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| At left, Mark Warner with M.R. Dew Construction works on the house at 1300 Kenyon Ave. while Knox Heritage Executive Director Kim Trent (at right and partially obscured), speaks with a couple of people during a Vintage Homes program tour in Old North. Through this program Knox Heritage has restored 3 houses in Old North.
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Knox
Heritage started the Vintage Homes program in 1999, buying the house at 240 E. Oklahoma for a $1 from the city, completely renovated the interior of the house and did major work to the exterior, then sold the house for a little under $100,000 and made about $100 on it, according Heritage Executive Director
Kim Trent.
Since then, Knox Heritage, partnering with The National Trust for Historic
Preservation, The Partnership for Neighborhood Improvement and
The East Tennessee Foundation, is working as a preservation developer in the Parkridge, Old North Knoxville, Fort Sanders, and Chilhowee Park neighborhoods.
At a recent Preservation Network meeting, Trent took the curious and the hopeful to two additional homes in Old North that Knox Heritage is restoring. The first house was a bungalow style at 321 E. Oklahoma. It had been divided into two apartments, one upstairs, the other down, and was “one of the worst ones we bought from a hygienic standpoint,” Trent said. The home is being returned to a two-story, 2700 sq. ft., single-family house with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, new wiring, new plumbing, new insulation, new heating and air, and a new roof – basically a new house wrapped in an old house look and feel. It is for sale for
$259,900.
The second house is located at 1300 Kenyon Ave. at the corner of Kenyon and Folsom. This house had been vacant for 14 years, condemned for 12 years, and when complete will have 3 bedrooms and 3 full baths. It will also have new wiring, new plumbing, new central heating and air, and a new roof. This house does have a new owner, a couple from Cambridge, MA. He’s a lawyer and she’s a history professor. The house needs to be done by August 26th so Walter Partain and Denise Phillips can move in.
Old North News would like to thank Knox Heritage for restoring these three homes in ONK, and also for saving a home on East Glenwood from demolition due to the recent interstate construction work. Knox Heritage is going to literally lift that house up off its foundation, rotate it, and move a little ways down the street so it will be out of harm’s way. They already have a buyer for that home.
If you, or someone you know, is interested in purchasing a historic house for owner-occupied use, or know of a house that might qualify for the Vintage Homes program, please contact Kim Trent at Knox Heritage at 523-8008. The web site address is
www.knoxheritage.org. If not already, you might also consider becoming a member.
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