Vintage Properties Fund

The Knox Heritage Vintage Properties Fund is part of our mission to preserve structures and places of historic or cultural significance for our community. Since the first house restoration in 1999, Knox Heritage has become a leader in the field of historic resource preservation.

How does the Vintage Properties Fund work?

All Projects

1999 | 240 E. Oklahoma Avenue

A Queen Anne Victorian cottage that was condemned, abandoned and had suffered a fire. Knox Heritage obtained the property through the City of Knoxville’s Homemakers Program and contracted with Knox Housing Partnership to manage the construction, overseeing the creation of the work write-up and construction draws. 

2001-2002 | 2039 Jefferson Avenue

This house was designed by George Barber and built in 1893. Among the owners was O.L. Burns, who worked for the Knox Rail and Light Company and drove the last trolley car that traveled Gay Street. Knox Heritage purchased the property in 2001, restored it, and sold it in 2002.

2001-2003 | 2045 Washington Avenue

A two-story Queen Anne Victorian cottage that had been converted into a triplex and was owned by an absentee landlord before it was foreclosed on and offered for sale. Knox Heritage purchased the home in 2001, restoring it to a single-family residence.

2003 | 2038 Jefferson Avenue

This 1890s Queen Anne-style residence (which may have been designed by Knoxville architect George Barber) was converted from multiple rental units in the 1980s to a single-family residence. However, it experienced years of neglect before Knox Heritage purchased and restored it in 2003.

2004-2006 | 321 E. Oklahoma Avenue

This craftsman style house was built in 1920 for Jason R. Brantley of Brantley Brothers & Company. By 2004 when Knox Heritage purchased it, the property was owned by an absentee landlord and the original staircase had been removed. Knox Heritage restored the home to a single-family residence and sold it in 2006.

2004-2006 | 1300 Kenyon Street

This two-story neoclassical-with-craftsman-influence house was built in 1912 by Edger H. Stegall, a manager at the Cherokee Coal & Coke Company. The house sat vacant from 1992 until Knox Heritage purchased the house in 2004, restoring and selling it in 2006.

2005-2006 | 214 E. Glenwood Avenue

This Craftsman-style Four Square residence originally faced Eleanor Street in Knoxville’s Fourth & Gill neighborhood. The house was scheduled for demolition in 2005 as part of a highway expansion plan until Knox Heritage purchased it, facilitated its move to Glenwood Avenue and restored it.

2006-2007 | 1618 Washington Avenue

This George Barber-designed house was built in 1890 for D.D. Remer, a real estate investor. Over time, most original details were removed, the house was split into apartments, and it was eventually condemned. Knox Heritage purchased the house in 2006 and restored it with its neighbor, 1620 Washington Avenue, as part of the Restore America Project, funded in part by HGTV and The National Trust for Historic Preservation.

2006-2007 | 1620 Washington Avenue

This house was built in 1905 by Manley Dewitt Barber, brother of architect George Barber. In later years the home was condemned, having been split into apartments with most of the original details removed. Knox Heritage purchased the house in 2006 and restored it with its neighbor, 1618 Washington Avenue, as part of the Knox Heritage’s Restore America Project, funded in part by HGTV and The National Trust for Historic Preservation.

2007-2009 | 1011 Victorian Way

This 1888 Queen Anne Victorian home in the Fort Sanders neighborhood was purchased for the 1982 World’s Fair, converted into the “Energy Saving House” to demonstrate the latest energy-saving technology. Unfortunately, this was at the cost of almost all original architectural details. In 2007, the house was donated to Knox Heritage and was not only restored, but also received LEED for Homes Platinum designation, demonstrating superior performance in energy and water efficiency, waste reduction and more. 

2017 | 1423 Branson Avenue

Enoch Lloyd Branson, a well-known East Tennessee artist, was also responsible for the development of the neighborhood now known as Edgewood Park, where this home is located, serving as planner/builder for many others on the street. Knox Heritage purchased the home through the City of Knoxville’s Homemaker Program and restored and sold the property in 2017.

2019 | 3031 E. Fifth Avenue

This Folk Victorian-style home was built in 1912 in the Chilhowee Park area of Knoxville for Frank C. and Mary Wilson. Frank worked for Regal Manufacturing Company, a factory located on W. Jackson Avenue and later State Street. In 2019, Knox Heritage purchased the home through the City of Knoxville Homemaker Program, overseeing an extensive interior and exterior restoration and selling it as a single-family residence.

2018-2021 | 1815 Highland Avenue

This 1904 Queen Anne-style cottage, located in the Fort Sanders neighborhood, was once home to Johnathan H. Mauney, the first superintendent of Fort Sanders Hospital. The home was donated to Knox Heritage by the Hospital in 2018, who participated in a generous partnership to move the dilapidated home from its original location to a lot across the street to avoid demolition during redevelopment.