located on the first floor of the Rose home at Grainger and N. Fourth Avenue. In 1935, the Rose family moved the business to its current location, having purchased a 55-year-old, two-story clapboard house from Mrs. Eleanor McReynolds. The house was built in 1880 by Lute White and her husband William O. White. From 1907 until 1919, it was home to the family of Ben Morton, president of H. T. Hackney Co., Mayor of Knoxville, and one of the instrumental figures in the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
​
In 1946, the house was completely remodeled, and the Colonial brick front and columns were added. The original staircase and foyer can be found within the present structure, along with much of the original crown molding. In 1956, an addition, now known as the Garden Wing, was made to the north end of the building, creating a central courtyard with a rose garden and St. Francis fountain. One of Knoxville’s oldest businesses in continuous operation, Rose Funeral and Cremation remains independently owned and operated.
