Fourth and Gill Tour of Homes and Secret Gardens 2025, Part Two

Continuing our tour of the Fourth and Gill Tour of Homes and Secret Gardens, the first home up was simply a highlight. The home is gorgeous, as is the case for many in the neighborhood. What made this home sparkle was the attention to lighting, accessories, and decor the current owners have brought to bear. At once modern and historic, they’ve performed a miracle. Quite simply a delight, I struggled to dutifully wear my plastic booties, but my actual boots refused and they continually fell off.

The home, built in 1886 by John W,. Ward (not the Vols announcer by a century, give or take) was “off the grid.” That is to say, it skipped ahead a couple of blocks and wasn’t exactly on Luttrell at the time. The directory, confounded to assign an address, simply delineated it as being on “a corner along Gill Avenue.” Newer homes eventually filled in around it, making it stand out as notably older.

I featured the home as a part of the tour in 2017 and at the time, it was vacant and on the market for $415,000. As I noted at the time, “As recently as 2005, the home was still sub-divided into three apartments . . . The biggest surprise is a Hammond organ from (probably) the 1960s sitting in an upstairs room.” It’s a far cry from that vacant home today.

The entryway features a modernized staircase and the unique lighting and decor ranging from gothic to mid-mod and beyond immediately makes its tangled up, yet well integrated presence known. Ultra modern light fixtures mingle with cow skulls, a beautifully modern kitchen and 1880s tiled fire places. And somehow it works.

1000 Eleanor Street is home to the Coker/Boudreau Garden. I’ve visited before and each time I return I find something new—not simply because I’ve missed it before—the owners continually expand and improve their lush corner lot. With lots of space for wildlife to hideaway, you’ll find a mix of native and ornamental plants. The two say it brings them great joy and they hope it does the same to others.

The beautiful home at 125 East Glenwood Avenue sits on the dividing line between Fourth and Gill and Old North. I’ve noticed it when I’ve walked or driven along the street because it’s just a bit different from the other homes. Check out that lovely curved window on the second floor. Built in 1915 for Samuel Buffat, he sold it to William S. McKinney in 1921. McKinney worked as an assistant cashier at the Holston-Union bank, which would soon crash, giving us, eventually, The Holston residences on Gay Street. It’s interesting to consider that an assistant cashier could buy this home.

Of the interior, Arin Streeter writes:

The interior woodwork is striking for its Tudor and Gothic influences, but also for the fact that it is in cherry rather than than the typical fumed quarter-sawn oak. Note the unique design of the staircase, the elegant colonnade, and the green glazed tile fireplace with its brass hood and cherry overmantel.

The home is lovely and the family that moved there needed the room. I have this information on word of my wonderful tour guides (pictured above). Each of the three girls got their own room and Mom and Dad have to share, but they got the biggest room. Now you know. The beautiful home is not only nicely appointed, it’s filled with love and that’s what matters.

A final garden for your pleasure: The Howett Garden at 1104 Luttrell Street. I feel as if I had a part in this garden—without doing any actual work. I met the lovely couple who bought here when they were considering the possibility of moving from Maryville. I think I might have helped convince them, thereby assuring this garden would one day grow. For real, it’s been fun watching the garden add new elements every year. This year there was even a cute petunia selling lemonade!

Chock full of joy, the owners have whimsical additions scattered about in the form of salvaged objects. The garden is planted with perennials designed to keep it beautiful for three seasons of the year, with such varieties as crocuses, daffodils, tulips, and magnolias. The planters include tasty edible fun for the grandkids, like strawberries, blueberries, and tomatoes. You never know what you might encounter!

The final home is just across the street from the last and is nestled inside the former Brownlow Elementary School at 140 East Glenwood. Originally constructed in 1913 to handle the suburban kids way out in Fourth and Gill, the school was expanded in 1926 following plans by architect Charles I. Barber. The school was named for John Bell Brownlow, son of the more famous “Parson” Brownlow.

Students left the school in the early 1990s. It’s biggest claim to fame is that some of the interior spaces were used in the filming of “October Sky” in 1999. The building began to deteriorate, only to be saved by a grassroots effort from the community. The building opened to residents as Brownlow School Lofts in 2009, with 35 new homes.

Each of the homes are different, shaped depending on their function and place in the elementary school. The principal’s office is different from the classrooms, which are different from homes located in the space of the old gymnasium. The home pictured here has two bedrooms and ample light along one wall. Beautifully decorated, the art is what caught my eye.