Winners of the ONK Decorating Contest

 

The annual holiday decorating contest is an effort intended to encourage neighbors to decorate and was held during the first week in December, in conjunction with Old North's 18th Holiday Home Tour. Houses were judged in three categories, (1) Exterior Traditional (without lights), (2) Exterior Contemporary (with lights), and (3) Interior Holiday Decoration of a house featured on the Home Tour. 

Guests from outside of the ONK neighborhood were invited to judge homes. This year’s judging panel consisted of Knox County Commissioner Mark Harmon and his wife Becky, Knox Heritage staff member Hollie Cook, and Historic Zoning Commissioner Melinda Whetsel. Mark and Becky Harmon and Melinda Whetsel are residents of surrounding historic neighborhoods North Hills and Fourth & Gill, respectively. 

Chester Kilgore, longtime ONK resident, accompanied the three judges in order to ensure that every single street within ONK boundaries was covered and every single house in ONK would be among their consideration set. Furthermore, the Exterior Traditional category had to be judged during the day time, while the Exterior Contemporary category had to be judged after dark, which means the extensive journey through ONK was taken twice on Friday. The Home Tour Committee would like to thank the judges for their time and patience as well as their opinions. Special thanks are also extended to Bryant Ayers who chauffeured the judges for both driving tours of ONK.

OK, that’s enough anticipation building ado, surely you can’t wait to find out who the winners were (unless you already skipped ahead because you just couldn’t wait)...

The winners are:

Exterior Traditional Category

  • The Young Residence at 311 W. Glenwood 
  • The Rider Residence at 229 E. Scott

Contemporary Category

  • The Williams Home at 1200 Kenyon
  • The Russell/Ayers home at 1313 Grainger

Interior Decorating

  • The Hill Residence 505 E. Glenwood
  • The McDaniel Residence 125 E. Glenwood
Hopefully everyone took the opportunity to enjoy the holiday décor and lights of the many contenders throughout ONK in December. Thanks to everyone who decorated for the season! Holiday sight-seeing in ONK has become a holiday tradition for many Knoxville area residents and shows off our year long efforts to preserve, promote and protect our neighborhood.

(Click on each image to see larger picture.)

The Smoky Mountain Model T Club found a perfect parking space at the Hill residence, adding to the historic feel of the tour.

 

 Lou Russell and Bryant Ayers displayed the inside of their home 1313 Grainger last year.

 

1200 Kenyon was a magnificent holiday display. Inside and out the decorating efforts were spectacular. Recent renovations on 311 W. Glenwood were finished just in time to open the doors for the home tour.

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