ONK welcomes Old House to its New Home

Story by David Booker
Pictures by Kim Davis

What would George Barber do? Arguably Knoxville's most well-known architect, he came from Illinois in the late 19th century for health reasons and built a nationwide reputation selling Victorian home plans. In addition, you could also buy a complete kit from him and he would ship you everything from the wood flooring to the trusses to the brass work by rail. One man in Oregon even claims when his Barber house was built, Barber sent out a workman to supervise. So, what would this architect think of Sean Bolen, a 21st century financial planner, moving one of his homes?

		ONK's Sean Bolen, who coordinated the house move from 118 W. Scott Avenue to 115 E. Scott Avenue, speaks to a media representative.

Before we answer those questions, let's consider this: the move happened on Friday the 13th, was advanced from a start time of noon to 9:00 AM in order to beat the 90 percent chance of rain predicted for that afternoon, required the temporary moving or burial of 23 electric, phone, and cable lines, and was undertaken by a man who seven months earlier was immobilized with a severe, short-term illness. On top of that, it was Sean's second attempt to buy the house. The first attempt was rebuffed and it was until the FISH hospitality pantries acquired the house that he was able to buy it. He closed on the house on October 24, 2005 at 4:00 PM, and then at noon on October 25th his second daughter, Sophia, was born.

	The house-moving attracted spectators from all generations.  It was a great chance to get caught up with the latest news and reminisce about the last time a house was moved in Old North Knoxville - around 1950!

Of course, having a house required that he now have a place to move it to. Fortunately, there was a vacant lot right across Central, at 115 E. Scott Avenue in the historic district of Old North Knoxville. The previous owners, due to a job transfer, sold Sean the land. They had intended to build on the lot, and in a sense, so did Sean. His building, however, would be a fully erect home, the Margaret F. Stuart House as he calls it, naming the George Barber house after the widow who, along with her two children, was the first occupant in 1891. This would mean the move would only be about 800 feet, from 116 W. Scott across Central to 115 E. Scott, a new address number matching the age of the house. Maybe that was a good sign.

Still, the move, like childbirth, was not a smooth event (see sequence of events by clicking the thumbnails, below). There was a 30-minute delay while Comcast got a boom truck out to the comer of E. Scott and Central that was able to extend the slightly more than 4.2 feet needed in order to lift cables up over the house to let it pass under. Then there were two other short delays while KUB removed a street light and some extra boards were brought in to make it easier for the moving truck to back up from East Scott onto the excavated lot that would be its new home. The house was eased into place directly above the footers that will be used to build the foundation on, giving this grand old house not only a new story to add to its history, but a new story - a full basement - to add to its living space. And though Sean is glad he did it, the house is for sale. He already lives in Old North, on Oklahoma, and doesn't plan to move. So what would Barber do or think? We may never know, but guessing gives the new owners something to add to the story of a house move that involved moving a house.