HAMILTON HOME STORY
Driving up Coker Avenue you'll pass a corner lot bursting with flowers, herbs and mature trees. The yard itself invites you in with vibrant colors and sweet scents. Before entering the home, you're offered a place to sit and stay awhile - the front porch. This isn't just an "outdoor living space", it's an extension of the living room. Nested among the trees and flowers stands a beautiful craftsman style house.
Linda's journey before calling this Coker Ave craftsman "home", included living with friends in West and South Knoxville. Once she was ready to start looking for a place of her own, she had some particular ideas about in what neighborhoods that ideal home would be located. Shortly after she began looking, Scott encouraged her to look beyond her boundary lines of "ideal" location. She and Scott went to see the craftsman on Coker and he assured her that this house had good bones and a strong foundation. It had the space she was looking for and something she didn't expect, a well-loved garden. She began to visualize what it would look like for this house to become her home. Ideas and designs of a kitchen in which to entertain, a living space that would allow her to host small groups, and a master bathroom she could make her own all started to take shape when the guys began work on the home.
Subtle light grey is the backdrop of many of the rooms, allowing streams of natural light to fill the rooms from floor to ceiling and to flow down hallways. Before renovation, a wall between the kitchen and dining room prevented the flow of physical movement, conversation and light. None of those characteristics fit the dreams that Linda had for her home. Months of knocking down walls, shopping for just the right fixtures and hardware, and acute attention to detail in the labor have resulted in a beautifully open and welcoming home. The physical and spiritual seem to blend together here in a sort of dance. Each accent and detail speak of the great intention, effort and sweat that went into the work on her home.
The welcoming atmosphere is supported by well worn floors, sturdy walls, an original brick fireplace and a strong foundation. Even the backyard continues this narrative of an invitation to stay & rest; while the flowers, figs and grapes display the promise that there's nourishment and room to grow here. Through the journey of restoring and updating this house, the plants went from their bleak winter status to full bloom in April; joining the celebration of the rejuvenation of this house. Linda is already loving living in a neighborhood among friends and having her daughter and son close by. The garden provides fresh herbs for cooking and her commute to downtown, church, and work are all shorter now as well. The front porch and living room have already hosted multiple small groups.
It was our privilege to partner with Linda to renovate her craftsman. This dwelling place has become a physical expression of the personal invitation that Linda extends to those who come into her home and her life: welcome, rest, stay a while. Let's share our time and our hearts in this space.