2025 Old North Knoxville Victorian Home Tour, Part II

I kicked off our 2025 Old North Knoxville Victorian Home Tour recap yesterday and promptly got waylaid by the jaw-dropping transformations of the Bertha Clark House (523 E. Oklahoma Ave.) and the Hattar House (217 E. Scott Ave.). I lingered. I stared. I fell down a rabbit hole and never quite resurfaced. Classic Leslie behavior. But today I’m back, focused and determined to actually make it through the rest of the tour.

Before we dive in, a massive note of gratitude is due to the Old North Knoxville Home Tour Committee, whose deep-dive research makes this event so much more than a walk through pretty houses, and whose work I pillaged for this report. The guide calendar and website are rich with historical context and detail, adding real texture to the tour experience and providing a valuable record of these homes for the future. 

First Lutheran Church (1207 North Broadway)

Houses of worship count as homes, too, and this one earns its place with glowing stained-glass Memorial Windows and a standout pipe organ built in Hamburg, Germany, by Rudolf von Beckerath in 1974. It’s a striking building inside and out, with a calm, luminous interior that rewards a slow wander.

The site itself has deep roots. In 1888, when Broad Street north of downtown was quickly becoming the county road to Tazewell, the property was occupied by the suburban home of Cornelius E. Lucky, an attorney who later led the Knoxville Brick Company and served as vice president of Peoples’ Telephone and Telegraph.

Founded in 1869, First Lutheran’s history mirrors the northward growth of Knoxville. The congregation worshiped first near Broadway and Western Avenue, then at Broadway and Fifth Avenue, before settling here. The school building was completed in 1947, followed by the Gothic-style sanctuary, dedicated on May 15, 1955. A second school wing was added in 1979.

A festive compliment to this stop was the inaugural Germanfest Christkindlesmarkt taking place in tandem, with maker vendors in the gymnasium and a tent out back serving up warm drinks and treats, plus handmade wreaths and more. 

A note of interest is that a historic residence on the First Lutheran property at 1226 Armstrong Ave., a beautifully preserved Queen Anne-style home with mantle tiling to die for, is being sold-as is with one caveat: it must be relocated to a different property.

Mays House (1235 Armstrong Ave.) 

This one-and-a-half-story Craftsman home, built in 1915, made a memorable debut on last year’s home tour just one month after being purchased, so very much a house in transition. Now, a year later, visitors could see how far it has come. The kitchen looks fantastic and I regret forgetting to take a photo of it. 

The home was originally occupied by Dr. Glenn A. Metcalf and his family. Metcalf was a prominent veterinary surgeon and president of the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners, whose life was cut short at age 56 at nearby St. Mary’s Hospital.

After passing through several owners over the next four decades, the house found long-term stability in 1954 when Richard Mays purchased it. Three generations of the Mays family lived here for the next 70 years, until the home was sold in November 2024.

Over the past year, current owners Sean Bolen and Trevor Stafford have been carefully restoring the three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath house while honoring its Craftsman roots. Original features remain front and center: rare 1¼-inch oak floors on the first level, a handsome Craftsman staircase, octagonal doorknobs, unpainted oak trim, heart pine floors upstairs, reproduction push-button hardware and a clawfoot tub. In what must have been a fun surprise, newly “found” rooms were uncovered behind sealed walls making way for spacious closets and a spacious primary bath.

Beth Ann Booker Park (416 East Oklahoma Ave.)

This pocket park is all dolled up for the holidays and looks even cuter lit up at night, with icicle lights dangling off the sweet, graceful gazebo. 

In the early 2000s, Old North Knoxville residents transformed what was once an abandoned, overgrown lot into a safe, off-the-street place for children to play and neighbors to gather. Through volunteer cleanups, shared maintenance and persistent advocacy, the city was eventually brought on board. The vision was realized with help from a $50,000 Dow Chemical grant and volunteer workdays supported by HGTV employees, resulting in a pocket park complete with playground equipment, a gazebo, paths and gardens.

Formerly known as Old North Knoxville Park, the space was renamed in March 2023 to honor Beth Ann Booker, a devoted neighbor who lived in the community from the 1990s until her passing in 2022. Along with her husband David, Beth helped breathe life into the park and its gardens and gave generously of her time, serving on the neighborhood board, organizing cleanups, helping produce the neighborhood newsletter, and sharing her talents as a gardener and baker.

Keith House (209 E. Anderson Ave.)

Although the house itself is relatively new, the lot at 209 E. Anderson carries a longer story. After a two-story home once shown on the 1917 Sanborn Maps was demolished, the property sat vacant for years before being thoughtfully rebuilt in 2016.

The resulting home is a strong example of sensitive infill. Designed in a Craftsman Revival style with Folk Victorian proportions, the structure mirrors the scale and rhythm of its historic neighbors. A steep front-facing gable, two-story massing and a wide, full-width front porch supported by square columns help the house feel firmly rooted in its surroundings. The interior is finished cozily (with amazing plant game!), while the garage out back has a contemporary twist. 

The Keith House offers a quiet reminder that new construction, when done well, can reinforce rather than disrupt the architectural character of a historic district.

Brooks House (120 East Woodland Ave.)

Of all the homes on the tour, this one may inspire the most double-takes because it didn’t begin as a house at all.

The building’s life started in 1923, when the Sanders Chapel Primitive Baptist Church purchased the lot for $499. Over the decades that followed, the structure served a variety of communal roles. In 1959, it became the headquarters for Knoxville Local No. 90 of the United Glass Ceramic Workers of America union, before returning to religious use in 1961 as Oakwood Primitive Baptist Church. Most recently, it operated as Living Faith Church until 2022.

That same year, the building was sold and began its most dramatic transformation yet: conversion into a private residence. Original features like the soaring vaulted ceilings and former pulpit, now part of the living space, anchor the home’s past within its present. Christy and Scott Brooks purchased the property in 2023 and have continued the careful work of turning this former church into a place of everyday life.

A touching detail: Many of the ornaments and the train village on display were handmade by Scott’s mother, Lois Brooks, of Morgantown, West Virginia. Created from needlepoint plastic canvas and yarn, the pieces remain a cherished family tradition. Lois passed away in 2001, but the Brooks say her handiwork and her presence continue to be felt each Christmas.

Flynn House (236 East Scott Ave.)

It was a fun to see IOK photos, taken by Alan, laid out around the house from the home’s 2014 appearance on the tour! I also enjoyed the historic news clippings, especially the one about the stolen “fat hens.” If I lived here, it would be all I could do to resist filling the whole house with chicken tchotchkes and the yard with chicken statuary. 

The Flynn House, a one-and-a-half-story Queen Anne, dates to the mid-1900s roots of Old North Knoxville. In 1905, Alice Dean West purchased the vacant lot for $650, and by the following year the home was completed for Alice and her husband, Thomas, an employee of the East Tennessee Lath Company. After changing hands a few times, the house was purchased in 1911 by Mary B. Evans, a widow raising five children.

Her daughter, Annie Lucille Evans, would become the home’s most enduring presence. A Knoxville High School graduate, University of Tennessee alumna, and holder of a master’s degree from Columbia University, Evans devoted nearly five decades to teaching in Knoxville. She lived in the house until her death in 1970, never marrying and anchoring the home through much of the 20th century.

The decades that followed were less kind. After 1972, the house was subdivided into six rental apartments. In 1984, Vaughn Nave purchased the property and began the long process of returning it to a single-family home — a goal realized in 1997. His careful stewardship continued, culminating in a full restoration that earned a Knox Heritage “Fantastic 15 Award” in 2012.

Current owner Jacob Flynn purchased the home in May 2024 and has since begun new renovations.

Davis–Sahms House (226 West Glenwood Avenue)

Another 2014 home tour veteran, the Davis–Sahms House makes a welcome return this year. Inside, the mood leans eclectic and cozy, with an art-filled interior, glowing candles, and a delightfully unexpected Marilyn Monroe–themed Christmas tree.

Completed around 1916, the two-story Craftsman home was built for attorney J. Alvin Johnson and his wife, Rose Keller Johnson. Rose had notable family ties: she was a second cousin of Helen Keller, who visited Knoxville family from time to time, and also related to Lizzie Crozier French, one of the women honored in Knoxville’s Market Square suffragist statue. After the couple divorced in 1932, Rose remained in the home until her death in 1938 at just 47 years old. Joe and Beulah Duff purchased the house soon after; Beulah lived here until her death in 1976, more than three decades after her husband passed.

Architecturally, the house is a strong example of early 20th-century Craftsman design. Details include a side-gable roof with exposed rafters, a distinctive king-post accent in the front gable, and a one-story wraparound porch supported by square brick columns set on a substantial brick balustrade. Large casement windows along the porch blur the line between inside and out, while the entry is accented with divided-light sidelights and a transom.

The current owners, who discovered Old North Knoxville in 1999, have carefully restored and maintained the home. Recent updates include repaired siding, fresh exterior paint, and a kitchen refresh featuring cabinetry designed to echo the home’s original built-ins.

Rose Funeral and Cremation (1421 North Broadway)

Our final stop brings us to one of Knoxville’s longest-running businesses. Rose Funeral and Cremation was founded in 1932 by Frank L. Rose, originally operating out of the first floor of the Rose family home near Grainger and North Fourth Avenue. Just three years later, the business relocated to its current North Broadway address after the Roses purchased a two-story clapboard house that was already more than half a century old.

Built in 1880 by Lute and William O. White, the house had a notable residential history before its second life began. From 1907 to 1919, it was home to Ben Morton — president of H.T. Hackney Co., former mayor of Knoxville, and a key figure in the early movement to establish Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The building was extensively remodeled in 1946, when its Colonial-style brick façade and columns were added. Inside, elements of the original home remain, including the central staircase, foyer, and much of the crown molding. A decade later, the Garden Wing was added to the north side of the building, forming a peaceful interior courtyard with a rose garden and St. Francis fountain.

Thank you for joining me on this Home Tour journey! Until next year (mark your calendars for Dec. 5-6, 2026), cheers and happy holidays!

Archives of IOK Home Tour coverage: 

2025

• 2025: Part I Bertha Clark House (523 E. Oklahoma Ave.), Hattar House (217 E. Scott Ave.)
• 2025: Part II First Lutheran Church (1207 North Broadway), Mays House (1235 Armstrong Ave.), Beth Ann Booker Park (416 East Oklahoma Ave.), Keith House (209 E. Anderson Ave.), Brooks House (120 East Woodland Ave.), Flynn House (236 East Scott Ave.), Davis–Sahms House (226 West Glenwood Ave.), Rose Funeral and Cremation (1421 North Broadway)

2024 

• 2024: Part I Guilford House (1333 Armstrong Ave.), Mays House (1235 Armstrong Ave.), Sparks-Golliher House (206 W. Glenwood Ave.), Bertha Clark House (523 E. Oklahoma Ave.), Bentley House (317 E. Oklahoma Ave.)  
• 2024: Part II Crenshaw-Summerow House (1124 Stewart St.), Turpin House (1365 Shepard St.), Fair-Collins House (241 E. Scott Ave.), Rose Funeral and Cremation (1421 N. Broadway), Fourth United Presbyterian Church (1323 N. Broadway)

2023 

• 2023: Part I Rose Funeral and Cremation (1421 N. Broadway), First Lutheran Church (1207 N. Broadway), Repass-Mills House (700 E. Scott Ave.), Brechko House (510 E. Scott Ave.)
• 2023: Part II Rider House (229 E. Scott), Kloss House (204 E. Scott), Sale House (205 E. Oklahoma), Marshall House (321 E. Oklahoma), Bolen-Hardy/Bertha Clark House (523 E. Oklahoma)

2022 

• 2022: Part I Guilford House (1233 Armstrong Ave.), Roberts House (224 W. Glenwood Ave.), Paulist Fathers House (707 E. Scott), Moffat House (701 E. Scott Ave.), McGowan House (522 E. Scott Ave.),
• 2022: Part II Martin/Lou Mar House (505 E. Scott Ave.), The Irwin/Smith House (911 Irwin St.), King House (139 E. Glenwood Ave.), Lewellen House

2020 & 2021 – cancelled 

2018 

• 2018: Part I  405 E. Oklahoma Ave., Kyker House (254 E. Oklahoma Ave.), 230 East Oklahoma, Brownlow Lofts (140 E. Glenwood Ave.), St. James Episcopal Church (1101 N. Broadway), 138 Leonard St.
• 2018: Part II 122 Leonard Pl., 1430 Grainger Ave., 1319 Grainger Ave., Ron Williams House (1424 Freemont Pl.), 1300 Kenyon St.

2016 

• Part I Sweetman Home (510 E. Scott Ave.), The Thomas House (1311 Kenyon St.), McSpadden House (1325 Armstrong Ave.), Fourth Presbyterian Church (1323 N. Broadway)
• Part II Statum House (300 E. Oklahoma Ave.), 227 E. Anderson Ave., Milnor House (129 E. Oklahoma Ave.), Madgett House (207 E. Oklahoma Ave.), Dungan House (229 E. Scott Ave.)

2015 

• Part I 1523 Fremont Pl., Gaskell-Myers House (1025 Kenyon Street), St. James Episcopal Church (1101 N. Broadway), 204 E. Oklahoma Ave., 212 E. Oklahoma Ave.
• Part II 221 E. Oklahoma Ave., 225 E. Oklahoma Ave., 303 E. Oklahoma Ave., 302 E. Scott Ave., 505 E. Scott Ave.,

2014 

• 2014: Cruze-Mabry House (1200 Kenyon St.), Muir House (1428 Freemont Pl.), Leach-Oats House (1236 Armstrong Ave.), Carmichael House (224 W. Glenwood Ave.), Rose Keller Johnson House (226 W. Glenwood Ave.), Russell Lodging House (424 E.Oklahoma Ave.), Kyker House, (254 E. Oklahoma Ave.), McGinley House (219 E. Anderson Ave.), Byzantine Ruthenian Catholic Mission of the Holy Resurrection (1031 N. Central St.), West-Evans House (236 E. Scott Ave.)

2013

• 2013 Part I 1417 Cornelia St., 224 E. Scott Ave.
• 2013 Part II 115 E. Scott Ave., 318 Oklahoma Ave.
• 2013 Part III 108 E. Glenwood Ave., First Lutheran Church (1207 N. Broadway), 1233 Armstrong Ave.
• 2013 Part IV  214 E. Glenwood Ave., 145 Leonard Pl., 1329 Grainger Ave.,

2012 

• 2012 McDaniel House (1303 Kenyon St.), Lane House (712 E. Scott Ave.), Merten House (704 E. Scott Ave.), Jesse D. Hughes House (1416 Kenyon St.), Wilkinson House (1515 Freemont Pl.), Fourth Presbyterian Church (1323 N. Broadway), Jones House (319 E. Anderson St.), Alwood-Carter House (254 E. Oklahoma Ave.), Hay-Bronstad House (230 E. Oklahoma Ave.), Sach’s House (222 E. Oklahoma Ave.), Rider House (229 E. Scott Ave.)