Hey, everybody! It’s not too late to tour 11 residences on the City People Downtown Home Tour. The tour kicked off with a VIP reception on Thursday, but the tour itself runs tonight until 9 and tomorrow (Saturday) from noon until 4. Cost is only $35.
You can pay and get your wristband at one of two check-in locations: Jackson Central in the Old City (111 E. Jackson Ave.) or the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center (17 Market Square). You’ll get a map and directory with a description of each home on the tour.
The VIP reception was in the historic Ely Building, located at 406 W. Church Ave. It contains 6,000 square feet on three floors and is the home of our next-door neighbors, Kelley and Eddie Reymond.
According to Knox Heritage, the Ely Building was built in 1903 as a physician’s office with a residence or an infirmary on the second floor. Initially, it was occupied for many years by the offices of Dr. S.M. Miller. But it is known by the name of the law firm Ely & Ely, which had offices there from 1950 until the late 1970s. The building also was home to the fictional office of Teddy Ruzak, the “highly effective detective” in three Richard Yancey novels. And newly elected Knox County Commissioner Larsen Jay had the offices of his Double Jay Creative in it prior to the Reymonds moving in.
The Reymonds purchased the building two years ago, moved into it last year and plan to be finished with the renovation by the middle of this summer, Kelley Reymond said. Even though the renovations are not totally finished, the Reymonds opened the Ely Building last night to folks who had purchased VIP tickets to the City People Downtown Home Tour.
Check out these pictures from the reception and then go grab your tickets for the rest of the tour!
But, back to the home tour!
If you’d like to see more photos of the inside of the Ely Building — taken with a camera better than my iPhone! — visit the blog of my friend Alan Sims: http://insideofknoxville.com/2018/05/a-cool-urban-home-inside-the-ely-building-and-a-preview-of-the-city-people-home-tour/
See you on the tour!
Cynthia, Did you know that the Ely Building served as the headquarters of the Knoxville Women’s Center from around 1974-1984? That area around the library still contained some wonderful old townhouses which would be treasures if they had survived till the downtown resurrection beginning around 1995.
Love this, Moxley! It’s so fun to see Knoxville’s urban digs.
Thank you for sharing the photos of the Ely Building and for providing the link to the article. The building was being renovated while I was living at Cherokee Lofts and I had been curious how it now looks. It is a beautiful home and another great enhancement to a wonderful neighborhood.
Dorothy: I’m so glad you mentioned that! Now that you have, I remember going to the Women’s Center when it was there and Merikay Waldvogel was running it. I just forgot that was its location. Thanks!
Carol: Thanks for reading. We miss you! Come back soon to visit.
Bill: So good to hear from you! Give us a shout if you’re ever back in K-town!
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