Neighbors knew the house at 229 E. Scott Avenue as the place with a hole in the roof so large “you could drop a Volkswagen through it,” said Chester Kilgore, longtime Old North Knoxville resident.
It was a major concern for the neighborhood. The four-square house with Victorian Shingle and neoclassical elements had been left to endure years of rainwater soaking through its interior. The city had condemned it as unfit for human habitation.
“The basement had about six feet of water,” Kilgore said.
In 2000, a mayor’s task force on preservation cited the house in recommending better measures to prevent historic structures from getting in such sad shape, but Kilgore said it seemed everyone, including the Knoxville Historic Zoning Commission, had given up on the idea that someone would buy this house and restore it.
At some point during all this, Indianapolis residents Lauren and Steve Rider were planning a move to Knoxville. Lauren Rider was checking out neighborhood Websites in Knoxville when she came across the one for Old North Knoxville Inc., and found photos of the house.
“I saw the house on the neighborhood Website and this picture was there,” Lauren Rider said, pointing to a photo of the house’s broad porch with white columns. “That just does it for me.”
The Riders were living in a historic district and wanted to find a house in a similar neighborhood. Lauren said she loved old houses, whereas her husband mainly wanted the convenience of a place close to work, stores and other destinations.
That was also a big concern for her. While Steve Rider grew up in a subdivision, she grew up out in the country, near Augusta, Ga.
“We were seven miles from the nearest grocery store,” Lauren Rider said. “It was 20 miles to go where my friends hung out and I didn’t have a car,”
When she entered college and moved to downtown Atlanta, the world seemed to open up. “I could jump on my bike and ride to class,” she said. “I could walk to the grocery store or walk to the coffee shop across the street.”
Ever since, Lauren Rider was determined to live in an urban neighborhood.
When the couple arrived in Knoxville and found a house with a classy exterior but with an inside that was almost totally ruined, it still didn’t break the spell, at least for Lauren Rider.
It might have for her husband, if it wasn’t for a special historic renovation loan offered by Wells Fargo, he said.
“The Wells Fargo loan really made the difference for me,” Steve Rider said. “You can borrow on what the value of the house will be after it is rehabbed and the loan rolls over into your mortgage,” he said.
That allowed the couple to have the interior of the house repaired. After they bought it in 2000, they hired John Wampler of High Oaks Construction, who was once active in Old North Knoxville Inc. and specializes in historic restoration.
Exterior work included a new roof, rebuilding the first-, second-story and rear porches, repairing wood shingles, siding, foundation and chimneys. Interior work included new wiring, plumbing, heating and air conditioning, restoring light fixtures, fireplace tile, stairs and other parts of the house.
Almost everything inside the house had to be replaced down to the wall studs, but Lauren Rider said this was an unexpected benefit. This allowed the couple to configure rooms the way they wanted, add things like blown-in insulation, extra power receptacles and make other changes that would be difficult to do with an intact house.
It was like having a vintage home but getting to design your own floor plan, Lauren Rider said.
“We really kind of bought a blank canvas,” she said.
The home will be among 10 that will be on display when Old North Knoxville Inc. will hold its 17 annual Victorian Holiday Home Tour Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 3 and 4.
The houses will be open to the public from 4-9 p.m. Dec. 3 and 1-5 p.m. Dec. 4. Tours, provided by trolleys, will start from the St. Mary’s Medical Center parking lot on Woodland Avenue near Fulton High School. Look for the “HONK” banner.
Tickets are $8 in advance at all Kroger stores or $10 during the tour. Children under 12 are admitted free and seniors pay $8 admission. Ticket price includes a 2006 calendar featuring the homes on the tour.
Also during the event, Old North Knoxville Inc. will be selling Christmas ornaments at $12 each. T-shirts, sweatshirts and coffee mugs will also be available.
For more information, e-mail Dani Owenby , chair of the event, at dnd0527@hotmail.com or Penny Baxter at pbaxter@sec-tn.com. The Old North Knoxville Web site is at www.oldnorthknoxville.org.
Ed Marcum may be reached at 865-342-6267.