There's no place like home
By restoring his family’s ancestral home, Kevin Murphy is hoping to keep extended family connected for generations to come.
Knoxville, Tenn. – Sept. 28, 2009 - You might say Kevin Murphy’s “been around” in his 32 years.
“I’m very fortunate in that my employment as an information security architect has allowed me to live wherever I want and work from home,” said Murphy. “I’ve lived in a lot of different places here in the states and even spent about six months in Australia. I’ve thought a lot about where I really wanted to settle down, and finally decided that this old farm feels more like home than anyplace in the world.”
Raised in Florida, Murphy came “home” to Knoxville every summer as a youngster to attend family reunions at an old home located on a farm homesteaded by his great-great-great-great grandfather, Robert Murphy, in 1797. The youngest of Robert’s eleven children, Hugh, built a house on the farm (most likely for his new bride) around 1841, and both the farm and home have been in the family ever since.
Kevin originally thought he’d build a new house on the farm, located in eastern Knox County at the intersection of Washington Pike and Murphy Road. But after kicking the idea around, the self-described history buff decided instead to renovate the family’s ancestral home, even though doing so would cost 30 to 50 percent more than tearing down and building anew.
“The house has a pretty unique architectural style, plus I have a lot of good memories associated with it,” said Murphy. “Besides the reunions, I remember coming up every summer and spending time with my grandparents. It was always a nice place to go, with a tranquil back yard area, very pretty views, and nice old maple trees to sit under. It just seemed difficult to imagine doing something different on the property and not having that old house there.”
Once Murphy had made the decision to renovate the old house, which he described architecturally as a Gothic revival cottage, complete with homey front porch and wraparound back porch, he also decided to spare no effort in doing it up right. He described the renovation process as a “sensitive rehabilitation,” meaning that while there will be some changes and a degree of repurposing, the restoration process will be sensitive to the historical significance of the house, staying as close to the original character as possible.
Before the actual renovation could get rolling, Murphy had to obtain financing for his dream, but found traditional lending institutions to be skeptical.
“They wanted me to carve off a five-acre lot for the house, plus they didn’t want to appraise the house for the value that it’s actually going to cost to do the project,” said Murphy. “But Derrick Sparkman of
Farm Credit Services of Mid-America told me that FCS could look at the entire worth of the farm, which allowed them to say, ‘Absolutely—you have enough collateral there.’ Their
Country Home Construction Loan Program is nice and flexible, and allowed them to make this project possible. I’m really not sure I could’ve done it without them.”
Construction actually commenced in May, and is an intriguing blend of the best of 19th methods and 21st century technologies. The old foundation was replaced with a massive new one, including a six-foot crawl space. Plaster and lath were removed, exposing native, hand-hewn beams and framing. And before the drywall goes up, “all the wiring I’ll need for the next 50 years” will be installed in the wall skeletons. An old boiler was removed to make way for geothermal heating and cooling, and a small wine cellar was also added.
At the same time, to the extent possible, all trim, doors, siding, structure, and windows are being preserved. Original
pine floors are staying. And the house’s old chimney has been carefully rebuilt.
And there have been other developments along the way. The farm itself, which includes 205 acres—170 of which are still used for cattle and hay, and the rest in timber—was recently recognized as a Tennessee Century Farm, for over 200 years of agricultural production. Murphy also plans to have the house listed on the National Register of Historic places, once the restoration is complete. Although the honors are nice, he also feels the designations will help to protect the farm from potential future roadways or encroaching development.
Murphy has appreciated his working relationship with Farm Credit Services’ Sparkman during the project, but the satisfaction is a shared one.
“This has been very exciting to be a part of this,” said Sparkman. “I grew up on a farm, and this is a good reminder of what farms were like in years’ past. There’s even a group, the East Tennessee Draft Horse and Mule Owners Association, that does a small, old-fashioned oats plot out there that’s really interesting to people. This was a very unusual loan for us, but by being part of a farm, it fit our program. But that’s what Farm Credit Services is all about—
agriculture and rural America.”
Renovation is currently slated to finish up in November. (“Thanksgiving would be really nice,” said Murphy). When completed, the home will include four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and about 2,600 square feet of living space. What happens after that?
“I plan to own it and live there for a very long time,” said Murphy. “I’m not married yet, but hopefully I will be some day, and I want to have kids. I want to be able to pass it on to them, and also let other members of my family enjoy it. And we want to keep having the reunions —to be able to relax, enjoy being with our relatives, catch up on each other, and enjoy cooking up some really good meals—things which have allowed us to continue having relationships with our extended family. People have said over the years, ‘If the old house wasn’t there, I’m not sure we’d try to make it to Knoxville for the family reunion every year.’ This will keep extended branches of our family coming together for a long time.”
About Farm Credit Services of Mid-America
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