Couple First to Open Bed-And-Breakfast Under New Knoxville, Tenn., Rules

When Tomica Miller went to the City County Building to get a permit to open a bed and breakfast at her Historic Old North Knoxville home, she was met with blank stares.

She knew that a city ordinance outlined the conditions by which such an inn could operate in Knoxville's historic neighborhoods -- no special events, off-street parking with buffers, no meals except breakfast and then only to registered guests.

But when she inquired about permits, she was told the West Glenwood Avenue home would have to meet the same fire and safety measures as a larger commercial establishment, including an enclosed stairwell, ladders from second-story windows and sprinklers.

"I told them this is not a threat, but we love the house more than we like the idea of a bed and breakfast," she said.

After years of work -- including hosting visits of city and county officials to show off the home's possibilities -- the Brimer House Inn is set to open March 1 as perhaps Knoxville's first official bed and breakfast operating in recent years in one of the city's historic districts.

Kim Trent, executive director of the nonprofit historic preservation group Knox Heritage, is among those who have advocated the development of bed and breakfast establishments as a way to preserve historic homes and give the city a niche in heritage tourism, defined as traveling to experience the sites that make a region unique.

Noting that segment is the fastest growing in the tourism industry, Trent said she often wondered, and was often asked, why Knoxville had a dearth of bed and breakfasts -- while Asheville claims roughly 20 inns, including a handful in its historic Montford neighborhood.

Tom Reynolds, rehabilitation chief for the city of Knoxville's Department of Development, after talking with counterparts in Asheville and elsewhere and much research, found a little-known Tennessee law establishing that a bed and breakfast "homestay" -- offering three guestrooms or less -- only needed to meet the fire and building code applicable to a single-family home.

"There's several people that have fixed these neat old Victorian and Craftsman-type homes that are interested in doing that and this offers them some relief from the building code to do that," Reynolds said.

"Tomica and David are ideal candidates," he said, referring to Miller's husband, David Whaley. "It's a beautiful home that's been lovingly redone. I think it will be a great addition to the community."

Tax credits are available for work on historic structures, and that's another reason Trent has lined up Bud Dick, a former innkeeper who consults with Historic Hotels of America, an organization of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, to speak at a Dec. 10 workshop to entice others to think about opening bed-and-breakfast establishments.

Miller and Whaley, who bought their house in March 1998, paid for restoration out of their pockets as they went, doing much of the work themselves. Miller works in sales and marketing for a national consumer products company; Whaley buys and rehabilitates homes, and salvages architectural features from homes that are beyond repair.

"Everything needed cared for, but the bones were still there and strong," Miller said of the home built by David Wilson Brimer in 1909 in a neoclassical style with some Queen Anne influence.

They ripped up shag carpeting and found wood floors in good shape, including quarter-sawn oak in the entryway.

They stripped the walls of a dozen layers of wallpaper and paint, working extra carefully at the final stages in order to preserve the original. In the foyer, enough of an original border was discovered to order a custom-made reproduction, a sample of which is now housed at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

In the dining room, they uncovered oil paintings near the ceiling that have been painstakingly restored by an artist.

Their work was featured in June on the Home & Garden Television series "Restore America."

Now, they're working on installing bathrooms in two guest bedrooms, building them into a corner so a future owner could remove them and not damage floors or walls.

Miller said they'll likely rent those rooms for $125 a night and rent their master bedroom for $150, including a gourmet breakfast.

They've visited inns in other cities; she's researched the business online.

"We've had five years to think of everything we can think of," she said.

She hopes owners of other historical homes will follow suit, giving Knoxville the critical mass needed to draw the much-sought-after heritage tourist, who stays longer and spends more than the typical tourist.

The city's new interpretation of applicable regulations, she said, "opens the door to the whole industry. It's such a huge step forward."

"We feel competition is good. I'd love to see Knoxville get some really good bed and breakfasts."

(c) 2003, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.