Owls & Oaks: a house by (and for) Alfred Abernethy
Structure: Alfred Abernethy residence (called Owls & Oaks)Location: Johnson City, TennesseeArchitect: Alfred AbernethyDate: 1951[Editor’s note: the house we’re featuring today will be for sale later this week. We'll update the blog with the listing link when it hits!]Story: If you've visited this site often, you'll no doubt notice that we
House by (and for) Mel O’Brien
Structure: Mel O’Brien ResidenceLocation: Memphis, TennesseeArchitect: Mel O'BrienDate: 1972[Editor’s note: the house we’re featuring today is for sale. If you’d like to skip the story and click over to the house’s listing, here’s the link to the listing: https://bit.ly/3kwbFHo]Story: Although our story will end up in Memphis, Tennessee, it begins
House that HOME built by Bruce McCarty
Structure: House that HOME builtLocation: Knoxville, TennesseeArchitect: Bruce McCartyDate: 1957Story: It’s not often there’s a silver screen connection to Tennessee architecture, but today, there is! In the 1950s, NBC was airing a show called Home. The show was hosted by entertainer Arlene Francis and broadcaster Hugh Downs. The show was
House by (and for) Ben McMurry Jr
Structure: Ben McMury Jr Residence Location: Knoxville, TennesseeArchitect: Ben McMurry JrDate: 1951? (the question mark is because I'm like 90% certain on that)Story: At its heart, today’s blog is a father/son story. Let's start with the father, shall we? Ben McMurry Sr (1885-1969) was an East Tennessee architect who, along
Christus Gardens by Tom A. Windrom
VERY SPECIAL EDITOR'S NOTE: Today's blog is TennMod's first ever guest blog. It was written by my good friend (and pamphlet archivist) Brian McKnight. Although his passion is collecting history on film (as documented on his YouTube page), I appreciate him taking time to help make TennMod a well-rounded repository
Rich’s Dept. Store by Stevens & Wilkinson
Structure: Rich’s Department StoreLocation: Knoxville, TennesseeArchitect: Stevens & Wilkinson (Barber & McMurry, associates)Date: 1955Story: We do an awful lot of house stories here on the blog, this is true. But today, we’re doing a Knoxville city landmark: the department store called Rich’s. Rich’s was a chain of department stores that was
Space House by Curtis W. King
Structure: Space HouseLocation: Chattanooga, TennesseeArchitect: Curtis W. KingDate: 1972Story: When you visit this blog, you’ve got one type of mid-century modern architecture on your mind. It’s got straight lines, lots of glass, a flat roof, that sort of thing. California architect Richard Neutra sits atop his rather modern VDL Research House
Irwinton by James T. Mitchell
Structure: Richard Irwin House (called "Irwinton")Location: Ten Mile, TennesseeArchitect: James T. MitchellDate: 1953Story: The year is 1945, the place is Houston, Texas. Alya Dean Smith (a native of Ten Mile, Tennessee) was visiting her brother, a lawyer named Cyril J. Smith. While they visited, Alya was introduced to a successful
Rodgers Building by Shelton & Stachel
Structure: Howard Rodgers BuildingLocation: Knoxville, TennesseeArchitect: Shelton & StachelDate: 1947Tidbit: In 1947, a Knoxville, Tennessee contractor named Howard Rodgers commissioned the local architectural firm Shelton & Stachel to design a headquarters for his operations. A sale flyer featuring the architects' stamp in the bottom left The result was this building, designed
