Metro Pulse/Urban Renewal

1300 Kenyon Ave.
2,000 sq. ft.
3 bdrm, 2 bath
Price negotiable
Contact: Bob Evridge
Knox Heritage
523-8008
Knox Heritage

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by Matt Edens

It's inevitable. Buy an old house and it'll be about 3.6 seconds before someone makes a reference to The Money Pit. I have to say that I never cared for the film—and this was before I bought an old house. The comedy was too slapstick and Shelley Long was, well, Shelley Long.

If you're looking for a cautionary tale about buying an old house, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is the real deal. Starring Cary Grant, Myrna Loy and Melvyn Douglas, and made in an era when people named Myrna and Melvyn could actually become movie stars, the 1948 classic is a must see for anyone who has ever bought or built a house.

Now if you're wondering why I'd bring these two movies up in a real estate column that's theoretically urging you to buy an old house, it's because they're far funnier than my own cautionary tale. My wife and I did the classic starry-eyed thing, decided to fix up an old house and rushed right out and bought the biggest, most dilapidated place we could find. Don't get me wrong. We wouldn't trade our house for the world, but we would trade all the headaches and humiliation we went through getting to where it is today; like overhearing one of the guys installing our heat and air system remark that "the boy who bought this place has got more money than sense."

One old house project later and I've got less money but sense enough to recommend Knox Heritage's Vintage Homes Program. It makes rebuilding your dream house easy. They work with you to develop a personalized restoration plan, anything from a total restoration—all you have to do is unlock the door and move in—to leaving you some "sweat equity" work to make the place more affordable (at a minimum all Vintage Homes must be brought up to code and made structurally sound). Once the plan is complete, you enter into a sales contract for the agreed upon price (based on the amount of restoration work) and don't close on the deal until after the work gets done. No hassling with a separate construction and mortgage loan, no headaches managing the construction, and all the work is guaranteed (even comes with a home warranty).

Knox Heritage will even give you a leg up finding a house. They're already working in several of Knoxville's historic neighborhoods, searching out houses like this one at the corner of Kenyon and Folsom in Old North Knoxville. Sure it looks a little rough from the curb, but inside the house is packed with potential: loads of trim in excellent condition (much of it already stripped). Downstairs there are ladderback doors and pocket doors—all oak—most with the original hardware intact with oak floors, too. Upstairs, tucked under four big dormers, are two big bedrooms, a second bath with original pedestal tub, a study or sewing room and an impressive amount of closet space for an almost 100-year old house—all with heart pine floors, more ladderback doors and loads of casement windows to let in plenty of light.

So go ahead, check it out: the house, Knox Heritage and the movie.