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| Exquisite Modern Kitchen, Pembroke, Knoxville |
The Pembroke has housed residential units since 1990, making it one of the older residential developments downtown. Originally called the Sprankle Building, it had previously housed TVA in its heyday. Its elegant lobby off Union Avenue across from the Daylight Building suggests the elegance one will find inside. The unit on display was decorated in a contemporary style and sat just inside the wall beside the only roof-top pool in Knoxville. It is for common use by residents.
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| View across the living area into the kitchen, Pembroke, Union Avenue, Knoxville |
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| View from the kitchen, Pembroke, Union Avenue Knoxville |
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| View from the window of the only rooftop pool in the city, Pembroke, Knoxville |
My favorite parts of this unit were the lights in the kitchen/living area and the kitchen, in particular, which was beautiful. It seems that many of the units downtown place a heavy emphasis on updating the kitchens or simply making them beautiful. This condo featured brick walls and had some exposed duct-work.
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| Living area 508 Pembroke, Union Avenue, Knoxville |
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| Office area, 508 Pembroke, Union Avenue, Knoxville |
Another condo listed for sale held open house in hopes of attracting people who were thinking of moving downtown. I don’t really understand why every unit for sale in the downtown area doesn’t host an open house that day. Most people are curious, but others are thinking of making the leap to downtown living. The condo for sale (508) was striking only for its contents. If the unit was special, it was hidden by the extreme (think Hoarders) amount of contents. For a sale, half or more of the objects will likely need to disappear. On the other hand, if they have a estate sale, I’m there. The cost is $255K and the square footage is around 1100.
One other unit is for sale in the building for the same price. It has just under 900 square feet, which gives you an idea of how expensive the condos are per square foot. They aren’t the cheapest downtown, but they tend to be beautiful and you are paying for the elegance and the pool, I suppose. They also have parking, which isn’t insignificant downtown.
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| Entrance to unit in Crown Court, Locust Street, Knoxville |
Crown Court is housed in the old YMCA building on Locust Street just around the corner from the public library and next to the Masonic Temple. One of the very cool features of these condos is that they are connected to the current YMCA offering a modern workout facility without walking outside. A membership is included, if I remember correctly. Urban Woman was particularly taken by this building on a previous incarnation of the Tour of Homes.
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| Bedroom at unit in Crown Court, Locust Street, Knoxville |
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| Living Area, Crown Court Unit, Locust Street, Knoxville |
The unit in question on this tour was small, but had a large amount of exposed brick and good views. The kitchen was long, elegantly appointed and efficient, but it was narrow and, I suspect, some people wouldn’t care for its arrangement. I’ve gotten the impression that these units are often second homes, city homes or winter homes. I know some people live in the building full-time and year-round, but I think there is a mix. Probably best suited for couples or single folks because of their size, they do have great charm.
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| Kitchen in the unit at Crown Court |